It was requested that I post one of my replies in a new thread so others can learn. I feel like it’s been repeated many times before, but hey, I guess that magnifying glass 🔍 in the top header is harder to use on some. Just know, I’ve learned everything I know just by doing that, searching keywords until it all came together and made sense.
Not to mention, I was motivated AF to get out of the office.
So the original post went something like this: The classic questions…is it illegal, how to go about it undetected, FT or PT, what if deadlines and/or meetings overlap, how do I answer the “why are you leaving J1” questions…yada yada yada.
My reply…that hopefully will calm the nerves of others and maybe shine some light on why we’re crazy to do such an outlandish thing.
ahem (response below)
lol my sweet summer child.
We’ve all been where you are now. And let me just say this: nobody, not even IT, is getting paid enough to investigate you.
Yes, OE = more than 1 FT Job. You’ll quickly find out that PT gigs make you do more for less. It’s a trap. Don’t do PT.
Overlap? I’m assuming you’re referring to Teams meetings - always be on mute. Make sure each set up has their own accessories but nothing that’ll flag IT concerning suspicious downloaded software. (Plug usb’s into an external surge protector thing) My meetings overlap often, and I’ve got myself muted listening to both. If I’m asked anything, I calmly take my time to mute the sound of the opposite meeting, unmute myself to answer whatever they want, go back on mute, and again listen in to both. If anxiety will take the best of you, hop on Amazon and find a mute button with a big a$$ bright light that doesn’t require software to download. To be fair, this actually might be the one device you could explain your way out of to IT about software being downloaded. Idk. Share your experience below.
Deadlines on the same day? Personally, I wouldn’t recommend OE for jobs that require a lot of production. But, being the person I am not taking my own advice, this is quite literally my J1. I’m usually up early in the mornings and can knock out about everything needed for J1 between 4:30am - 8am. I know it sounds crazy, but during this time there isn’t anyone bothering me. Kid is asleep, coworkers from J1 aren’t blasting me on Teams, dead zone quiet. By the time 8am rolls around, I can finish whatever is needed from J1 while focusing on the active Teams activities and whatever for J2. From noon til 5, I’m playing Fortnite while all of my mice are on jigglers to keep them moving and my Teams notifications are on full blast volume.
I actually nailed J2 and convinced them I was leaving J1 due to the promise of working remote, but then they took it back. It wasn’t far from the truth actually. I really was about to leave J1. But, they gave me a test drive to work remote and see how it goes. I used this opportunity to go above and beyond hitting my numbers to where they said “as long as you’re hitting those numbers, we don’t GAF what you do.” So, I never cancelled J2 and onboarded during this time. I’ve now found the perfect routine for myself, which includes those early morning hours. Even though technically, I guess I’m on the clock longer, but it really doesn’t feel like it. I’m blowing off the second half of the day kicking some 10 yo butts online.
Keep in mind, the overall culture for OE is this: Why go above and beyond for an employer who wouldn’t do the same for you - just get by with what you need to maintain your presence at both, be mediocre and average, and make twice the salary by working/stressing less.
*No. It is not illegal.
*Inform yourself on what this link is and put your data on freeze mode just to be sure (I still haven’t done it but that’s because one employer doesn’t even show up on it): https://employees.theworknumber.com/employment-data-report is
*Call your tax lady and get informed on how to fill out your taxes for W-4s, contract, etc. General rule here is to claim nothing and put more in to make sure to get some back. You’re about to be bumped into another tax bracket. Brace yourself. Taxes get tricky when this happens. Have your local HR Block lady on speed dial.
*go all in on aaalllll the bens. Max out 401k, get all the pre-tax deductions your little heart desires, insurances, the works. My J2 has insurance for employees AND THEIR PETS. So, my retriever has his own insurance for medical as does my child and myself.
*click here and study: https://overemployed.com This site will give you the ins and outs of this culture. Many do it for financial freedom: to pay off debts, live frugal, work for enjoyment of extracurricular activities rather than paying to live sorta thing. This site is extremely helpful especially when breaking down what devices to use to help remain undetected.
Use AI to automate as many dumb tasks as possible. My fav is recording, summarizing and organizing meeting notes. I’ve got an app (that I pay monthly for and it’s totally worth it) that does it for me. I just have to push record. It takes down all the nitty gritty details and puts them into categories. Blew everyone away HOW DID YOU DO THAT YOU ARE SO DETAILED OMG I NEED TO LEARN FROM YOU etc etc. *pats phone gently
*Be responsible. Whatever financial goal you have, put stickies all over your monitors to remind you why you’re doing this. Fact check yourself on your spending and don’t go overboard. You just hit the lottery. Act like it. Don’t tell a single soul, don’t make it obvious, don’t make the IRS angry, and for the love of Satan DO NOT OE FOR GOVT EMPLOYERS.
*your J1 or J2 boss might actually be in this sub. Be vague.
*YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE- heaven forbid you land a job that requires you to be active on the socials. For one, I’d say that is NOT the opportunity you want to look for. BUT I get it. Beggars can’t be choosers, so, there’s a hack for that. Your answer needs to be as broad and humiliating as possible to make them feel uncomfortable for asking in the first place..such as “my therapist and case worker have gone to extreme lengths to put my safety first due to a past relationship. If I am to have a social media presence, it has to be vague and limited to past events.” Leave it at that. Girls, this one is your golden ticket. Boys, you make need to tweak it a bit to work better for you…maybe identity theft or something. Sorry I don’t make the rules. It is what it is. MOVING ONNNNN….
Regarding to socials, if you absolutely have to have a LI acct, make multiple. Be careful to upload different occupations, limit your name info, DO NOT USE THE SAME PROFILE PIC LET ALONE AN ACTUAL REAL PIC. Do one of those AI trends and fancy yourself a professional shot. Make each different. Does it look like you compared to Teams calls? Eh, maybe it’s arguable. As long as there is room for doubt, you’re golden.
Any other questions, just ask.
((( Don’t talk about fight club. )))
Please, more seasoned OEs post your experiences. It’s very educational to learn from others.

Daughter is 15, I am her full legal parent. Bio dad has no legal parental rights but does have visitation. He had her the weekend he was arrested in November. Since then we have had him blocked on her cell phone, of which she is all for. When we let her know we blocked him on her phone (due to constant barrage of texts of how he’s not at fault for him being arrested) she was in agreement of him being blocked continuing. Since November his visitation went from every other weekend to supervised every other sat/sun. He figured out this past weekend that he was blocked. And gave her a hard time about it because he was letting her know that he was running late. He’s supposed to be visiting with her at my parent’s place and didn’t reach out to them or my husband and I. Just in case it’s asked, my husband and I pay for the cell phone and he doesn’t help financially in any way. I’m only curious if he actually has a right to direct contact to her. She doesn’t want to unblock him, however I did tell her that during this time she doesn’t have to tell him that it’s also her choice as well. I didn’t tell her but I worry that he will be upset and take it out on her verbally.
So does he have a right to contact her directly?

My teacher graded the argumentative essay below 1/3/1. How do I get a 4 on the commentary and evidence section? Please help me, I am begging you guys to help me out.
Prompt:
One of the first-year-student orientation initiatives at a local university is to collect incoming students’ cell phones and keep them for 48 hours. The purpose of the initiative is to give students an opportunity to integrate into their new school culture and make friends on campus. Carefully consider the effects of this initiative and the extent to which they might support, complicate, or contradict its intended goals.
Write an essay that argues your position on the advisability of the 48-hour cell phone ban.
In your response you should do the following: • Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position. • Provide evidence to support your line of reasoning. • Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning. • Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.
Enforcing a 48-hour cell phone ban as part of the first year student orientation initiative will have unintended consequences. This could very much hinder rather than facilitate the goal of creating a sense of community among the incoming students.
Firstly, cell phones serve as communication tools, allowing students to connect with family and friends during potentially stressful times. By restricting access, the initiative may unintentionally increase feelings of isolation and anxiety among students. Especially during a period of transition, students may rely on their phones as a comfort mechanism as a means of staying connected to familiar support networks. Also, students may perceive the ban as restrictive or in a negative way, possibly leading to resentment. This perception could undermine the university's efforts to create a positive student environment during the orientation.
The evidence highlights that the intended goal of promoting camaraderie might be possibly shut down by depriving students with the cell phone ban. Instead of making connections, the initiative may isolate students, making it difficult for them to maintain existing relationships or receive emotional support. This contradicts the goal of creating a welcoming atmosphere, essentially undermining the well being of the students.
Furthermore, in the modern world, cell phones are to vital information sharing and event coordination. Banning them for 48 hours might lead to missed opportunities for students to engage in campus activities and social events, again decreasing the quality of student experience.
In conclusion, while the initiative's intention was to encourage more interactions, the 48 hour cell phone ban may decrease the sense of belonging and community. A more effective approach that promotes both in person interactions and responsible technology usage would serve the many necessities of students.

