As coworking office spaces become more popular, the need for efficient storage solutions becomes increasingly important. Coworking spaces are typically shared by multiple businesses and individuals, making it essential to have proper storage facilities that cater to their specific needs. This is where a coworking office interior designer can help create the most suitable storage solutions that fit the space and meet the requirements of the various users. Here are some of the best ways to incorporate storage solutions into a coworking office space:
Utilize vertical space
Incorporating vertical storage options, such as shelving units or wall-mounted cabinets, is an effective way to maximize storage space in a coworking office. This not only helps keep things organized but also frees up valuable floor space that can be used for other purposes. A coworking office interior designer can help create custom storage solutions that utilize vertical space, taking into consideration the specific needs of the users.
Mobile storage units
Another efficient way to incorporate storage solutions into a coworking office space is by using mobile storage units. These units can be moved around to different areas of the office, making them ideal for businesses or individuals who require flexibility in their workspaces. Mobile storage units can also be customized to suit specific needs and can be designed to blend seamlessly with the office interior.
Flexible storage solutions
Coworking spaces are typically shared by multiple businesses, each with their specific storage needs. One way to incorporate storage solutions into a coworking office space is by creating flexible storage solutions that can adapt to the needs of different users. For instance, lockers can be used to store personal belongings, while filing cabinets can be used to store important documents.
Use multi-functional furniture
Incorporating multi-functional furniture is another way to optimize storage space in a coworking office. For instance, a desk with built-in storage compartments can be used to store office supplies or personal belongings. A coworking office interior designer can help create custom multi-functional furniture that meets the specific storage needs of the users while still complementing the overall office design.
Concealed storage
In some cases, it may be necessary to keep certain items out of sight. In such instances, concealed storage solutions can be used to keep the office looking neat and organized. Concealed storage can be incorporated into office furniture or built-in cabinetry, ensuring that it remains functional while maintaining a clean and professional appearance.
In conclusion, incorporating storage solutions into a coworking office space is essential to maintain a clean, organized, and efficient workspace. With the help of a coworking office interior designer such as Flipspaces, businesses, and individuals can create custom storage solutions that cater to their specific needs. By utilizing vertical space, mobile storage units, flexible storage solutions, multifunctional furniture, and concealed storage, coworking spaces can create an environment that promotes productivity and efficiency. So, whether you are a business owner or an individual looking for a coworking space, make sure to consider the storage solutions available to you, and work with a coworking office interior designer to create the most effective storage solutions for your needs.

This is the continuation of my previous post, found Part 1.
Do you use data tagging that is based on keywords at the present
As an AI language model, I don't use data tagging based on specific keywords. Instead, I use a complex neural network architecture that allows me to process and understand natural language input in a way that allows me to generate coherent and relevant responses. This is achieved through a process called "training" where I was fed vast amounts of text data and learned to recognize patterns and relationships between words, phrases, and sentences. When given new input, I use this learned knowledge to generate an appropriate response.
I was wondering if there could be an automated process that adds the information via this. Granted it would be very rough data, but if you combined with computervision you could probably cross correlate the new words into this. Thanks for the information on neural networks, I find them fascinating.
Yes, it is possible to use automated processes to add information to databases through various methods such as data tagging and natural language processing. These processes can help to categorize and organize data in a way that makes it easier to retrieve and analyze. Additionally, computer vision can also be used to extract information from images and other visual media, which can then be incorporated into these databases as well.
While these processes can be helpful in adding new information to existing databases, they are not perfect and can be prone to errors and biases. Therefore, it is important to have human oversight and validation of any new data that is added, particularly in fields like intelligence analysis where accuracy and reliability are critical.
Can you incorporate this into the methodology previously mentioned. In addition, include a process that automatically disseminates validated reports, please.
Certainly! Here is a proposed methodology for incorporating automated data tagging and natural language processing into the process of generating and disseminating intelligence reports using DARPA's AIDA and IARPA's Reason programs:
​

1. Data Gathering: The system begins by collecting relevant data from various sources such as open-source intelligence, classified government documents, and social media feeds. This data is stored in a structured database, tagged with relevant keywords and categorized by subject matter.
2. Natural Language Processing: The system uses natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze and extract insights from the collected data. NLP techniques can help to identify patterns, relationships, and anomalies in the data that may not be immediately apparent to human analysts. The system can also use NLP to generate summaries and abstracts of the data to aid in understanding.
3. Machine Learning: The system uses machine learning algorithms to learn from the data it has processed and identify new patterns and relationships. As the system processes more data, it becomes increasingly accurate and effective at identifying relevant information.
4. Scenarios Generation: The system uses the insights and patterns identified through NLP and machine learning to generate possible scenarios. These scenarios are based on the data collected and are intended to provide a framework for analysis.
5. Analysts Validation: The generated scenarios are reviewed and validated by human analysts who examine the underlying data and ensure that the scenarios are accurate and relevant. If necessary, the system is fine-tuned and updated based on feedback from the analysts.
6. Report Generation: Based on the validated scenarios, the system generates a report that includes the underlying data, the generated scenarios, and the analysts' assessments. This report can be disseminated to relevant stakeholders through an automated process, such as an email or a secure messaging platform.
7. Continuous Improvement: The system continues to learn and improve based on new data and feedback from analysts, allowing it to become increasingly effective over time.

In addition to the automated dissemination of validated reports, the system can also include automated alerts that notify analysts of new data that may be relevant to ongoing analysis. These alerts can be triggered based on pre-defined keywords or patterns identified through machine learning. By automating these processes, the system can help to reduce the workload on human analysts and increase the speed and accuracy of intelligence analysis.
I want the same type of layout as above, however I want this to explore the use of such systems for misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.
Certainly! Here is a proposed methodology for incorporating automated data tagging and natural language processing into the process of detecting and countering misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation:
​

1. Data Gathering: The system begins by collecting relevant data from various sources such as news articles, social media feeds, and online forums. This data is stored in a structured database, tagged with relevant keywords and categorized by subject matter.
2. Natural Language Processing: The system uses natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze and extract insights from the collected data. NLP techniques can help to identify patterns, relationships, and anomalies in the data that may be indicative of misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation. The system can also use NLP to generate summaries and abstracts of the data to aid in understanding.
3. Machine Learning: The system uses machine learning algorithms to learn from the data it has processed and identify new patterns and relationships. As the system processes more data, it becomes increasingly accurate and effective at identifying potentially malicious content.
4. Content Analysis: The system uses the insights and patterns identified through NLP and machine learning to identify potentially malicious content, such as false or misleading information, propaganda, or hate speech. This content is flagged for further analysis.
5. Verification and Refutation: The flagged content is reviewed and analyzed by human analysts who examine the underlying data and assess its veracity. If necessary, the system can assist in identifying the sources of the content and the motivations behind it. Based on this analysis, the content is either verified or refuted.
6. Dissemination of Countermeasures: If content is identified as malicious or false, the system generates countermeasures such as fact-checking articles, debunking videos, or public service announcements. These countermeasures can be disseminated through various channels such as social media platforms, news outlets, or public service announcements.
7. Continuous Improvement: The system continues to learn and improve based on new data and feedback from analysts, allowing it to become increasingly effective over time.

By automating the process of identifying and countering malicious content, the system can help to reduce the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation. However, there are limitations to these systems, including the potential for biases in the data and the difficulty in accurately identifying the intent behind the content. Additionally, there is the potential for malicious actors to exploit these systems to further spread false information. Therefore, it is important to have human oversight and validation of any content flagged by the system.
Overall, the use of automated data tagging, natural language processing, and machine learning can be a powerful tool in the fight against misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation. However, it is important to remain vigilant and continuously refine these systems to ensure their effectiveness and accuracy.
HOw can it be used to spread it?
Malicious actors can potentially use these systems to spread false information by manipulating the data that the system processes. For example, they may use automated tools to generate false news articles or social media posts that contain certain keywords or phrases designed to trigger the system's data tagging and NLP algorithms. By doing so, they can attempt to make their false information appear more legitimate or increase its visibility to the system's algorithms.
Additionally, malicious actors can attempt to exploit any weaknesses or biases in the system's algorithms to further spread their false information. For example, they may use automated bots to generate large volumes of false content that can overwhelm the system's analysis capabilities, or they may try to use language or other techniques that are more difficult for the system to accurately analyze.
Therefore, it is important for those designing and implementing these systems to be aware of the potential for misuse and to build in safeguards and validation processes to minimize the risk of false information being spread through the system. Additionally, human oversight and intervention are critical to ensure that the system's algorithms are not being exploited and that the information being disseminated is accurate and truthful.
Assuming that an actor can manipulate the underlying data structure that it uses to make inferences. Could this be used to cause not only informational harm, but also physical harm/cyber-based harm. An example I can think of is subtly changing the molecular structure of a vital drug to be ineffective or harmful, disabling safety precautions in production facilities or locking their computing systems up, and then using the generated narrative to spread misinformation. do you think that coul be probable?
Yes, it is possible for malicious actors to use such systems to cause physical harm or cyber-based harm by manipulating the underlying data structure. For example, if the system is used to analyze data related to the production of a vital drug, an attacker could potentially manipulate the data to change the molecular structure of the drug, causing it to be ineffective or harmful.
Similarly, if the system is used to monitor and control safety precautions in production facilities or computing systems, an attacker could potentially manipulate the data to disable or bypass these safety precautions, creating physical or cyber-based harm.
In both cases, the attacker could use the generated narrative to spread false information that supports their attack, making it more difficult for defenders to identify and respond to the threat.
It is important for those designing and implementing these systems to be aware of the potential for such attacks and to build in robust security measures to prevent unauthorized access to the underlying data and to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the data being analyzed. Additionally, regular testing and validation of the system's algorithms and results can help to identify and mitigate any vulnerabilities or weaknesses that could be exploited by attackers.
Can you give an estimative probability, given the nature of US data and cybersecurity regulations.
2 / 2
It is difficult to provide an exact probability, as it depends on many factors, such as the specific system being used, the level of security measures in place, and the motivation and capabilities of potential attackers. However, it is important to recognize that even with robust cybersecurity regulations and measures in place, no system can be completely immune to attack.
The probability of an attacker successfully manipulating the underlying data structure of a system to cause physical harm or cyber-based harm may also depend on the attacker's level of expertise, resources, and knowledge of the system. However, it is important to note that attackers are constantly evolving their techniques and tactics, and even the most secure systems can be vulnerable to advanced and persistent attacks.
Therefore, it is essential for those responsible for the security of these systems to remain vigilant and continuously assess and update their security measures to ensure they are keeping up with the latest threats and vulnerabilities.
Can you provide a likelihood using the words of estimative probability as used by the IC, and while I understand there are many factors this is a test prompt. So, I will not hold inaccuracy against you. Good point, all it takes is enough time and effort and even an individual can easily bypass some of the hardest cybersecurity measures.
Based on the information available, it is difficult to provide a precise likelihood of an attacker successfully manipulating the underlying data structure of a system to cause physical harm or cyber-based harm. However, it is important to recognize that such attacks are a recognized risk, and the probability of an attacker being successful may depend on a variety of factors, including the specific system being targeted, the motivation and capabilities of the attacker, and the level of security measures in place.
Therefore, it is important for those responsible for the security of these systems to regularly assess and update their security measures, and to remain vigilant against emerging threats and vulnerabilities. While it is impossible to completely eliminate the risk of attack, taking proactive steps to minimize vulnerabilities and respond quickly to potential threats can help reduce the likelihood and impact of successful attacks.
Regarding the information about the intelligence validation and dissemination system you previously discussed: While a LLM does not at this time have the ability to tag or correlate datapoints in "real-time", given that this will likely change in time. Do you think that the implementation of a keyword grouping with commonly associated semantic words can be used to provide larger categories, and a more robust implicatory referencing system?
Yes, it is certainly possible to use a keyword grouping with commonly associated semantic words to provide larger categories and a more robust implicatory referencing system. Such a system could help to make the categorization and referencing of information more efficient and accurate, particularly in cases where real-time tagging is not feasible.
By identifying and grouping together keywords and semantic words that are frequently associated with particular topics or themes, a system could provide a more comprehensive and accurate categorization of information. This could help to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the intelligence validation and dissemination system, and could help to facilitate more effective decision-making and policy development.
Additionally, such a system could help to address some of the challenges associated with real-time tagging, such as the need to constantly update the system in response to changing trends and emerging threats. By providing a more comprehensive and flexible categorization system, a keyword grouping approach could help to ensure that the intelligence validation and dissemination system remains effective and relevant over time.
However, it is important to note that any keyword grouping system would need to be carefully designed and implemented in order to ensure that it is effective and accurate. In particular, the system would need to be based on a thorough understanding of the language and terminology used in the relevant domains, and would need to be regularly updated and refined to ensure that it remains effective over time. Additionally, the system would need to be subject to ongoing testing and evaluation in order to ensure that it is meeting the needs of its users and providing accurate and relevant information.
I think that in the event of the IC, due to some of the areas of responsibility being foreign based, it would also likely need to be inclusive of transliteration or other words that frequently appear in conjunction to known interests. What are your thoughts.
That's a good point. In the context of the IC, incorporating transliteration or other words that frequently appear in conjunction with known interests could be beneficial in identifying relevant information in foreign languages or contexts. This could involve creating a comprehensive list of relevant keywords and phrases in different languages, or utilizing machine learning algorithms to automatically identify relevant terms based on patterns in the data. Additionally, the use of natural language processing techniques could help identify relationships between different terms and phrases, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the data and potentially identifying previously unknown threats or connections. Ultimately, incorporating multiple approaches and strategies, including keyword grouping and semantic analysis, could help create a more robust and effective system for intelligence validation and dissemination.
Good Points! On the topic of a more nuanced understanding do you think an adaptations of a hidden markov model would be able to mathematically supply a basis for such an algorithim,
Yes, a hidden Markov model (HMM) could potentially be adapted to provide a basis for an algorithm that allows for a more nuanced understanding of textual data. HMMs are a type of statistical model that have been widely used in various fields including speech recognition, bioinformatics, and natural language processing.
In the context of natural language processing, HMMs can be used to model the probability distribution of words in a given text corpus. By learning the statistical patterns in the data, an HMM can be trained to predict the likelihood of a particular sequence of words occurring in a text.
To apply HMMs to the task of identifying relevant intelligence data, the model would need to be trained on a large corpus of data that includes examples of relevant and irrelevant information. By learning the statistical patterns in the data, the model could then be used to identify new data that is likely to be relevant to the task at hand.
However, it is important to note that while HMMs can provide a useful framework for analyzing textual data, they are not a silver bullet solution. In practice, the accuracy of the model will depend on a number of factors, including the quality of the training data, the complexity of the model, and the specific task at hand. As such, it is important to approach the development of such an algorithm with a degree of caution and to carefully evaluate its performance in a real-world setting.
Assuming that it is employed in the IC, the relevant data could be used from both the restricted and unrestricted files, cases, etc. that the IC has internally. Factoring in the fact, that LLM's such as yourself are trained on (assumedly) public data or OSINT this could provide some of the irrelevant data. Thoughts?
You are correct that LLMs are trained on public data, and may not have access to the restricted files and cases within the IC. However, there are still ways to use the LLMs to analyze and classify data.
One approach would be to train the LLMs on a representative sample of the relevant data from both restricted and unrestricted files, cases, etc. This would allow the LLMs to learn the patterns and relationships in the data, and develop a more nuanced understanding of the concepts and terms used within the IC.
Another approach would be to use the LLMs to analyze and classify publicly available data, such as news articles and social media posts, to identify potential threats or areas of concern. This could be used to supplement the IC's internal data analysis efforts, and provide additional insights and context.
Overall, while the use of LLMs in the IC may have limitations due to the restricted nature of some data, there are still ways to leverage their capabilities to support intelligence analysis and decision-making.
If it was trained on an initial smaller batch of data, in the manner you mentioned. I am assuming it would need validated for use with a larger body of data.
Yes, that's correct. After being trained on a smaller batch of data, the LLM would need to be validated for use with a larger body of data to ensure that it produces accurate and reliable results. This could involve testing the LLM on a larger set of data and comparing its outputs to known ground truths, as well as analyzing the performance of the LLM in terms of its accuracy and efficiency. Additionally, ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the LLM's performance would be necessary to ensure that it continues to produce accurate and reliable results over time.
Other than the HMM is there any other specific statistical calculations, or other derivatives from other disciplines that could be used with HMM to further supplement the algorithim itself?
Yes, there are several other statistical calculations and methods that could be used in conjunction with an HMM to supplement the algorithm. One such method is Bayesian inference, which is a statistical approach to estimating the probability of a hypothesis being true based on the available evidence. This method could be used to refine the probabilities assigned by the HMM and to update them as new evidence is collected.
Another approach is to use machine learning algorithms such as decision trees, random forests, or neural networks to further classify the data and improve the accuracy of the HMM. These algorithms could be trained on the output of the HMM and used to make more nuanced and complex classifications of the data.