Life is hard, but I'm hanging in there somehow.
Due to health issues, I am forced to make a career change. I was basically a training/mentor for a call center type job. In other words a supervisor.
Thankfully, Unemployment is paying me. Health issues qualified me. They have me submitting 2 job applications per week. Sometimes I submit more. It's amazing how much I'm being rejected. Tried T-mobile since I have experience in the field, they picked someone who had 4 more years of experience over me.
5 months in, still nothing.
Good news kinda, but overall bad for my life for the past several years: I was an art institute student. If you heard the news..... well long story short, due to their unethical practice, anyone who went there had their student loans canceled and even possibly got funds back. For me, my average monthly student loan bill was over $1000 a month. Thanks Art Institute for killing 10 years of my life. In another month, they told me that my credit report should be cleaned up and possible refunds.
Back on topic:
Now I can go back to school, but I have no intention of paying a large sum for college. I was thinking about getting some sort of certification to do something....... just do... something where I don't have to pay a lot for schooling, can easily get a job with little or no competition somehow till I have enough to maybe start a business.
I live in the east coast (more north) in the USA.
I did some research, but I find that I get sick every time I research anything related to jobs. I don't think that's normal, probably anxiety.
As things stand, I think I need to go back to school or something. I want a job that I can safely maintain, does not rely on being on the phone all the time and isn't too fast paced.
I'm normally on the computer mostly so a job where I'm on the computer I guess would be nice.
It needs to be part time if I'm going back to school. I've learned 10 years ago that I just can't handle a full time job and school at the same time.
So agian, here is what I'm aiming towards for now:
-School without spending a huge sum or some sort of training/certification to do something -Part time job towards a new career choice. -Career needs to have a high chance of getting hired (going the art route was a bad move on my part especially when I'm not the best at it. also got scammed). -Perhaps something where I'm on the computer mostly -Little to no phone call careers.
Possible paths I am thinking about:
Programming: However, I can't find the motivation... like at all. I watched a lot of shows involving programmers and it just seems cool to be able to make apps, games, etc (and hack :P).
Art - I find that I can't draw anything without reference and honestly haven't drawn in several years. This is probably out. However, I think I could do story writing?
-My friend told me to work at coke. Training, guaranteed $16 an hour and soda companies are always hiring? But he hated the job so this is probably out
-Security: I have family that would be against this, probably out the window too
Issues: No car atm (had an accident).

Well, I think i should've put this in offmychest because this post is pretty much a vent but a little advice is appreciated.
For context, I'm in my late teens. I just graduated highschool and will be starting college later this year. I have a sister who's a few years younger than me.
Growing up, I was pretty much "daddy's little princess". He spoilt both my sister and me rotten ffs. We were a really happy family. He taught me everything he could and was ALWAYS there for us kids, no matter what. He always encouraged us to take up any hobby we wanted, drove us himself to and from classes, and I can't even talk about the books, toys and other things he got for us without it being an understatement. He was literally my superhero. When i was a kid, i seriously thought that my dad was the strongest and smartest person in the whole wide world. Not to mention, he was a really really good human being too. Even if a person totally unrelated to him reached out for help, he'd do his best to help them in a heartbeat. I love him so much, and could love no one else as much as him because he's literally the best dad ever.
Exactly a month ago, he had a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage unexpectedly. It was a huge shock seeing my dad unconscious on the floor with his head in a puddle of blood when we woke up in the morning. It was the last thing i expected to say the very least. My sister's birthday was on the previous day, so I put together a small party for her even if she refused and dad thanked me for taking care of my sister and told me that it was the best birthday he had ever witnessed in his life (it wasn't extravagant or anything, literally a small family gathering with cake and some snacks). The thing is, he didn't have high blood pressure, nor did he hurt his head (we didn't hear anything if he supposedly hit his head and fell down and he had no external injuries other than a black eye). We traveled and he drove a few hours on the day before my sister's birthday. Everything was completely normal and we actually had a great time together. He was in a coma for nearly two weeks and then was on life support for around another week after being diagnosed brain dead, because my mom and I needed time to process everything that was going on. We tried everything out there to try and get some response, from the regular medical things to sound therapy, accupressure, homeopathy and anything anyone suggested would work. But unfortunately, he didn't make it and faced a natural death a week or so ago (as in we didn't have to decide when to take him off life support)
They're doing funeral stuff and i don't want to be a part of anything because I'm being delusional and thinking that he's gonna come back. We have a golden retriever, who i take care of to keep me busy during the day and also because dad let me keep it as an emotional support animal, without which i would've committed again. At other times of the day, i just can't get myself to get out of bed. I feel really nauseous, my legs always feel tingly and almost like they're burning and I'm shaky sometimes. I've been on continuous medication and therapy for over a year now. My psychiatrist didn't want to diagnose me since he didn't want me to live with a label of a mental illness but a family doctor informally told us that I had BPD. I've gotten so much better with all the support I've gotten because at one point I used to attempt every other day to try to escape reality. At this point of time, both my parents were with me most of the time trying to provide as much support as they physically could, leaving my sister out a lot. I have some horrible things i don't remember doing as a child from my own memory that my sister told me about. My parents have endured so much and when things finally got better, this happened.
My dad worked with online security and stuff in the past so he was really scared of me getting into trouble. For context, I sent nudes to my bf (both of us were minors) two years ago and got caught because my phone was hacked. I didn't get to have a phone for nearly two years and though it seems like a bad thing, I did pretty well in school. Yeah well he was probably really stressed when I told him I'd still be talking to my bf once I finished school. I was originally supposed to study abroad, that might've caused him a lot of stress, knowing I'd be alone. He wasn't really okay with me dating either cuz he was paranoid guys would hurt me and ruin my life and he was also a little conservative too. Knowing that stress can be a cause of a SAH, I'm pretty sure I'm the cause for his death (I have this gruesome feeling that i physically feel when i mentioned that he died or anything like that). My little sister hates me for it, since she feels it was me who stressed him out with my mental issues. My mom's being as supportive as she can buy she's devastated too. I still take meds, and therapy. I have a LOT of family support, which I'm very grateful for, and also my bf who's been very patient with me. Everyone's literally taking time out of their day to tend to us and help us out. I've seen so many people who I'd never heard of or even seen in my life bawl their eyes when they visited dad at the hospital. That's just how much everyone loves him. I've been trying my best to stay strong but i just can't believe I lost him. I try telling myself to stop being delusional and that he isn't out on a work trip, but inside I'm just hoping my superhero fighter dad will be back all safe and sound. I visited him at the hospital a few times a day everyday and i always told him positive things and how much i loved him even if he could probably not hear anything, but when I saw him lifeless, I almost passed out. I couldn't believe that he was gone. I mean the doctors had told us that he'd only push until his heart could so it wasn't unexpected. He also had complications with blood clotting that added to the problem. I really have no idea what to do because the last thing he'd want is me laying in bed most of the day.
Tl;Dr : I lost my dad around a week ago and even with the help from medication, therapy and family and friends support I'm not able to get out of bed or accept that he's gone. Any advice on how I can get better is much appreciated
Sorry guys this post is all over the place, I'm sleep deprived even if I'm in bed most of the day and i have no idea what I'm saying, and i have no idea how to put my emotions in words

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TOP 20 REASONS WHY I'M THE MOST LEGIT EXAM, HW, ONLINE CLASS TUTOR ON REDDIT:

1. U.S. Citizenship Status: I have native-born U.S. citizenship status, an 100% authentic & natural U.S. American accent, and a verified New Jersey, USA residence. I can speak on the phone professionally in both perfect native U.S. English and fluent Canadian English.
2. U.S. 212 Phone Number: I have a verified U.S. American business phone number with the prestigious 212 area code (212-380-1856 - Ext 3) that can both send & receive phone calls, texts, voicemails, photos, and website links.
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5. Team of U.S. Academic Experts: I and my team of dedicated academic experts complete all types of academic coursework for students in most math, English, science, business, humanities, social Sciences, computer programming, and foreign language classes on a 24/7/365 full-time round-the-clock basis. This is not some part-time gig for me. It’s literally my primary source of income. I can regularly make myself available to help students with last-minute & same-day academic requests.
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8. Can Change IP Address: I have multiple reliable VPN software including: NordVPN, SurfShark & ExpressVPN that allows me to successfully change my computer’s original New Jersey IP address to any major city in the U.S. & Canada to avoid raising red flags with students’ online class software.
9. Proctored Exam Help: I have developed multiple highly effective methods of helping students with exams, tests, and quizzes that are proctored by software like: Respondus Lockdown Browser with Webcam, Honorlock, Examity, Proctorio, Proctor360, Proctortrack, and ProProctor using 3 highly effective proven methods. Option 1 - WhatsApp: I use WhatsApp to have the student discreetly text me photos of the exam questions outside of the webcam’s view and I text them the correct solutions to the exam questions. Option 2 - Screen Share: Using screen share software like Zoom to see the student’s screen displaying the exam questions and I text the correct solutions. Option 3 - Remote PC Access & Control: Using remote computer access software like to control the student’s mouse and keyboard from my own computer.
10. Study Help Apps: I have over 15+ paid subscriptions to a wide range of study help apps, software, websites, and programs to help me solve exam & homework questions faster and more efficiently. Some of these resources include: Brainly, Chegg, CourseHero, Quizlet, SymboLab & WolframAlpha.
11. Calculators & Math Software: I have access to a very sophisticated graphing calculator and various mathematical software that provides step-by-step solutions to complex mathematical problems within seconds, allowing me to provide exact solutions to the student in a timely manner.
12. Test Taking Techniques: I have developed highly effective methods to determine the correct answers to questions that I’m not already familiar with including process of elimination, working backwards, quickly searching for similar questions online, and utilizing standardized test taking techniques taught only in elite standardized test prep tutoring programs.
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• Full Courses: Final rates for full class help depend all the foregoing plus: total number of hw, quizzes, exams, discussion posts, and other academic tasks left that need to be completed, total number of weeks or modules left in the class to complete, and whether there is required multi factor authentication for logging in like Duo Push or text passcode.
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• Rationale for My Rates: I sincerely believe my rates are more than fair considering my education, skills, native born U.S. resident status, legitimacy, and the substantial amount of value, stress relief, and saved time & energy I’d be providing you in exchange for my valuable, irretrievable time, energy, and effort.
• Disclaimer About Rates: Completing someone else's exam, essay, or homework assignment is obviously NOT something you can just freely ask anyone to do, especially on the internet. Therefore, such help should be well-compensated. Services that are reliable and deliver high-quality results are difficult to find and are very high in demand. Thus, I expect to be compensated fairly for all the value, stress relief, and saved time & energy my services provide. However, I may be willing to negotiate rates if necessary.
• Payment Methods: I accept PayPal (required for all Canadian students), Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, and anonymous credit & debit card payments via online invoice.
• Payment Plans: I offer the following payment plans for my services: weekly (most expensive), monthly, half-now / half-later, and all upfront (least expensive).
• Money Back Guarantee: I guarantee the following grades for coursework completed: A+. A, A-, B+, B. and B-. However, I offer a 50% refund for C+, C, and C- grades, and a full 100% refund for D+, D, D-, and F grades.

CURRENT RATES -- AS OF SUMMER / FALL 2022 -- SUBJECT TO CHANGE:

• Full Class Help Rates: $595 – $2495 USD
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THE OBLIGATORY "IS THIS A SCAM?" QUESTION:
Considering the fact that you found my contact information online, it’s understandable to be skeptical regarding the legitimacy of my services. Therefore, I’m willing to do all of the following to help you feel more secure in trusting me with your academic needs:

• Engage in a Telephone interview: Speak with you on the phone and answer any questions you may have so that you have the opportunity to assess and analyze my tone, articulation, and accent. I’m a New Jersey-born Irish/Italian-American, but I have been told that I speak in an erudite & articulate suburban American accent with a “professor style” voice somewhat resembling the voice of actor: Ben Stein.
• Provide Telephone References: Provide you with the contact information of students who have utilized my services in the past who would be more than willing to vouch for my skills.

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At the risk of sounding arrogant, I consider myself to be at least marginally more intelligent (both academically & socially) than the average person. Therefore, if I ever decided to suddenly risk prison time, risk my reputation, and risk enduring the wrath of modern-day “cancel culture” by scamming people out of their money:

• Not Worth the Money: I certainly wouldn’t do it for such paltry amounts of money. (i.e., anything less than $1,000 per victim.)
• Most Students are Broke: I certainly wouldn’t choose high school & college students as my “target audience” to scam, considering that most people without college degrees have abysmally low annual incomes.
• Waste of Time & Energy: Communicating back and forth with potential clients is an absurdly long time sink since only less than 10% of all potential clients who reach out to me actually become paying clients of mine.
• All My Payment Apps are Still Active: If you pay me to provide academic services and I don’t deliver, you can always dispute the payment with the payment app and easily get your money refunded. If I were in the habit of swindling money from people, then all of my payment accounts would have been investigated and be completely shut down by now.

If you are unable to pass your AWS Certification Exam, get paid help from Online Helpers at Hiraedu!
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CONCLUSION:

• My Mission: Thank you for taking the time to read my Reddit post. I take what I do very seriously and I always strive to get the highest possible grades for all students who entrust me with their coursework.
• Closing Words: Please feel free to reach out to me if you're sincerely interested in having help you with your school work. I am available via text, email, and call almost 24/7/365.

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Hi fellow Flipperinos.
A quick note before I start, please don't respond with comments that this just won't work or that Flipper isn't for disabled people. That's an ableist perspective, and is fundamentally against the spirit of hacking. So, if you like thinking about ways to solve problems, read on and chime in...
A friend of mine is a tech geek and he is totally blind. He uses a screen reader (VoiceOver, JAWS, NVDA, etc.) to interact with computers and phones and he LOVES gadgets. I told him I got a Flipper and he got very excited and he wants to get one so badly. Just one problem, there's no screen reader functionality and I haven't found any projects that could make it work with one. He had some ideas, such as using an app on his phone or laptop that reads out or describes the content of the screen via qFlipper. That might have limitations because it's mostly using OCR and image recognition, but it's one possible way.
qFlipper can be used with a keyboard. Arrow keys, enter key, and backspace work well as the device buttons. But it seems the output from the Flipper is only visual. Is that the case? Does flipper just mirror the screen or can it also provide text, option labels, etc. that appears on the screen?
I'm asking this as kind of a thought experiment, but a project I might be interested in tackling. If you were going to make Flipper accessible to a blind person, how would you do it? Would a laptop (PC or Mac) solution be viable? Is there any possible hardware solution, a board plugged into the GIPO that has a headphone jack and screen reader function?

Fox & Hound Media Copyright Agency

Calling all business / upcoming businesses, Content Creators, Media Personalities!
Local from Park Slope here, ever tried getting your brands handle (@) just to see it's already claimed, set on an inactive account, or strangely invalid? We can help. I run a brand organizing media agency, Fox & Hound, while much of my work has taken place for businesses outside of our neighborhood. I thought it would be worth offering my services directly here after noticing a majority of places don't own their companies handles.
We've worked in the media industry for the last 6 years, over that time we have established close connections with representatives at Instagram, Twitter (X.com), and various other platforms. We specialize in assisting brands with quickly claiming their desired handles for their pages. Below are the services we offer, and our payment information:

What We Do:

1) 48 Hour Handle (@'s) Handle Claims: Within 48 hours, we can get your brand whatever handle you desire. The handle must be 6 or more characters. If the handle is currently set on an account you do not own. That account has to have been inactive for 1 year. If you search the account and a page doesn't show, this means the handle is "invalid", we can get these handles too. The handle can be set onto your preexisting page, or onto a fresh account. All claims are done within 48 hours, ALWAYS.
​
2) Blue Verification Check Eligibility: It can be a struggle to get your account verified, with our help we can get your brand properly verified by Instagram, X, or YouTube.
​
3) Account Unbanning/Recovery: Instagram + X hands out 30,000 unjustified bans a year, and rarely revoke these regardless of how invalid they are. On top of that, over 60,000 social accounts are hacked a year, in which they rarely assist with recovery. If you've fallen victim to either of these. Our team can retrieve your accounts within 1-week.
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4) Account Takedowns: Instagram + X prove extremely unhelpful when it comes to dealing with individuals facing harassment, and when they do it can take months, our team can legally get accounts terminated if provided proper evidence of malpractice within 1-week.
​

Payment Information:

Payment processes vary depending on the service you're requesting - so for that we cannot provide definitive pricing/quotes until we've discussed the job we're doing. What we can tell you is... For handle claims, you will not pay a cent until the handle has been secured onto the account of your choice. Payments for account takedowns, and account retrievals are upfront. We accept PayPal for most clients, but in some cases we request you pay through Crypto (All coins are accepted). If you need assistance with purchasing the crypto we have supportees ready to walk you through it.
​
If our services could be of use to you, reach out to us! Below are our contact credentials. We are happy to schedule phone calls if you'd prefer to discuss over the phone:
Email: [ypcorporates@gmail.com](mailto:ypcorporates@gmail.com)
Phone #: +1 718 795 7294 (Text Only - Calls will not come through)
​
Look forward to helping out!
​
- WY, from Fox & Hound Corp.