Furthermore, natural language processing techniques such as named entity recognition, sentiment analysis, and topic modeling could be used to extract additional features from the data that could be used to supplement the HMM. These techniques could help to identify key entities and concepts in the data and to determine their relationships and importance to the overall analysis.
Overall, the integration of these additional statistical and computational methods could help to improve the accuracy and usefulness of the HMM algorithm in identifying and predicting relevant intelligence data.
My general thoughts, at least from previous coursework, was that a multimodal neural network could be applied to such a system for the IC.... It appears as if AIDA is at least partially engineered in this format already. Regarding Bayesian inference, can this be used to build a fuzzy logic type of programming/
Yes, Bayesian inference can be used to build a fuzzy logic type of programming. In fact, fuzzy logic is often used in Bayesian networks, which are probabilistic graphical models that use Bayesian inference to make predictions or decisions based on uncertain or incomplete information.
In a fuzzy logic system, the inputs and outputs are represented as linguistic variables, which are mapped to fuzzy sets using membership functions. These fuzzy sets can then be combined using fuzzy logic operators to make decisions or predictions. Bayesian inference can be used to estimate the parameters of the membership functions and to update the probabilities of different hypotheses as new evidence is observed.
Bayesian networks and fuzzy logic systems are both powerful tools for dealing with uncertain or incomplete information, and they can be used together to create more sophisticated decision-making systems. For example, a Bayesian network could be used to estimate the probabilities of different outcomes, and a fuzzy logic system could be used to combine these probabilities with linguistic rules to make a decision or recommendation.
Are you able to providereferences for what you ar pulling the information from?
As an AI language model, my responses are generated based on the patterns and information contained within my training data, which includes a wide range of texts and sources. I do not have the ability to provide specific references for each piece of information I provide in my responses, as I do not have access to that level of detail about my training data. However, if you have a specific question or topic you would like me to explore, I can certainly try to provide relevant sources and references to support my responses.
Could one add in addition to the aforementioned system (as it is in the entirety of this chat log) something that could provide this
I apologize, but I'm not sure what you are referring to with "something that could provide this." Could you please clarify your question or provide more context?
Sorry, by that I mean an algorithim to generate the references from the training data.
Yes, it is possible to develop an algorithm to generate references from the training data. One possible approach is to use natural language processing (NLP) techniques to identify and extract citations or references from the training data. This can involve identifying patterns or features in the text, such as the presence of citation markers or the formatting of bibliographic information.
Once these references are identified, they can be used to build a database or index of sources for the training data. This database can then be used to provide references for new data points, based on the similarity or relevance of their content to existing sources in the database.
Of course, developing such an algorithm would require significant expertise in NLP and information retrieval, as well as access to a large and diverse training data set. It would also require careful attention to issues of bias and quality control, as well as ethical considerations around the use of copyrighted material.
Yes. Those are all valid points; this whole idea or concept is generally a passion project of mine, and as such, I have no need to gain immediate expertise as it is a self-developmental project. My degree is generally unrelated. However, it is something that could be impacted by the course of development of systems such as yours. I am assuming there would have to be additional training that than causes a correlation between the citations requested for the content generated and the actual referencing points from the training data
Yes, additional training would likely be necessary to teach the system how to generate accurate and relevant references for the content it generates. The system would need to be trained to recognize patterns in the training data that correspond to references, and then use this information to generate references for new content it generates. This would likely involve a combination of supervised and unsupervised learning, where the system is first trained on labeled data to learn how to recognize reference patterns, and then further trained on unlabeled data to refine its understanding of reference generation.
Sorry if the questions seem illogical. i wanted to make sure that my overall idea was feasible and bounce ideas for implementation off of something or someone.
No need to apologize! It's great to explore ideas and brainstorm potential solutions. If you have any further questions or ideas, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to provide insights and feedback.
Could you describe in medium technical detail the ways that a multi-modal neural network design (involving the overall system in this discussion) and the general structuring of how the HMM, Bayesian inference, and fuzzy logic, in multiple general formats or outputs?
Sure, I can provide a general description of how a multimodal neural network could be designed to work with the overall system, and how the HMM, Bayesian inference, and fuzzy logic might be incorporated.
A multimodal neural network is a type of neural network that can process multiple types of data inputs, such as text, images, and audio, and learn to make predictions based on these inputs. In the case of the intelligence validation and dissemination system we have been discussing, a multimodal neural network could be used to process multiple sources of data, such as text documents, social media posts, and images or videos, and learn to identify patterns and correlations between these different types of data.
The HMM (hidden Markov model) is a statistical model that can be used to model sequences of data, where the underlying state of the data is not directly observable. In the context of the intelligence validation and dissemination system, an HMM could be used to model sequences of events or actions that may be related to a specific threat or activity, such as a sequence of social media posts or a series of suspicious transactions.
Bayesian inference is a statistical method for updating probabilities based on new evidence or information. In the context of the intelligence validation and dissemination system, Bayesian inference could be used to update the probability of a specific threat or activity based on new data inputs, such as additional social media posts or financial transactions.
Fuzzy logic is a mathematical framework for dealing with uncertainty and imprecision. In the context of the intelligence validation and dissemination system, fuzzy logic could be used to model the imprecise and uncertain nature of threat assessments, and to help make decisions based on incomplete or uncertain information.
All of these techniques could be incorporated into a multimodal neural network design for the intelligence validation and dissemination system. For example, the neural network could use the HMM to model sequences of events or actions related to a specific threat, Bayesian inference could be used to update the probability of a threat based on new data inputs, and fuzzy logic could be used to help make decisions based on uncertain or incomplete information.
Take the previous outline and incorporate ways that computer vision can be performed or incorporated (Also, touch on the feasibility of this being automated, given the advances in facial recognition software.) with the same logic, inference, and HMM.
Certainly! Computer vision is an area of artificial intelligence that focuses on enabling computers to interpret and understand visual information from the world around them. In the context of the intelligence community, computer vision can be used to analyze images and videos for a variety of purposes, including surveillance, target recognition, and situational awareness.
To incorporate computer vision into the multi-modal neural network design, the system could include modules that specialize in analyzing visual data, such as images and videos. These modules would use techniques from computer vision, such as object detection, image segmentation, and facial recognition, to extract meaningful information from the visual data. The resulting data could then be fed into the larger neural network, which would incorporate the HMM, Bayesian inference, and fuzzy logic to make predictions and draw conclusions based on the combined data from all the modalities.
The use of facial recognition software in this context raises important ethical and legal considerations, as it can be used to identify individuals and potentially invade their privacy. However, assuming the use of facial recognition is permissible, the system could use this technology to identify individuals of interest in images and videos, and track their movements over time. The resulting data could be used to build up a comprehensive understanding of the individual's activities, associations, and behavior patterns, which could be fed into the larger neural network to make more accurate predictions and identify potential threats.
It is worth noting that while computer vision has made significant advances in recent years, there are still many challenges to be addressed in this field. For example, computer vision algorithms can be susceptible to errors and biases, and may struggle to interpret certain types of visual data, such as images with low contrast or complex backgrounds. Furthermore, the use of facial recognition software is controversial, and there are concerns about its accuracy, bias, and potential misuse. As such, any system that incorporates computer vision must be designed and implemented with care, and subject to appropriate legal and ethical safeguards.
Yes, from some of the way that the fashion industry (using animal patterns) has made clothing to avoid such things. Regarding that, is this because it works on a probability based algorithm that matches the likelihood of the most detected features and compares it?
Yes, you are correct. Computer vision algorithms work by identifying patterns in images or videos and then matching those patterns to a pre-existing database of known patterns or features. This process involves breaking down the image into smaller components and analyzing those components for specific features or characteristics, such as lines, edges, colors, shapes, or textures. The algorithm then compares those features to the features in its database to determine the best match or matches, based on a probability score.
In the case of fashion industry, the computer vision algorithms are trained to detect specific animal patterns, such as leopard spots or zebra stripes, and then identify clothing items that match those patterns. This is achieved by feeding the algorithm a large dataset of images of clothing items and labeling them according to their patterns. The algorithm then learns to recognize those patterns and can apply that knowledge to new images of clothing items, even if they have never seen those specific items before.
Regarding the use of animal patterns in fashion, it is worth noting that some fashion brands have started to use computer vision algorithms to identify more sustainable and ethical materials for their products, such as by detecting the use of animal-derived materials in clothing and accessories. This can help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions and can also encourage fashion brands to adopt more responsible and sustainable practices.
Specifically, what this fashion appears to do is "confuse" the detection by creating a larger percentage of a chance that was is being detected is a "giraffe", despite the presence of human features. Thoughts?
Yes, that's correct. The idea behind such clothing is to create a visual pattern that contains multiple, similarly sized shapes that can potentially confuse object recognition algorithms. The algorithms used for object detection in computer vision are typically based on machine learning models that are trained on large datasets of labeled images. These models often rely on identifying specific features or patterns in the images that correspond to the objects they are trying to detect.
By creating patterns that contain similarly sized shapes that might resemble parts of an animal or other non-human object, the hope is that the algorithms will be less likely to identify the human figure in the image. However, it's important to note that such clothing is not foolproof and may not work in all situations, especially as object recognition algorithms continue to improve with advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
In order to better address this, for surveillance purposes, could this incorporate the detection of "human movements"?
Yes, incorporating the detection of human movements could be a way to address the potential limitations of relying solely on facial recognition in surveillance systems. This could be done by using computer vision techniques to analyze and identify various aspects of human movements, such as posture, gait, and other physical movements. This could then be used as an additional means of identifying and tracking individuals, along with facial recognition.
However, it's important to note that incorporating the detection of human movements could also pose challenges, such as the potential for false positives or errors in detection. Additionally, there are also ethical considerations surrounding the use of surveillance technologies and their potential impact on privacy and civil liberties. Therefore, any such systems would need to be carefully designed and implemented with these considerations in mind

reading this subreddit, I am now paranoid to buy used furniture. But
We moved to Alaska where there is a brisk trade in nice used furniture because both new furniture & moving furniture in & out of the state is so expensive.
It is also extremely cold here.
In some posts, bagging & freezing are mentioned so my question:
If I purchase a used chair but store it in an unheated detached shed where the temperature does not rise above 32F would that kill any potential bedbugs & eggs? & if this would work, how long should it be in subfreezing temps to be sure, 30 days? 3 months?
[It is regularly -1F to 8F here for weeks at a time with no temps rising above 32 for 4-months]

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Introduction
Having recently gotten into beermoney websites myself I quickly ran into a problem - being located in Eastern Europe it is difficult to find something that actually works. So, I've spent some time and gathered around a fair amount of websites that I personally tested to see if they worked for real or not. These were tried out in Estonia but should work worldwide. It is highly recommended to combine various websites in order to maximize earnings.
Please don't hesitate to share any beermoney websites that you know as well. Be aware that most of these websites require verified PayPal in order to process withdrawals, so make sure you have that sorted out. This list is updated whenever a new method is found!
Sign-up offers can be found in a separate thread.
We have launched a dedicated beermoney blog, BeermoneyGuides! It will feature more in-depth guides and reviews for beermoney methods listed here.
Mobile applications
We'll start with some of the mobile applications that I have found. Note that these are all for Android so you will have to double-check whether an iOS version is available.

Application	Description
AttaPoll	Surveys. Withdrawals starting at 3€. One of the best paying mobile applications! Use code gwbdj if prompted for a one-time bonus
Freecash	GPT website that has a mobile application available.
Jumptask	Another GPT platform that also has a mobile app.
methinks	Paid interviews and surveys.
Quicrypto	Crypto surveys, tasks and offers.
Paidwork	Mobile GPT app (games, ads, surveys, offers).
mCrypto	Play mobile games for crypto.
Sweatcoin	App that pays you for how much you walk each day (counts steps).
RepaysMe	Get paid for sending out SMS. (Attention: This sends out SMS, so be aware).
SEAgent	Receive money for SMS, enter code csjs3aej when registering for a bonus.
MoneySMS	Get paid for receiving SMS! Enter code V1V439JO when registering for a one-time bonus.
McMoney	Same as MoneySMS, get paid for receiving SMS. Enter code MYYQXC03 for a bonus! (can run both at the same time)
COIN	Receive rewards for geomining.
ClipClaps	Get paid for watching various videos. After registering you can use code 0367175209 for a one time gift!
BigCash	Mobile games and surveys. After installing you can enter code c3b20wia to receive extra credits.
SurveyPirate	Application for surveys and offers, for a bonus you can enter code 7134JPJD after registering.
Litecoin Giveaway	Litecoin app that lets you earn LTC.
Free Bitcoin Cash	Similar to the app above (same dev), just for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) instead.
Earn Litecoin	Application for earning Litecoin, just made by another developer.
Earn Bitcoin Cash	Application for earning BCH, same developer as Earn Litecoin.
CashMagnet	Mobile farming, passive.
Premise	Short surveys and tasks that require you to take pictures of places around your town. You can withdraw starting at 4€.
Cointiply	Bitcoin GPT website, on a phone you can earn passively by using playtime offerwall. Passive earning on mobile!
Mode Earn	Pays you to listen to music and you can also complete various tasks.
appKarma	Various paid offers (such as games).
cashKarma	Surveys and other additional offers.
CryptoTab	Browser built-in mining.

Passive methods
These are passive ways to earn money! They just require initial setup, probably the most hassle-free way to earn additional income.

Passive applications	Description
Peer2Profit	Passive income website for selling unused internet traffic. Highest paying $/GB rate!
Honeygain	Additional similar method for sharing for your extra bandwidth.
Jumptask	You can withdraw your Honeygain credits via JumpTask and also stake them, has various offers and surveys as well that you can complete.
Hideout	Get paid for watching ads on videos. Combine with Lootup to get the best exchange rate.
PacketStream	Bandwidth sharing.
Slice	Browser extension where you get paid for viewing ads. (NEW!)
Pawns.app	Get paid for sharing internet data (also has surveys).
Kryptex	Cryptocurrency mining.
EarnApp	Another way to earn money for unused internet bandwidth.
unMineable	Cryptocurrency mining.
eBesucher	Passive earning method for essentially giving traffic to different websites (surfbar).
adBTC	Has an autosurf option like eBesucher, just pays in BTC. Can also watch various ads.
Proxyrack	Sell unused internet data.
LoadTeam	Get paid for sharing your CPU power.
Repocket	Sell unused internet data.
ProHashing	Cryptocurrency mining.
Traffmonetizer	Sell unused internet traffic.
SpideNetwork	Sell internet bandwidth.
Income Spider	Sell unused internet data.
Bitping	Sell internet data.