I have seen this issue multiple times on DayZ forums and reddit with no resolution. When trying to join a server in Dayz the countdown will start and the loading bar will appear. When the countdown is done and the loading bar is around 25% complete the game will freeze on the blurred out character screen. There are a few RARE circumstances where the character will actually load into the server, but we load in completely desynced, even getting the character to load in requires constant restarting of the game.
We recently upgraded to At&t Internet Air using an All-fi Hub. We get anywhere from 120-300 mbps download and around 40mbps upload average PING is between 20-40. Our old internet was At&t Internet 10 which was awful. We got 11mbps for a few seconds and then kbps and it switched back and forth. Ping was awful on old internet. The old internet ran off a phone cable whereas this new internet is true wifi and connects you to a cell tower for 5G internet. Despite this, we were able to play Dayz on old internet with occasional lag and issues during congested hours, but playable.
My wife loves this game, it's the only thing she plays, she is involved with the community servers she plays in and now its been ripped away from her. I have done hours of EXTENSIVE troubleshooting trying to get this game to work with no success. I will list the methods I have gone through below.
NAT is Open
Ports are forwarded
Internet is strong and Ping is good.

The following methods of troubleshooting have been completed with no success:
Clearing Xbox cache, game save data, account save data, and all cloud-saved data.
deleting and reinstalling DayZ
Hard and soft reset of Xbox
clearing xbox MAC address and ensuring we have static IP address for Xbox
Port forwarding for xbox and common DayZ ports. I have used every available website and forum entry I could find to locate ports for this.
Playing on a different console
We still had some time left on our old internet so I hooked up the old router, made sure I could connect using several different devices and tried playing again on it, now it doesn't even work, so we can't even go back to our old internet.
MTU is currently 1430 (the old router was 1500, which was the only difference between settings other than connection type.) I CAN NOT change this. The router settings will not let me.
Messed around with IP address, MAC address, Gateway address.
I have (briefly mind you) messed around with firewall settings just to make sure they weren't blocking anything.
Tried IPV6 on and off.
Messed with Dayz Menu settings. All of them, FOV, Aim assist, any option that could be enabled, disabled, or changed, i have tried it.
Soft and hard reset the router, restored to factory conditions.
Tried MAC filtering between 2.4 and 5ghz.
Tried IP passthrough and allocation and packet filtering changes
Made sure everything was up to date: Xbox, Wifi router, DayZ
Tried playing with and without Livonia installed.
I have tried a wired and wireless connection with Xbox. keep in mind though, this router has no cable. It connects wirelessly to a cell tower. I have no broadband, fiber, or phone cable that runs to the router.
I HAVE CONTACTED MY ISP and they said they can't see anything wrong on their end. They said it must have something to do with the game's servers. Especially because this is the only game that does this. Every other online game works and runs fine with no issues.
Honestly, there are probably a few other things I have tried that I can't think of.

Cloud Gaming worked, but it's awful and practically unplayable
Now here's the weird thing that I saw several people posted. They were able to use their phone's mobile hotspot and join the server. This also worked for me. I used hotspot and was able to load right in but hotspot data gets eaten up like crazy so it isn't sustainable unless you only wanna play for an hour or 2 per month.
I think that's crazy because my phone is At&t 5G which uses a cell tower and it works. But my internet which is At&t 5G and uses a cell tower...doesn't work.

I have seen so many posts similar to this one and there are no solutions and rarely any DEV feedback. The most common feedback is to contact the ISP because it's something with them, but neither myself nor the ISP can find the issue because this is the ONLY game that has this problem. Unfortunately for me it's the only game my wife plays.
I have poured through forums, reddit, some weird places and tried every potential solution/suggestion that was offered. This is increasingly frustrating because I can usually figure stuff like this out. I try to be very thorough. I truly believe this has something to do with DayZ and how it communicates.
Any insight or suggestions are appreciated. I have also posted this to DayZ forums, Xbox forums, and At&t forums although phone rep could not find anything wrong on their end.

I'm listening to Chad Daybell's trial and the FBI Agent is on the stand talking about the cell phone pings. It's so interesting because they were able to get pretty precise with where the cell phone pings are to the point where they're able to tell if the phone pinged at Alex's apartment or Lori's apartment which are only about 80 meters apart and facing each other. The FBI Agent said that for this particular data set, there is only a 4 to 17 meter margin for error (I think I'm understand this right!). I also had the privilege of being a juror in the murder of Randy Baker in Greeley, Colorado in 2019 and a large part of the evidence also was cell phone ping data. I remember them being able to be pretty precise as well with the locations of the devices.
My question is, with the supposed running around shooting chipmunks that Barry admitted to, they aren't able to say for sure that it's not static drift. I guess I'm confused about static drift and how it works and if it's because of the specific locations being in the mountains?
On a side note, if you're ever bored, look up the murder of Randy Baker in Greeley, Colorado! I was in the juror for his wife, Kelly Baker's trial! Kelly Baker, Randy's sister Carol Baker and Randy's nephew Kelly Raisley(Carol Baker's son), conspired to murder Randy in order to get roughly 400k in marital assets instead of Kelly Baker having to split it with her soon to be ex husband. Kelly was having an affair and had asked for a divorce. Randy was devastated and really wanted to make their marriage work but Kelly Baker was not at all interested. She tried unsuccessfully a few times to poison his morning smoothies with Klonapin and he fell asleep driving at least once on his morning drive for work to Sterling, Colorado. The nephew, a known gang member, snuck into Randy's garage and shot him when he was getting home from work and guess what he got to carry the murder out? His uncle Randy's Harley, which ended up being a huge piece of evidence we used to convict Kelly Baker! It was a really cool experience getting to see our justice system work. The trial took 3 weeks and we found Ms Baker guilty!!
https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/local/colorado/2017/10/17/police-greeley-mans-family-conspired-kill-him/768553001/

It’s a little scattered doing it on my phone. I’ll get home and clean it up. But I want peoples input. I really think this would work and it’s totally realistic. I think CIG needs some guidance and the medical changes offer the perfect moment to add these features in the game.
I have been a developer for years and I can see CIG trying balance what’s realistic and what they promised. Every startup I was with came to a point where they realized their proposals were far too aggressive, and the higher ups would not even listen to ideas unless they were easy to implement.
So, I’ve been trying to come up with ideas that take minimal effort for maximum gains. These are fairly simple, but will add depth or will lay the groundwork for easy future development.
I think this is the perfect topic for my first idea. The medical system is tricky, but so important. Right now, the medical system is boring and doesn’t add much to the game and with a few tweaks it could add 25% more and be a major part imo while feeling more immersive and satisfying both parties. We need to look to other amazing games like Eve online and cyberpunk imo.
The hard-core fans want investment and death to cost. Now that I am older and have a family, I understand how hard it is to balance that in time to play Now that I am older and have a family, I understand how hard it is to balance that and time to play. It’s really hard to get your average gamer to want to invest 30 minutes to simply respawn.
So in my opinion, we need a system that…

1. Makes death inconvenient and costly but with several ways to pay the “bill”, not only costly at that moment so the player decides quitting is easier.
   
2. Makes the game far more immersive and makes the game deeper, not shallower. In real life in the future, in the future, medical would be a vast portion of warfare and finance and exploration and exploitation. Not just a glorified HP counter.
   
3. Makes all medical ships useful and relevant. Cannot have a shallow system where one ship is clearly the best.
   
4. Makes healthcare and biology affect all the other parts of the game…. It is our bodies and minds after all. In the future, the wealthy will modify their bodies, just like their ships.
   
5. Uses a lot of these modules that are currently window dressing, but have amazing application. Things like blood pressure and reflex times and damage reduction and bio scanners and the HUD and incorporates it to a tiered clone system.
   