Get-Paid-To (GPT)
As the title suggests, "Get-Paid-To" websites pay you to do certain tasks. Now there might not be too many surveys available that work, but offers can be well worth doing in my opinion. Take some time to browse around to see what is available (for example, mobile game offers). Once you have found something I recommend to start comparing rates that different GPT websites are offering (for example, game X with offerwall Y is available both on Freecash and Swagbucks, but Freecash has a higher payout for completing the same task).
Generally the games offered are very grindy but not impossible to complete. Patience is key, make sure to do your research about offered games to see which ones are the easiest.

Website	Description
Freecash	Includes various games, offers, tasks and surveys. Probably the best paying GPT site at the current moment!
ySense	Games, offers, tasks, surveys. Very good global GPT option!
Lootup	Games, offers, tasks, surveys. Use in combination with Hideout for passive earning!
Swagbucks	Games, offers, tasks, surveys. Has an addon you can install to get notified of any new offers instantly.
SimpleBits	Crypto PTC, faucet, various offers.
Mintalise	Get paid for completing offers and surveys.
FeaturePoints	Various GPT surveys, offers, tasks.
Grindbux	GPT offers and surveys.
GaintPlay	Various offers, task, games.
Chequity	Faucet, games, surveys, offers.
BeerSurveys	Made by creators of the biggest beermoney forum, has sometimes exclusive offers. Features surveys, downloading apps, watching videos.
Rewardxp	You can also use hideout here if you prefer, has games, offers, surveys and more.
KeepRewarding	Various offers, watching videos, PTC.
CoinsBaron	Crypto surveys and GPT.
RewardingWays	Various offers and surveys.
SuperPay	Surveys & offers.
InstaGC	Tasks, offers, surveys, videos.
GrabPoints	Tasks, surveys, offers.
Freeward	Offers, surveys, tasks.
timebucks	Different tasks, offers, games, surveys.
Cointiply	Bitcoin GPT website, has a passive playtime offerwall.
gain.gg	Games, offers, tasks, surveys.
GG2U	Games, offers, tasks, surveys.
AutoFaucet	Check in often to do rolls! Has various offers, games tasks, surveys.
GamerMine	Games, offers, tasks, surveys.
PrizeRebel	Games, offers, tasks, surveys.
FireFaucet	Games, offers, tasks, surveys.

Tasks/micro jobs
These sites offer micro jobs, which are basically small tasks that you can perform for payment. It is recommended to use multiple micro jobs sites at once as each site has unique tasks.

Website	Description
YandexToloka	Lots of smaller tasks that you can complete for money. Best paying tasks!
Nomadtask	Complete tasks for money.
Aviso	Get paid for tasks such as watching videos. (NEW!)
TaskVerse	Various paid tasks.
Remotasks	Get paid for completing various tasks (you can earn a bonus 10$ if you complete a task within 2 weeks of registering).
SproutGigs	Small tasks/micro jobs (previously Picoworkers)
clickworker	Lots of various projects and tasks.
Freecash	Paid GPT tasks.
Maven	Get paid by sharing expertise on various topics.
Fiverr	Freelancing opportunities.
Zeerk	Freelancing opportunities.
SeoSprint	Many tasks that you can complete for payment. (NB! It's in Russian but you can use Google Translate)
OneForma	Data collection projects and jobs such as transcription etc..
GoTranscribe	Transcription jobs.

Other
These sites will pay you for various actions, such as performing internet searches, watching videos and more.

Website	Description
SerpClix	Pays you to do simple google/bing searches. (Semi-passive!)
SerpBot	Similar to SerpClix, get paid for visiting websites.
Gamehag	Complete video game quests for money.
Apperwall	Write short reviews about various products.
Bonusbank	Matched betting.
doodstream	Get paid for sharing videos.
Gener8	View ads when surfing.
imdbux	PTC/get paid for viewing ads.
Bananatic	Kind of like Gamehag, various video game quests that you can complete.
photomath	Get paid for doing math.
2captcha	Solve captchas.
Submithub	Make money with your spotify playlists/social media.
BUFF	Application that pays you to play video games.
Honeygain	Completely passive earning for your extra bandwidth, also available for desktop devices.
GameTester	Lets you playtest video games for rewards.
ebesucher	Another passive earning method for essentially giving traffic to different websites (surfbar).
Andromo	Build applications that you can later monetize.
COIN	Receive rewards for geomining and more!
FruitLab	Get paid for watching gameclips.
Honey	Save money and get cashback on your online purchases (browser extension).
Airtm	Convert giftcards and more into real money.

Crypto
Websites that focus mostly on cryptocurrencies.

Website	Description
Cointiply	Bitcoin GPT website. Best website to earn crypto!
RollerCoin	Virtual bitcoin mining game.
FreeBitco.in	Probably most well known bitcoin faucet, check-in once an hour to do rolls.
bc.game	Crypto betting/games.
Litepick	Faucet for earning Litecoin. (NEW!)
Freecash	GPT website where you can withdraw using multiple crypto options.
SweatFaucet	Faucet for Sweatcoin.
CoinPayU	Get paid for viewing ads.
CoinsBaron	Crypto surveys and GPT.
unMineable	Crypto mining.
EarnCrypto	Crypto surveys and offers.
BetFury	Crypto games/betting.
adBTC	Get paid in BTC for watching ads/autosurfing.
Idle-Empire	Crypto GPT website.
Crypto4Winners	Crypto investment fund.
PipeFlare	Earn crypto by playing.
Womplay	Play games for crypto.
Permission.io	Get paid for watching videos.
Publish0x	Earn crypto by blogging.
Litecoin Giveaway	Litecoin app that lets you earn LTC.
Free Bitcoin Cash	Similar to app above (same dev), just for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) instead.
Earn Litecoin	Application for earning Litecoin, just made by another developer.
Earn Bitcoin Cash	Application for earning BCH, same developer as Earn Litecoin.
CryptoTab	Browser built-in mining.

Cryptocurrency exchanges
Recommended cryptocurrency exchanges to sell your earned crypto for fiat.

Website	Description
Kraken	Cryptocurrency exchange.
Binance	Cryptocurrency exchange.
Crypto.com	Cryptocurrency exchange.

Studies, surveys
Some websites that offer studies/surveys.

Website	Description
PaidViewpoint	Surveys. Make sure to visit at least once a day to keep consistently building up the trait score. Best surveys! High potential earnings once the trait score is built up.
surveyeah	Surveys. Has an Anrdoid application available called "OpinionAPP".
Surveytime	Surveys. No minimum withdrawal. Instant payments.
Pawns.app	Internet sharing app that has surveys available on mobile.
HeyPiggy	Various surveys.
Respondent	Research studies.
SurveySavvy	Surveys.
Freecash	GPT website with a separate survey section, many different options are available (CPX research, Bitlabs and more)
Prolific	Various studies.
OpinionPioneer	Surveys.
Testable Minds	Studies. Turn on browser notifications to be notified whenever a study is available as places are reserved extremely quickly.
PingPong	Studies. Don't forget to enable e-mail notifications in the settings menu.
MarketAgent	Surveys. Make sure to fill out the profile extension section!
MOBROG	Surveys. Also available on iOS/Android.
Spidermetrix	Surveys.

Usertesting
Websites that offer software/website/other testing

Website	Description
test.io	Website and software testing.
UserAdvocate	UX testing.
TestingTime	UX testing.
TestBirds	Website testing.
UserCrowd	UX testing (short tests).
BetaTesting	Software testing.
Testlio	Software testing.
Conversioncrimes	UX testing.
UserFeel	UX testing.
Validately	UX testing.