TLDR is We need a Cyberpunk / Eve style futuristic bio medical system with weapons and implants that completely change a persons capabilities and a jump clone system that reflects this. T5-T1 clones 5 being a throwaway and 1 being a Spartan from Halo. T1 would have the exact HUD we have now with additional systems. T4 and less is like the game in photo mode with nothing. People take for granted how much information you get from the HUD and who would really have access to it?
The beauty of this is while it sounds like a lot and would add 25-50% more careers, economys, gameplay and strategy’s from a gameplay perspective. Its actually not much at all from a development point of view. It would reuse all of the current systems now, and add a few skills like scanning / hacking and weapons like EMP, Darts to humans. Generally, this is how it would work.
T5 clone is a meat bag with a 4 hour life used as a spare tire. It’s the base level. Operated similar to when you’re drunk because The damage from the cryo. You can do stuff, but you are very limited. They can be carried around in 1 SCU containers or special lockers in big ships for dangerous work like reactor repairs etc.
T4 clone is a meatbag the same we are inhabiting right now IRL. Basically this is exactly like you turning off the game hud in photo mode. These cannot be cold stored and reused. No HUD or endgame information input at all outside of your Moby glass watch.
T3 clone is the first of the implants. It can take one implant. Combat might allow thermal vision or the local map and radar and crosshair. Exploration might have the ability to bookmark or see things on your HUD that you scanned from your ship. Conversation might add elements to charisma and talking people into doing things, getting better prices on goods, or hearing rumors about opportunities, etc. Covert allow you to scan people and check their inventory and run checks on who they are, what crimes they have committed, etc.
Basically it’s a stripped down version of the hud that’s active all the time even without helmets. It has to work in tandem with your mobi. You have to select one element.
T2 clone has upgraded reflexes, can run longer, survive more dmg and has the complete HUD suite. It has the bandwidth and upgrades to support 1 implant and 1 physical modification. Everything CIG has been adding can be added to the HUD but you have to switch between exploration, combat, conversation, covert etc. 1 physiological mod or weapon. Like a brain hacking chip that can open ship doors, and emp that shut down all electronics in a 20 m radius for 15 seconds or a drone or fiber optics camera. Then there are all the illegal modifications like hidden blades, Multi launchers with everything from neurotoxin to EMP darts.
T1 clone is very costly and made for combat and for solo explorers who need complete autonomy. 20% more hp, and basically 20% better everything. It has the complete HUD with the ability to Connect to the data stream of two ships in your party. If your buddys ship detect an enemy ship coming in it would pop up in your actual vision as a big red square with information. You would have the ability to zoom without a helmet on and have limited scanning just like your ships function on everything.
It could 2 implants. 1 legal and 1 illegal implant. Emp, Hacker etc
It also has two physical modifications. Blades, darts etc
Also the tier 2 and 1 are the only clones that are not harmed using heavy or power armor. The others are slowly harmed by s by the rapid and jarring servos, etc. so they are all time limited.
Imagine how amazing this would make the universe in general. You would have ripper docs implanting stolen, or military implants. Corpses would now be valuable if they had upgraded organs for implants. People would become targets just for their implants.
If you killed an assassin coming after you, you could take his cool tools.
Sometimes corpses could be worth as much as a ship. You could actually ransom back bodies.
You could have a repo men coming to collect the implants. Organ traders and human traffickers.
But it would also make T1 and 2 ships completely necessary in combat because they were the only ones who could rec clone military units.
Best of all. All of this code is already there. All of the heads up display and all these cool features they’ve been adding Would be the implants themselves.
The game the Way it is it doesn’t make sense that a Moby glass can produce all of this data. It makes the game more immersive as well.
It doesn’t have to be over the top like cyberpunk. But we almost have brain implants now and everything is going wireless, you really think in the future they’re gonna be wearing a wristwatch? Everything will be brain implant and wetware.
With these easy changes, we solve our medical problems and add a ton of depth along with the ability to add as much depth as we want.
All you would need is to create the UI for this, but the game already has a lot of that with its biological scanners. All the balancing could happen by biologically if you’re using implants, etc.
Jump clones would cost a lot of money to make, and healthcare in real life is one of the most expensive things. But just like the hospital doesn’t make you pay your bill the moment you’re out of surgery, we need to spread the cost to a later time.
The time the player needs to respawn is usually after they have already planned and loaded up and executed, but didn’t succeed. This is time where casual players set aside their block of playable hours. (when the kids are asleep and wife is watching something etc) So by making it too costly at that moment, ( 30 minutes to an hour, getting geared up and in ship flying back) your odds are they will just quit, which is not engaging for other players and your odds of a major war or event go down drastically. What’s good for the game and what was so successful in Eve was the fights after the opening.
Instead the front loading all the time investment, Charge 5-25k for the biomaterial. spread the cost of the death to a later time and let them pay off their debt when they log back in.
We also want to make the smaller tier 3 ships necessary while not killing the t1 and 2 beds.

7 growth hacks with Google Ads for your SaaS:

1. Optimize Your Quality Score: Your Quality Score impacts your CTR and ad ranking. Google rewards high QS advertisers with lower CPC and higher ad positions. To increase tour QS & ROI, give special attention to:
   1. Ad Relevance
   2. Click through rate
   3. Product Page
2. Appeal to Emotions Half of all ads are average or below-average performers. They all sound the same. Boring. So how do you achieve high-performing ads? Emotions. If you can’t make them feel something, you can’t get them to click.
3. Optimize for Mobile: 50% of searches from phones. Mobile typically already has greater intent as people are on the go and need to be fulfilled immediately. Funnel: Ad -> Click-to-Call -> Lead Captured
4. Use Competitor’s Keywords: One of the best hack to get you more clicks. But also increase the ROI of your PPC campaign… Is to use competitor’s keywords. It’s proven that there’s purchasing intent through those keywords. Take advantage of it.
5. Geotargeting: If you don’t optimize ads based on location… You’re losing traffic. Geo-targeting helps you find your ICP by assessing their behavior.
   1. Create custom ad content
   2. Generate traffic
   3. Funnel them Use geo-targeting for this
6. Negative keywords: Want a boost in your ROAS? Use negative keywords. You only attract potential buyers, which increases the conversion rate. e.g. Running shoes → Use negative keywords such as “dress shoes” or “high heels”
7. Draft Touch Insane Ads: If you can surprise ad visitors, you’ll stay top of mind. Draft compelling ad copies by adding an emotional touch. Make it irresistible for your viewers to take action. There are various ways to do this, but what’s most important is… Make them click the ad.

Bonus: Formatting Use Title Case in your First Heading. The second heading should support the first one. And add a clear CTA. Show success, reviews, and your USP.
Aside ... try go niche first, and test that out - lest you give Google all your $$
Original posted here https://saaswrites.beehiiv.com/p/saaswrites-83-write-saas-growth-7-google-ads-hacks

I'm not sure if Im posting this in the right place. I wasn't able to post in privacy. But, im posting on behalf of my friend who's struggling to leave an abusive relationship with the father of her child. They are currently living together.
He's somehow hacked her phone to be able to read all her text messages and send messages from her phone number, pretending to be her. He's also had access to her Instagram. Idk if he has access to her entire phone or what. She recently got a new phone, but kept the same phone number because of work. He still appears to have access to her phone. How can we stop him from doing this and get her privacy back? Is there a way to find out what he's doing? If he has access to every app on her phone? Could just using WhatsApp or Signal be a solution?
Thank you in advance

I'm not sure if Im posting this in the right place. But, im posting on behalf of my friend who's struggling to leave an abusive relationship with the father of her child. They are currently living together.
He's somehow hacked her phone to be able to read all her text messages and send messages from her phone number, pretending to be her. He's also had access to her Instagram. Idk if he has access to her entire phone or what. She recently got a new phone, but kept the same phone number because of work. He still appears to have access to her phone. How can we stop him from doing this and get her privacy back? Is there a way to find out what he's doing? If he has access to every app on her phone? Could just using WhatsApp or Signal be a solution?
Thank you in advance