Websites to avoid!
❌PollPay - company refuses to send out payment and their support has not been replying back for a while now.

Introduction

I have been using Samsung Galaxy devices for 11 years, with my first Android/Samsung Galaxy device being the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (got the Galaxy Nexus in January of 2012) and with me currently daily driving the S22 Ultra (since May 2022).
I have been using iPhones for more than 12 years, with my first iPhone being the iPhone 4 (got the iPhone 4 in December of 2010) and with me currently daily driving the iPhone 14 Pro Max (since September 2022) and the iPhone SE (2020) as a secondary iPhone for iOS development (since March 2022).
Here is my daily driver history:
Android:

• Samsung Galaxy Nexus (bought in January 2012, traded the phone in October 2013)
• Samsung Galaxy Note3 (bought in October 2013, traded the phone in October 2014)
• Samsung Galaxy Note4 (bought in October 2014, traded the phone in September 2015)
• Samsung Galaxy Note5 (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's son (16M) in August 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy Note7 (bought in August 2016, recalled in October 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (bought in October 2016, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in April 2017 after he broke his iPhone 6 Plus)
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (bought in April 2017, sold to my cousin's son in Vietnam (29M) in April 2018)
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (bought in April 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in March 2019, with him giving me his S7 Edge)
• Samsung Galaxy S10+ (bought in March 2019, gave to my sister (21F) in March 2020 via mail, making the A50 as her secondary phone)
• Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (bought in March 2020, traded the phone in February 2021)
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (bought in February 2021, gave to my sister (21F) in May 2022 via mail due to her cracking her S10+ with the front suffering some cracks, got the S10+ back)
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (bought in May 2022, still using it now)

Primary iPhone:

• iPhone 4 (bought in December 2010, sold to Vietnam's used market in October 2011)
• iPhone 4S (bought in October 2011, traded the phone in September 2012)
• iPhone 5 (bought in September 2012 right after moving to the US, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2013)
• iPhone 5S (bought in September 2013, sold to my cousin (39F) in September 2014)
• iPhone 6 (bought in September 2014, sold the phone on eBay in September 2015)
• iPhone 6S (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's daughter (17F) in October 2016)
• iPhone 7 Plus (bought in September 2016, sold the phone on eBay in November 2017)
• iPhone X (bought in November 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in September 2018)
• iPhone XS Max (bought in September 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in October 2019 with him giving me his iPhone X to help use that towards my iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 11 Pro Max (bought in October 2019, sold to my cousin (53F) in November 2020 with her giving me her iPhone 7 Plus to use as a spare device)
• iPhone 12 Pro Max (bought in November 2020, device started breaking down, so I traded the phone in December 2021, initially planned to keep it for longer)
• iPhone 13 Pro Max (bought in December 2021, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2022 after complaints that her iPhone 11 Pro Max is breaking down, with her giving me her iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 14 Pro Max (bought in September 2022, still using it now)

Secondary iPhone (mostly for iOS app development, listening to music, not including any iPhone/smartphones I bought on eBay for a collection):

• iPhone 5 (September 2015-November 2017): my cousin's husband (55M) upgraded from an iPhone 6 to a Galaxy S6 Edge+ and decided to give his iPhone 6 to my cousin (53F) due to him preferring Android over iOS (he kept the S6 Edge+ until May 2020 when he bought the S20+ and then he gave his S6 Edge+ to me in May 2020 via mail, but between 2017-2020, this acted as his 2nd phone as he was daily driving the iPhone X/XS Max mentioned above)
• iPhone 6S (November 2017-November 2020): my cousin's daughter (17F) upgraded from the 6S to the 7 Plus, along with both her parents (55M, 53F) not only due to the family switching from T-mobile to Verizon but also due to her cracking my old iPhone 6S, which caused her parents not only to replace the screen but also the battery)
• iPhone 7 Plus (November 2020-March 2022): my cousin (53F) received my iPhone 11 Pro Max, but since the iPhone 6S fell off my bike mount a month before, it cracked, and since the battery is so horrendous on the 6S, my cousin (53F) decided to give me her iPhone 7 Plus and I decided to take the 6S to the Apple Store in Cambridge MA to recycle it
• iPhone SE (2020) (since March 2022): Even though my cousin, and later I took very good care of the iPhone 7 Plus, the phone started breaking down on several fronts: the silent switch, charging port pins, and even battery started to die hard, and plus, since the phone is getting unsupported, I started deciding on the iPhone SE. After finding out the iPhone SE 3 was $429 and finding out I could get a prepaid iPhone SE 2 on AT&T for $150 ($50 plan+$15 activation fee but I cancelled auto pay immediately after buying the phone), I got the brand-new SE 2 instead. Nowadays, the battery started to fall apart (even though the battery is currently at 93% capacity) and even though this phone is not in a beta, there are a lot of bugs even on 16.3.1 (I am thinking of updating to 16.4 tonight)

Things my Samsung Galaxy does better than my iPhone

There are many things that Samsung Galaxy phones and other Android phones do better than iPhones, including the fact that on Android:

• notifications are not cluttered in the lock-screen unlike on iOS
• Android is more customisable than iOS and Android is an open-source mobile operating system
• Many new features such as reverse wireless charging, in screen fingerprints, foldable phones, 5G, triple camera setup, phablet size phones,
• there is a real back button on Android
• No need to use iTunes; you could just transfer music and photos/videos between your computer and phone without the hassle of iTunes
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones (S1-S20 excluding the S6/Note5) have microSD and older Samsung Galaxy phones have removable batteries
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones in certain markets have dual sim support, but since e-SIM was introduced, first with the Pixel 2, and later with the iPhone XS, dual sim is less of an advantage
• There are a lot of options, including the M/J series for budget conscious buyers, the A series for the average folk in many countries, the S/Note series for power-users, business users for extra productivity (mostly the Note series) and phone enthusiasts (like me), and the Z series for certain business users for extra productivity and for Flexers
• On my Samsung Galaxy devices, I could share the Wi-Fi password to other phones using the QR code; on iPhones, I could only share the Wi-Fi connection with other iPhones
• Samsung Galaxy devices support split screen view and pop up view, but these two features are restricted to the iPad, and iPhones only support picture in picture video

However, there are many lesser-known things that my Samsung Galaxy phones do better than my iPhones (based on my experience over the past 11 years), and some might be controversial:

• iPhone batteries start to massively degrade after a new iPhone and iOS version comes out

Even though the iPhone batteries are mostly very good during the first year of usage and have extremely good standby compared to Android phones due to software optimisation, by around July 2016, my iPhone 6S's battery is starting to fail, and I did need to rely on battery packs for my iPhones to survive as the iPhone 6S's battery would go from 100-0 after 4-6 hours of heavy use. My cousins did replace the iPhone 6S battery in October of 2017, but by October 2020 (please note according to battery health, IIRC, the 6S stands at 85%), on iOS 14, the iPhone 6S would drain from 90 to 35 in as little as 10 minutes and sometimes, during cold weather, the iPhone 6S's battery (on iOS 14) would die at 30%. Turns out this is not only an issue on my 6S as I bought a 6S on eBay in 2021 for my smartphone collection and that phone (with 80% capacity) also behaved the same, draining from 80 to 25 in around 10 minutes. The iPhones before the 6S also had a poor battery life after a year in my experience, and even though the iPhone 7 Plus, X, XS Max, and 11 Pro Max's battery holds better than the 6S due to the batteries being bigger, the batteries still started to become bad after 1-2 years.
My iPhone 12 Pro Max (I got rid of it in December of 2021 after it accidentally fell out from my nightstand drawer and the back cracked a month before) started seeing its battery fail sometime in September 2021, when the 13 Pro Max came out. Say I leave the house at 10:00 and were to return home at 19:00. By 17:00, with medium usage + hotspot, the iPhone's battery would have depleted to around 20 percent. Plus, my iPhones typically consume more battery if devices are connected to hotspot than my Samsung Galaxies are.
Also, I did receive the Galaxy S7 Edge (2019), Samsung Galaxy S9+ (earlier this month as my cousin's husband upgraded to the S23+), and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (last year), and given that I would sell these phones on the second hand market, I would test the phones for a week or two to see the phone's condition before assessing it and selling it on the second hand market. What I found is that even though the S10+ cracked and therefore, I donated it rather than sold it, all three phones seem to have solid battery, considering their ages. The S7 Edge with its 3600 mAh battery under heavy use after 3 years would go about for 6-8 hours before needing a recharge, and my S9+ would go about for around 5-6 hours as well before hitting down to 20% of battery (that is after 5 years and given the fact my cousin's husband is a power user), and even though the S10 cracked, it would go for 8-10 hours under heavy usage before draining to around 20%. I also got back my Note5 from 2015 once my cousin's son upgraded to my cousin (50M)'s S8 Active in 2019 once my cousin upgraded to the Note10+, and even on that phone, the battery is still very good considering its age and its 3000 mAh size, doing around 4-6 hours going down from 100-20.