It may have been a long time coming, but I still feel kind of awful about it.
We were together for 10 months, and it was the best and worst relationship I’ve ever been in, but it was really just doomed from the start. When I first met him I was in a loveless marriage, and he was in a loveless relationship with someone he had a kid with. In my marriage we were together for 6 years, but the love had been gone for the last years. His relationship with his bm had been 3 years, but she had been continuously cheating. So, we ended up running away together. But his bm still lives at his parents house with his kid because she has no where else to go…?
The relationship started out intensely both physically and emotionally and neither of us were looking back.. at first, I guess. Until after about 3 months when she told him that she was 6 months pregnant, and he started being insecure about me being friends with mostly guys, and being a generally friendly person. I told him we can work through it together and I started changing how I interacted with people and who I interacted with that made him uncomfortable, and he started being in closer contact with her. It wasn’t long until he broke up with me the first time(1) and kicked me out of the apartment we lived in. We get back together within a couple of days. Only for him to leave me again (2) after about a month when I started noticing he was messaging her more and more while he was at work. We ended up getting back together the next night. But then I started getting anxieties. And I started to spiral asking for reassurance that he isn’t going to get back together with his ex and that it wasn’t something had to worry about with the new baby coming soon - and instead of reassurance he made me seem like I was being crazy for even questioning it and breaking up with me again (3). We ended up playing games together after 2 days and began talking about getting back together again, but he tells me he slept with her and is still in love with her, but in love with me too and convinces me to allow him to date both of us. Then I would live back at our apartment, and he would only be living at his parents with her for a bit to help take care of the newborn.
So he started staying there while I would stay back alone. He would see me every couple of days or so for a few hours, but never more than that. Then he started cancelling plans left and right, sometimes because he just didn’t feel like it… After the 3rd day or so of him cancelling plans last second I started losing it. I was getting ready to see him, excited. He said that he needed a minute because he was arguing with his bm then he just stopped replying. I called about 37 times then everything started going straight to voicemail, green text, and no replies on SC or Discord. After 6 hours I was fully convinced he left me for good. So I was going to cope for a night and be gone in the morning, but I did something bad. I went on tinder and sent each of my matches the same copy and paste “let’s hook up” messages. These back and forth messages went on for about 2 hours when he suddenly texted me saying he fell asleep. Then he suddenly showed up at the apartment happy and giddy. That’s when he saw me put my phone down and asked me for it. I said no at first then eventually confessed and gave him the phone. He was really upset.. and told me he was coming over to tell me that she was making him choose between me and her, and that he was choosing me. He then decided to forgive me and take me to get my things from my ex-husbands house and told me that things are going to be different this time.
Unfortunately they were different in the worst kind of way. Neither of us trusted each other anymore and he began crossing every boundary I had. Sleeping in the same bed as her still and being overly too friendly, and I sat by quietly thinking it was what I deserved. Eventually that blew up to him leaving me once again (4) time. I started packing, but I needed more boxes so he came by with them. We ended up hooking up and he ended up telling me he slept with her again. We were back together and moved back in within a day. But the issues still remained that he was crossing my boundaries. Eventually I ended up pregnant after 3 months. After a month I began to miscarry, and during it instead of being with me through it he went to his parents house and told me she needed his car, but didn’t come home until late. And then once again, someone I used to have a crush with messaged me out of the blue and I didn’t really reject him when he started hitting on me.
He then broke up with me the second day of the miscarriage, and then found out about the guy who was hitting on me a day or so later after the breakup. Unfortunately, we still had to live together.
Valentine’s Day he brings me flowers and balloons and cookies, but goes to his parents to spend the night with her. And on the weekend he takes me out for Valentine’s Day and I go through his phone for the first time in months. Turns out he’s been trying to get back together with her and getting rejected from before I was even pregnant. I decided to forgive him I guess like he forgave me. Eventually it turned into him leaving me (5) saying he can’t stand me and has always wanted to be back with her. So he moved back to his parents. A week later he comes back saying he resents her. And we got back together again. After about a month we both moved out. I went back home and so did he at his parent’s house, sleeping in the guest room. Things were good for about two weeks until he left me again (6).
He told he’s been trying to get back with her but she’s been with someone else for the last 5 months. We end up talking again and seeing each other again, but this time he keeps me blocked on everything but our cell and Snapchat. And of course after 2 weeks he stops talking to him again (7). And within a few days we’re talking again. He comes over and spends the night and everything is good until the weekend. We make plans for a hotel and for the weekend, but when Friday comes along im stuck waiting for him to show up. And then 9:45 pm I still get no reply. (8) And I just snap… I message his bm. And I tell her everything. That we slept together in her truck, the shit he’s talked, that he told me we were soulmates 3 days ago, and that he showed me their sex videos.
And we never spoke again. He just blocked me and it’s been 4 days (the longest we’ve gone without talking) and honestly the guilt is eating me alive. My friends tell me that he deserved to be exposed, but I feel awful about it.

I'm not sure if Im posting this in the right place. But, im posting on behalf of my friend who's struggling to leave an abusive relationship with the father of her child. They are currently living together.
He's somehow hacked her phone to be able to read all her text messages and send messages from her phone number, pretending to be her. He's also had access to her Instagram. Idk if he has access to her entire phone or what. She recently got a new phone, but kept the same phone number because of work. He still appears to have access to her phone. How can we stop him from doing this and get her privacy back? Is there a way to find out what he's doing? If he has access to every app on her phone? Could just using WhatsApp or Signal be a solution?
Thank you in advance

If you ask other RVers which national park is their favorite, someone is bound to mention Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. It's a camper's paradise with wide open space and panoramic views.
Most evenings, the landscape glows at golden hour, and the sky turns from red hot at sunset to dark blue and star-filled at night. You can enjoy the remoteness of the park but also its proximity to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.
Take the time during your visit to enjoy the endless roads of the desert landscape, play on the rock formations, and, of course, marvel at the Joshua Trees.

Why Visit Joshua Tree National Park?

The first reason to visit Joshua Tree National Park is to see its famous and fascinating Joshua Trees. Since the Mojave desert is the only place in the world where they grow naturally, Joshua Tree National Park is the best place to see them.
These trees range between 15-40 feet tall and can live an impressive 150 years. They’re members of the Yucca family and appear as though they're from a different planet, with limbs unpredictably jetting out like they have their own minds.
Another great reason to visit Joshua Tree National Park is the warm weather and abundance of sunshine. It’s no secret that RVers love to snowbird and the Californian desert is a wonderful place to be during the spring and fall months. You’ll enjoy sunny days and clear nights, perfect for dry camping with solar panels.

When to Visit Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park is open year-round, but the best times to visit are during the spring and fall months. Park elevations range from 536 feet to 5,814 feet above sea level, so expect conditions to vary depending on where you go in the park.
Here’s more information on the seasonal weather in Joshua Tree.

Spring

Spring is a very popular time in the park because the temperatures range from the mid-60s in February to the mid-70s in April. Depending on the year, wildflower blooms can be seen in the latter part of spring at the lower elevations within the Pinto Basin.

Summer

Due to extreme desert heat (+100℉ days are the norm), the park is pretty quiet during the summer. Late in the summer, monsoon season hits Joshua Tree, which cools down the daytime temperatures but can also lead to flash flooding in valleys and ravines.

Fall

Monsoon season continues into the fall, but it soon gives way to one of the best times to visit. Temperatures from August into October fall from the upper 90s into the low 80s, and evening temperatures range from the low 70s to the low 50s, on average.

Winter

In the heart of winter, the park's average daily temperature is 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which is perfectly comfortable, but the nights get cold and often drop to freezing. Overnight temperatures in December and January average in the mid-30s.
Check the park’s website for the latest weather alerts and condition updates.

Where to Stay

Joshua Tree National Park is pretty remote and expansive. You'll want to stay a few days. Unlike other national parks, there are no lodges or resorts for overnight accommodations. There are eight developed campgrounds, however, and camping out under the stars at Joshua Tree is an unforgettable experience.
Here are a few important things to be aware of ahead of time if you plan to camp in Joshua Tree.

Reservation versus First-Come, First-Served

Four of the developed campsites require reservations. They’re larger than the first-come, first-served campgrounds, and some offer water and flush toilets. These campgrounds fill up very quickly. We recommend planning well in advance.

Reservation Required Campgrounds

• Black Rock Campground
• Cottonwood Campground
• Indian Cove Campground
• Jumbo Rocks Campground

Black Rock and Cottonwood are the most developed campgrounds (water, toilets, sanitation dump) and are the only campgrounds you can stay in if you have a larger rig.
Black Rock has six sites that can accommodate rigs with a total length (tow vehicle included) of 38-40 feet and seven sites up to 42 feet. Cottonwood has around twenty-five campsites that can accommodate rigs slightly longer than 35 feet.
Indian Cove and Jumbo Rocks both have a few spots for RVs up to 35 feet in total length. If you have a rig larger than 35 feet, site availability may be considerably limited.

First-come, First-served Campgrounds

These campgrounds are great options if you have a smaller rig and the good fortune of securing a site. During the popular season, these campgrounds fill every weekend and often during the week, as well.

• Belle Campground
• Hidden Valley Campground
• Ryan Campground
• White Tank Campground

These are primitive campgrounds, so you will need to bring (and carry out) everything you’ll need during your stay.

Staying Outside the Park

If you’re unable to find a site in the park or you’re looking for a campground with more amenities, here are a few nearby campgrounds:

• TwentyNine Palms RV Resort and Cottages: About 10 minutes from the north entrance.
• Sam’s Family Spa and Resort: About 45 minutes from the main visitor center.
• Catalina Spa and RV Resort: About 50 minutes from the main visitor center.
• Palm Springs Oasis RV Resort: About 45 minutes from the south entrance.
• Indian Waters RV Resort and Cottages: About 30 minutes from the south entrance.

Invest in a Good Sam Membership and save 10% on nightly stays at Good Sam Campgrounds.

Tips for Your Camping Stay

• Reservations for the reservable campgrounds can be made up to six months in advance.
• Reserve using the links below or by calling 1-877-444-6777.
  • Black Rock Campground
  • Cottonwood Campground
  • Indian Cove Campground
  • Jumbo Rocks Campground
• No campgrounds in the park offer electric RV hookups.
• Generator use is restricted to 7-9 am, noon-2 pm, and 5-7 pm.
• Hammocks are not permitted in campgrounds and must be hung from rocks or climbing bolts elsewhere to protect the park’s sensitive vegetation.
• Backpacking is permitted in the park, but it requires more advanced planning and preparation.

How To Get Around

Nestled between I-10 and California SR 62, Joshua Tree is located in Southeastern California and is easy to access. Several towns nearby, including Palm Springs, Indio, and Twentynine Palms, make perfect supply stops before entering the park.
Indio is the last best stop on I-10 if you’re entering the park from the south. The park’s south entrance is located off Exit 168, about 30 minutes east of Indio. The park also offers a west entrance on Quail Springs Road, about 10 minutes southeast of the town of Joshua Tree. And the north entrance is just ten minutes south of Twentynine Palms on Utah Trail.
Several paved roads allow you to traverse the park, but going from site to site can require long drive times. The most frequented sites are located near the northern edge of the park, so if you’re coming from the south along I-10, you’ll be driving through the park for an hour or so before you spot your first Joshua Tree.

Places to Go

There are many places to visit in the park that offer a variety beyond the infamous trees. It’s a unique location that features the intersection of two desert ecosystems.

Cholla Cactus Garden

The Cholla Cactus Garden is its own special area and is unlike any other part of the park. Be sure to enjoy the flat, ¼-mile nature trail to get the best look at the cacti. This patch of cacti is incredible because it mostly consists of Teddybear Cholla, which is the star of the cactus world.
The Cholla Cactus Garden is so impressive, and you’ll love snapping photos of these majestic plants. Their beauty changes throughout the day depending on how the sunlight hits them. A small word of advice, look but don’t touch. Ouch!

Arch Rock

Arch Rock is a very popular rock formation located a half-mile from White Tank Campground. The loop trail is easy to follow and a perfect activity for the whole family. Of course, the Arch Rock itself is the thing people most want to see, but there's lots of space to wander around and explore the other rock formations, too.
It’s also a very popular place for night photography and stargazing. If interested, White Tank Campground is a really convenient place to stay because of its proximity to the trailhead.

Keys View

Keys View is a popular lookout that offers incredible panoramic views of the park and the Coachella Valley. If beautiful scenery is your thing, make sure to visit Keys View. It’s about a 20-minute drive from the main road to the lookout via Keys View Rd.

Ryan Mountain

One of the most popular activities in the park is the hike to Ryan Mountain. This 3-mile round trip trail leads to the summit, where you’ll be treated to sweeping 360-degree views. The hike is listed as challenging by the NPS, so be sure to bring plenty of water and expect changing weather conditions.

Things to Do

The combination of the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert makes Joshua Tree a wonderful desert wilderness to explore. Here are some of the most popular activities in the park:

Hiking

Hiking is a great way to get off the road and experience more of the desert landscape. The National Park Service offers plenty of safety tips for hiking in Joshua Tree, and here are some of the park’s most popular trails:

• Barker Dam Trail: An easy 1.1-mile trail with interpretive exhibits containing information on park history. It’s a popular place for viewing bighorn sheep from a safe distance.
• Oasis of Mara Trail: A 0.5-mile trail to explore a desert oasis and learn how it’s harbored human and animal life for centuries.
• Lost Horse Mine Trail: A moderate 4-mile out and back trail to explore what was once the area’s most successful gold mine.
• Mastodon Peak Trail: A moderate 3-mile loop trail with an optional scramble to the top of a granite peak.
• Lost Palms Oasis Trail: A challenging 7.5-mile out and back trail down a canyon to one of the park’s most remote fan palm oases.

The Park Service DOES NOT recommend attempting challenging hikes in the heat due to the elevated risk of sun exposure and dehydration.

Mountain Biking

The majority of the park’s paved roads are not suitable for road cycling. However, several backcountry roads are perfect for mountain bikes. There are even three campsites within Ryan Campground dedicated to cyclists.
Be aware that bikes are only allowed on roads open to vehicle traffic but that the main park roads do not offer bike lanes or wide shoulders. Consult the park’s website for safety tips and road recommendations before biking in Joshua Tree.

Photography

Photographers love Joshua Tree because of the variety it contains. From sunrise to sunset, photographers can find landscapes, animal inhabitants, and even human visitors to place in frame.
Commercial photography does require a permit, and if you’re interested in expanding your knowledge, the Desert Institute offers field courses in partnership with the Joshua Tree National Park Association.

Stargazing

Stars can be hard to come by in urban areas like San Diego and Los Angeles, but Joshua Tree is a different story. Designated as an International Dark Sky Park, it offers some of the best stargazing in all of Southern California.
After the sun goes down, keep your headlamp in red light mode to preserve your night vision. Your eyes will need less time to adjust when you lie down to see how many shooting stars you can count!

Rock Climbing

Rock climbing, in addition to bouldering and slacklining, is another great activity to enjoy in the park. To date, there are more than 8,000 known climbing routes, over 2,000 bouldering problems, and numerous natural rock gaps that make the perfect spot to set up a slackline.
On a busy weekend, the park may have hundreds of climbers enjoying their slice of this monzogranite mecca. So be sure to follow Leave No Trace Principles and familiarize yourself with the park’s climbing management plan before your visit.

What to Bring and How to Prepare

• The desert can be dangerous, and the weather can change quickly. Check the forecast frequently and pack layers to prepare for changing conditions.
• The remote location means there is no cell service in many parts of the park. Communicate your plans to loved ones or authorities ahead of time, especially if traveling alone.
• Investing in a cell signal booster may improve cell reception in areas with limited service.
• A quality camping cooler is a great way to keep food and beverages cold in the heat of the desert.
• Bring an extra canopy tent and ensure your awning is in good condition so you can escape direct sunlight during the heat of the day.
• Keep up with air conditioner maintenance to regulate the temperature inside your RV.
• For the latest info on visiting Joshua Tree, visit their website: Joshua Tree National Park.

Brief History of Joshua Tree National Park

Despite its harsh desert environment, humans have inhabited the area that is now Joshua Tree for more than 5,000 years. In the modern era, the biggest threats to this natural environment were land developers and cactus poachers.
In the late 1920s, a Pasadena resident named Minerva Hoyt began voicing her concerns about the unregulated removal of cacti and other desert plants to be used in home gardens throughout Los Angeles.
In a relatively short time, her conservation efforts resulted in the formation of the Joshua Tree National Monument in 1936. The original protected area encompassed roughly 825,000 acres but was reduced by about 265,000 acres in 1950 when the Park Service excluded certain mining parcels in the eastern part of the park.
On Halloween in 1994, the Desert Protection Bill passed and Joshua Tree was elevated to national park status. The bill also added back approximately 234,000 acres of what had been lost in the 50s.
Plan your next trip to the national parks in an RV. Rent an RV, trade-In your RV, or buy a new or used RV and start traveling for less than $5 a day.
Have you been to Joshua Tree National Park? Share your tips and advice in the comments below.