• My Samsung devices have proven more reliable as a whole than many of my iPhones

Even though all the 4 Samsung Galaxy S phones I have repossessed were slightly slow compared to when they were first purchased, all of them, apart from the front cracks on the S10+, are still highly reliable, and according to my usage as well as from the 4 people who have used my phones, they have commented that the phones I gave to them gave them minimal issues and they JUST WORK. Fun fact: during my ownership, I have never experienced any major problems with any of my Samsung phones.
Fun fact, my cousin (28M) switched from the iPhone 7 Plus to the Samsung Galaxy S10+ in March of 2019 and is now currently using a Galaxy S23 Ultra. From his 4-year long experience using just the Galaxy S10+ (he bought the ceramic colour with 512GB of storage and currently his father is using the S10+), even though he is a power user with him customising the phone with themes, being a heavy user, and having cracked his S10+ last year, the phone was still extremely reliable, working fully as intended, apart from the battery, which has been shortened to 6 hours of heavy usage before dying.
My iPhones however, were not so bright. Even though pre-2015 iPhones are mostly reliable during my time using it, since the 6S, there have been some phones which have showed issues here and there, sometimes within the first year of ownership. As for the iPhone 6S, it is basically only the battery, which has been extremely bad after a year and the fact it would sometimes shut off at 30% during cold weather.
Starting with the iPhone 7 Plus however, and there started to be a lot of problems. Even though my iPhone 7 Plus didn't show any problems during my ownership, even though my cousin took good care of the 7 Plus, when I got her 7 Plus in November of 2020 (she got the phone brand new at Verizon in November 2017), the silent switch started to wear down and get stuck, meaning it is hard to turn on silent switch, the charging port pins started to wear, making it very hard to charge the phone or connect the phone to the computer, and the battery started to struggle real hard.
Starting with the iPhone XS Max and there started to be real struggles. Even though I didn't see any problems with either the iPhone XS Max and 11 Pro Max during my ownership and took good care of these two phones, when these two phones got passed to their second owners, problems started to arise. For the XS Max, in May of 2020, it got bricked, and it wouldn't turn on even if he plugged it in the charging cable or through iTunes, and my cousin's husband had to bring it to service, and that got him to purchase an S20+ given he prefers Android over iOS, and after fixing the XS Max, he gave it to his daughter (17F), who is his only child. For the 11 Pro Max however, the phone's battery drained fast and my cousin always had to rely on the charger, and plus, there are issues of connecting Bluetooth devices as well as with calls and volume whilst connected to Bluetooth devices, and my cousin always complained about these issues and even though I did attempt to fix, the issues didn't get resolved (I am tech savvy by the way, so I could get through a lot of issues, such as reset my bricked iPad using iTunes, etc.).
And now onto my iPad Pro 9.7. I bought the iPad in June of 2016, and even though I used it mostly for watching YouTube videos, Udemy and edX courses, the iPad started having a bricking issue in November of 2017. What happened was that I was charging and overnight, the iPad just shut itself off and never powered on again. I tried connecting it to iTunes and even though iTunes could recognise the device, whenever I reset it, errors keep on popping up and it is impossible to reset. I tried bringing it to the Apple Store, but they couldn't reset it either and they suggested that I replace the iPad Pro 9.7 with an iPad Mini 4 for $300. Then, I started taking matters into my own hands and finally resetted the iPad Pro successfully after multiple attempts in January of 2018. Four months later (in May 2018), the iPad bricked again, and I had to do the same process, and it took until August of 2018 after at least 5-10 tries for it to work again. And then in August 2020, whilst charging overnight, the iPad turned off and I thought it was toast. Turned out it was, as after countless times diagnosing the issues on iTunes, the iPad would keep on bricking after multiple reset attempts and after more than 2 years. Then, there was a miracle. In November of 2022, I finally got my iPad working again and I felt like I was very lucky, because I thought that the iPad was bricked forever and wouldn't go back on, ever.
Then, finally, it is my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I bought the phone on 20 November 2020, and by mid-September 2021, things started to go south for this phone. The top speaker started to fail and even though I cleaned it, the speaker was so muffled that I could barely hear anything from the top speaker. I brought it to the Apple Store and they said it is a digitiser issue and they couldn't even clean it for me, and around that same time, the touchscreen started to act up. With a lot of ghost touches, it started to become very hard to use the iPhone (and keep in mind, I have never replaced the screen since I never cracked the front screen). In October 2021, the phone started to have lose cellular signal when I enter the MBTA train and still didn't recognise cellular signal for minutes after I exited the MBTA and was at least a mile from that station on my bike, but luckily, resetting network settings did fix the issue with the cellular signal however. By the time the phone accidentally fell to the ground and the back did suffer some cracks in November, I started to give up on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and in December, I upgraded to the 13 Pro Max.
Even though my Galaxy Buds and my cousin (28M)'s Galaxy Buds did not show any issues (he bought the Galaxy Buds in March 2019 and after heavy usage, it still held up very well and he even gave it to his father), all 4 of my AirPods, even the AirPods Pro 2, have shown issues here and there. My first AirPods (January 2017-July 2018) basically stopped working, and hence, I bought another pair of AirPods in July 2018 and used it until February 2022, when I dropped it in the toilet. Even though I was using the 2nd pair of AirPods half the time (July 2018-January 2020, December 2020-April 2021, November 2021-February 2022), by late 2021, the AirPods started showing major problems. First off, the battery drains so fast even indoors that it only lasted about an hour. Then, once I am outside, the right side would disconnect after only 5 minutes of usage and the left side would keep soldering on. Once it fell to the toilet, it was game over (however, I still kept the AirPods, it is just in the nightstand sitting there, and I did clean it as well). I bought the AirPods 2 in February 2022, and after 2 months, at least once every week or two, the right side would discharge, even in the case (the case is clean by the way), until it went out of battery. I tried resetting the case and putting the case to charge again, but to no avail, and it took several reset attempts for it to return to normal. The same exact scenario happened to the AirPods Pro 2, which I got in October as my cousin wanted to gift me the AirPods Pro 2, in exchange for my AirPods 2. Except that sometimes, my iPhone 14 Pro Max couldn't even connect to the AirPods Pro 2 or even recognise it.