What am I doing? Dominick Mason asked himself for the hundredth time that night. It was late on a rainy Sunday evening and Dom, a tall, lanky man-boy of twenty-five with a prominent Adam’s apple and too big eyes, stared out the rain-slicked window of the 905. The big bus swayed and jostled as it lumbered down Central Avenue, the movements strangely comforting, conducive to reflection…and self-doubt.
As if on cue, his phone buzzed, and a pit opened up in his stomach. He fumbled it out with long fingers and read the text. Are u almost here
His thumb hovered over the screen, but he did not reply. Part of him wanted to block the number, slink back home with his tail between his legs, and forget the whole thing. He could boot up his PS4 and play Red Dead Redemption or GTA V like always. Safe. Familiar. The thought, however, stirred a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.
It was dread.
Every night, he did the same thing. He came home from work to his tiny prison cell apartment. He had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He played video games until it was time to go to bed. The worst part of the whole night was when he turned off the TV and saw his murky reflection in the screen. Plaid. Scrawny. Disgusting. He hated being locked in that apartment, with its old smells and white walls, but he hated going out even more. At least in his hole, he was safe, like a mouse. No one hurt or lied to him there. No one gave him funny looks. No one rejected him. He was completely safe in his solitude, a wounded animal hiding in its den and licking its wounds.
He was wounded and he knew it.
And he hated himself for it. Hated that he wasn’t stronger or better. Hated that even though he tried so hard, everything he did fell apart…if it even came together in the first place, which it rarely did.
The phone buzzed again.
Just a question mark this time.
His heart began to race and a steely fist slowly closed around his lungs. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took a deep breath. He pictured himself alone in his little apartment. He loved the image, but he hated it too. Most nights, he didn’t mind being alone. He had to not mind it, because he didn’t have a choice. Some nights…some nights he didn’t want to be alone. Some nights he wanted warmth, he wanted tenderness…some nights, he wanted to be human.
Every so often, Dom would get the urge to find those things. They came less frequently than they did before, but unfortunately, they still came. He would create an account on Plenty of Fish and OKCupid, maybe some of the other sites as well. He would agonize over his stupid intro and his stupid list of hobbies. He would spend hours - literally hours - writing and rewriting them, trying at first to be serious, then light and funny, then cool, then aloof, then vulnerable. He would take the best possible pictures from the best possible angles, then upload them, never lingering over them because he hated the way he looked. He didn’t think he was ugly - mid was more like it - but apparently, he was ugly. Too ugly for love, too ugly even to talk to.
The ugly barnacle. So ugly that everyone died. The end.
All of Dom’s pictures were all selfies, of course. Guys he listened to on YouTube said he needed action shots, shots with friends, shots that showed women he had a life, was valued by those around him, and knew how to have fun. Too bad for him, he had no friends and no one valued him, not even his own mother. On the surface, maybe, but she had hurt him so many times over the years in so many ways that even the most devout son would stop and think.
It had to be selfies.
When his profile was in order - or as much in order as he could get it - he would start to browse. Dom knew his place and never messaged women who were too beautiful. He used to, but they never responded. He eventually began to skip their profiles with a pang of loss and a quiet what if? Now, he barely noticed them. Blonde. Petite. Blue eyes. Maybe she was a cheerleader at one time, maybe she was the type of girl who looked down her nose at guys like him. Maybe she was a sweetheart. In any case, he would never find out, so who cares?
He went for women he could realistically obtain…the type of women he’d dated and hooked up with in the past. Some were attractive in their own way, others were hard to look at, he wasn’t picky; he couldn’t afford to be picky. One woman he saw was a good three hundred pounds. She was nice and he liked her enough, but he lapsed into depression while they were dating and he never messaged her back…not that she made a huge effort to message him. Another was a pre-K teacher in her mid-thirties. Overweight with a big nose, glasses, and a plain face when she wasn’t wearing make-up. He liked her a lot and wanted to be with her, but after a month of weekend hookups, she said she didn’t love him. She told him she wanted a family - three kids, to be exact - but “changed her mind.” No, she didn’t. She just didn’t want those things with him.
Now she was in her late thirties, single, and having regrets.
She still wouldn’t settle for him, though.
Another woman he’d seen recently (six months ago) was fifty, but not unattractive. They texted for weeks, hot and heavy. She outright told him that she wanted to have sex with him. Said all sorts of nasty and sexual things. Their first (and only date) was her coming to his apartment. Instead of tender kisses, loving caresses, and intense emotions, they shared an awkward two hours on his couch. When he tried to hold her hand and put his arm around her, she stiffened. Not much, just a little. She said she “wasn’t ready.” He sat there and watched the flowers he’d gotten her wilt as she talked about her ex for an hour and a half, his arms pointedly crossed. He even leaned as far away from her as humanly possible, trying to communicate with his body language what he didn’t have the guts to communicate with his words: I’m uncomfortable, please leave. He planned to take her to a nice restaurant after they made love. Instead, he ordered something after she finally got the hint and left, eating alone like always.
After her, he deleted his profile (again) and resolved to never bother with dating again. Obviously there was something wrong with him. He saw guys who were uglier and more awkward than him with girlfriends, some actually stunning, but there was something about him in particular, something that repelled women…and men too.
Everyone.
It repelled everyone.
Maybe it was his self-loathing. After all, no one likes a sad sack. But that’s the thing: He was like this because of those experiences. It was a what came first, the chicken or the egg situation. Looking back, he had almost normal confidence at one point. Then all of this happened. The hundreds of messages he sent on the dating apps staying on read, unanswered, like he never sent them at all, like he was garbage unworthy of even a hello. The awkward dates. The occasional “success” that eventually fell apart…sometimes because of him, and sometimes because of them. The one girl who ran away from him when he tried to walk her to her car after a date. They didn’t click, he knew that, but he didn’t say or do anything creepy. Why did she do that? The girls who lead him on, talking about sex and sometimes even love but always had a reason they couldn’t meet.
There were other examples - many others - but it was all the same. Who cared?
Dom wanted to crawl back into his hole and stay there, to stop poking his head out and getting hurt. He wanted it so bad…but he was only human. Deep down, buried beneath layer after layer of scar tissue, there was still hope. Hope for love, for companionship, for acceptance, for intimacy and human touch. It was only an ember now, but even an ember is enough to spark a fire.
Some nights, he wanted to be safe. Other nights, he wanted to take a risk.
And this night was one of the latter.
Be there soon, he texted. He swallowed hard and wetted his lips. His heart was pounding faster and his bowels were loose. He really hoped this worked out. He didn’t think he could handle another rejection. If she turned him down, he’d probably go home and kill himself. Why go on like this?
He’d had that thought before…but he never followed through.
Maybe one day he’d actually shut the fuck up and do it already.
Maybe.
Ok :)
Her name was Heather and she was fat. She was not unattractive in the face and she wore her weight well, not that that mattered - he would take what he could get. They started talking on OKCupid last week and very soon, the conversation became sexual. He didn’t start it, though, she did. She was ahem very excited, she said. He liked to think that she was lonely, desperate, and wanted intimacy - any intimacy - just like him.
That really turned him on.
They agreed to meet, and now here he was, on the bus to her apartment on the other side of the city, hoping against hope that she didn’t hurt him too.
He put the phone away and stared straight ahead. The bus was nearly deserted, save for an old bag lady up front and a few Mexican guys in the back. Lights lined the bus’s roof, providing a cold, impersonal light. Dom took a deep breath and forced his dark emotions away. It was all on him to make this work. He would accept her fat, ugly, poor, and crippled, but he had to work to earn her love. He could do it.
When the bus finally reached his stop, he yanked the cord and got off. There was a plexiglass shelter lit by a single, lonely bulb. Trash littered the ground. Beyond the shelter, a park lay in darkness. Behind him, on the other side of the road, a housing project not unlike his own towered into the sky, lit up like a ship at sail. Dom swallowed his nerves and crossed the street. He found the door that she had directed him to use, and climbed the stairs. He expected trash, graffiti, and winos passed out on every landing. Instead, the stairwell was clean and deserted. His nerves welled as he climbed but he forced them down again. On the ninth floor, he went down the hall, battered on all sides by the stale smells of cooking and the murmur of TVs and voices coming from every apartment.
Dom paused at Apartment 237.
Heather’s.
You got this, he told himself.
And really, he did. Their plan - well, Heather’s, really - was simple and straightforward. She told him that she would leave the door unlocked. He was to come in, go to the bedroom, and she would be waiting for him. She said it was a fantasy of hers.
On some level, he knew all along that the whole setup sounded fishy. Was he being set up to get robbed? Would he walk in and get jumped by a bunch of Crips? He hesitated, but his need for love - and, yes, release - pushed him on.
He opened the door.
Inside, the apartment was small and messy, a living room to the right and a tiny kitchen to the left. The only light on was the one above the stove.
Everything else was in shadows.
Dom’s heart skipped a beat.
This didn’t feel right.
That thought was overpowered by the smell, a sickly sweet odor that suddenly seemed to be everywhere. His stomach twisted and he turned his head slightly to one side, as if to spare his nose. It smelled like something spoiled.
A voice spoke from the darkness, startling him. “I’m in here.”
It was light, airy, and cute.
For the last time, Dom hesitated. Some primal sense told him to turn around and leave…
…but he wanted to be loved.
Dom entered and shut the door behind him.
The smell was stronger. The atmosphere darker.
Ahead, he could barely make out an open doorway in the shadows.
He crossed to it.
The smell was overpowering here and Dom felt like he was going to puke. Any desire he had felt was gone, replaced only by revulsion and claustrophobia. It was cold, he realized, so cold that his teeth chattered.
Okay, fuck this.
He started to turn around, intent on leaving, but a small, white hand reached from the darkness. Icy fingertips brushed his cheek and his heart blasted into his throat.
Then she was there, her body pressing against his and her lips fused with his. The smell, the freezer chill, both stronger than ever.
They were both coming from her.
Her tongue hungrily lashed his own, and she pushed him against the wall. Her hands slipped under his shirt and pressed flat against his chest. They were so cold that he almost cried out.
Dom wanted to push her away, to run, but he didn’t. Instead, he froze up and allowed her to push him onto the bed. Was he too gutless to tell her no, the way he’d been too gutless to tell the woman who went on and on about her ex to shut up and leave? Did he secretly want to go through with this? He didn’t know, and he didn’t have time to figure it out. She was on top of him now, straddling him, his legs caged between her ample thighs. She grabbed his hands and pressed them to her bare breasts.
They were as cold as the rest of her.
She leaned down and kissed him again. He hadn’t noticed it before, but her tongue was…dry. Her mouth itself tasted strange. Off.
Heather broke from his lips and peppered kisses on his cheek and forehead, assaulting him with an intimacy that Dom no longer wanted.
Through it all, she was as silent as a tomb. She wasn’t panting or rasping with excitement. In fact, he didn’t think she was even breathing.
She brushed her lips along the exposed curve of his throat, and tingles of revulsion shot down his spine. She found his pulse and kissed it. Trembles of excitement raced through her body and she started to lap his neck like a dog.
Without warning, a fiery pinprick of pain exploded over him and Heather began to shake and pant. Dom cried out and tried to fight her off, but she was too heavy, too much.
With a tiny, mouse-like squeak - a sound of pitiable fear and resignation - Dom blacked out.