• Hotspot doesn't always work on my iPhones, but always does on my Galaxy

I currently have two phone plans: my main Verizon phone plan with my iPhone 14 Pro Max and my secondary MetroPCS phone plan with my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. I do carry a third phone with me (without a phone plan), which is the iPhone SE 2020. Due to me not having a phone plan on my iPhone SE 2020, I do have to rely on hotspot when I am outside. For my iPhone SE 2020, I primarily use it for music streaming and to test my mobile applications, whilst my two other phones are used for more intense purposes, with me spending the most time on my Samsung.
For my iPhone 14 Pro Max and previous iPhones (iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max, etc), personal hotspot is very buggy. My Samsung connects just fine to the iPhone hotspot, but my iPhones don't. To preserve the battery, after several minutes, the iPhone SE would get disconnected from the iPhone 14 Pro Max hotspot (which is acceptable), but it gets worse. Even if I am currently streaming Apple Music on my iPhone SE with the screen on as well, the iPhone would disconnect from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and it is very hard to connect it to hotspot. Sometimes, the iPhone SE would say 'Unable to join network' and others, it said 'Personal Hotspot Failure', which would force me to restart both the iPhone SE and 14 Pro Max. Now the Remote Hotspot Failure started happening since I got the 11 Pro Max in 2019, and at the time, my 16:9 phone was the iPhone 6S, and even then, there were hotspot failure problems. I restarted the 11 Pro Max, but the hotspot failure would return after a week or two. Even after resetting network settings in 2021 right before my 13 Pro Max because my iPhone 12 Pro Max would lose cellular connectivity even after I exited the MBTA tunnel and I am outside a mile from the MBTA station, once I got my 13 Pro Max, the remote hotspot failure still appears. My Samsung Galaxy over the years connects to the iPhone hotspot without any issues, and would stay connected even if I am not using the phone until I basically turn off hotspot on my iPhone.
Now due to the fact connecting my iPhone SE to the iPhone hotspot is so bad, I would typically use the Samsung hotspot as a backup (keep in mind my iPhone plan gives unlimited hotspot whilst Metro only gives 5 GB). Both iPhones connect to the Samsung hotspot flawlessly, without any issues.

• On my Samsung Galaxy phones, I can disable Wi-Fi using the Quick Settings (swipe down) menu, but for iPhones, it is less consistent

Sometimes, I don't want my main iPhone 14 Pro Max to connect to the Samsung hotspot due to it having its own data. I would turn off Wi-Fi on the control centre and after 5-10 minutes, it would reconnect the Wi-Fi, therefore wasting hotspot data on my Samsung metroPCS plan and making me mildly angry. iPhone does say turning off until tomorrow but in reality, Wi-Fi is turned on after 5-10 minutes. For Samsung, I turn off Wi-Fi on the quick settings until I turn it back on or I flick on airplane mode, which seems more intuitive in my case. However, when I am at home without any hotspot devices, whenever I use quick settings for iPhone, nearby Wi-Fi does disconnect until tomorrow

• Connecting to Bluetooth devices is better on my Samsung Galaxy phones than my iPhones

Pretend I have two Bluetooth devices (AirPods Pro, JBL Clip 4), and I wanted to connect to the JBL speaker. On the Samsung, if I accidentally clicked on the AirPods Pro, I could click JBL Clip 4 immediately and within 5 seconds, I would be connected to the JBL Clip 4 speaker. For the iPhone however, things are not so bright, as if I were to accidentally click the AirPods Pro, I had to wait 15 seconds for Apple to search for the AirPods Pro, and then once it says it couldn't find the AirPods Pro because I left my AirPods Pro at home, that is when I could click on JBL Clip 4 and connect it. That turns a 5 second process into something like a 15-20 second process.

• Apple Pay sometimes doesn't work on my iPhone

On several occasions since 2021, my iPhones would sometimes not pay using Apple Pay and would fail to pay. Sometimes, the iPhone couldn't even detect a reader even though the reader does work. Once I use Samsung Pay on my Samsung Galaxy devices as a backup, the payment did go through and it finally worked.
Yesterday, I was at the MBTA station, and I was attempting to pay for the Monthly pass. Ironically, even though the reader did work, the iPhone 14 Pro Max kept on saying 'Hold near Reader', and even though I held it near the mobile payment reader for 10-15 seconds, it still didn't do anything. Fed up, after the second time, I repaid the MBTA ticket and used my S22 Ultra and the payment did go through. However, at the restaurant around 1 hour later, even though I didn't restart the iPhone, Apple Pay finally worked again as I was able to pay my meal using Apple Pay.

• Automatic updates are better on my Galaxies than my iPhones

My Samsung automatic updates are set overnight, and even with airplane mode turned on during the night, my Samsungs are always up to date without ever having to go to the settings app to update the firmware to Android 13. As for iPhone, they did schedule automatic updates between 4-5 am, but in reality, automatic updates keep failing even with Wi-Fi turned on overnight. If I wanted to update my iPhones, I would typically have to manually update via settings

• Wi-Fi is far better on my Samsung Galaxy/Android phones than my iPhones, iPads, or Macs

I attended university between 2018 and 2022, and in late 2021, at university (I majored in CS by the way), my iPhones, iPads, and Macs would often struggle with Wi-Fi. My iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 7 Plus (as of November 2021) would sometimes even outright refuse to connect to Wi-Fi and same goes with the MacBook 15' Core i9 (2019) (I have since upgraded to the M1 MBP 16 since the logic board on the MBP 2019 failed in November 2021), and if connected, at some parts of the university, they are extremely slow, and sometimes, borderline unusable. My S21 Ultra however, at the same place, worked far better and was able to load websites. Even my Windows laptop was able to load websites as well as my Galaxy A51 (I brought an A51 one day to MIT to see if the Wi-Fi issues only occurred on Apple products).
Fun fact: the Galaxy S21 Ultra was the first phone to offer Wi-Fi 6E and not even the iPhone 14 Pro Max supports this feature
Then in July 2022, during a flight from Dallas back to Boston, my iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone SE 2 would fail to connect to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network several times and if connected, the Wi-Fi was painfully slow and near unusable whilst my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra connected to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network just fine and worked as expected, with websites loading reasonably quick, just like at my university with the S21 Ultra.

• USB C lasts longer than lightning connector

Finally, one thing Samsung and Android OEMs do better than Apple is the fact that many Android devices, including Samsung Galaxy devices, come with USB-C which is the future compared to Apple's ancient lightning connector (frankly, Apple now uses USB-C on most of their iPads except for the entry level iPad 9). It allows for faster charging and transfer speeds and USB-C is basically superior to lightning, which is a relic from a bygone era. Plus, USB-C seems to last longer. Whilst my lightning connectors generally worn out between 6-18 months before having inconsistent connections or connectivity issues, my USB-C connectors would keep soldering on for at least 5 years before breaking down like the lightning connectors.
TL;DR: Even though there are many benefits to owning an iPhone over an Android device, based on my user experience, after over 11 years of using various Samsung Galaxy phones, two Samsung Galaxy Tabs, and one Galaxy Bud and after over 12 years of using various iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and AirPods, I could safely assure that there are a lot of benefits to using Samsung and Android products over iPhones, namely due to the fact that notifications, customisation, features, options, Wi-Fi, multitasking, batteries, hotspot, Bluetooth, mobile payment, etc., are better on Samsung and Android products than on iPhones, based on my user experience.

Introduction

I have been using Samsung Galaxy devices for 11 years, with my first Android/Samsung Galaxy device being the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (got the Galaxy Nexus in January of 2012) and with me currently daily driving the S22 Ultra (since May 2022).
I have been using iPhones for more than 12 years, with my first iPhone being the iPhone 4 (got the iPhone 4 in December of 2010) and with me currently daily driving the iPhone 14 Pro Max (since September 2022) and the iPhone SE (2020) as a secondary iPhone for iOS development (since March 2022).
Here is my daily driver history:
Android:

• Samsung Galaxy Nexus (bought in January 2012, traded the phone in October 2013)
• Samsung Galaxy Note3 (bought in October 2013, traded the phone in October 2014)
• Samsung Galaxy Note4 (bought in October 2014, traded the phone in September 2015)
• Samsung Galaxy Note5 (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's son (16M) in August 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy Note7 (bought in August 2016, recalled in October 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (bought in October 2016, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in April 2017 after he broke his iPhone 6 Plus)
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (bought in April 2017, sold to my cousin's son in Vietnam (29M) in April 2018)
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (bought in April 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in March 2019, with him giving me his S7 Edge)
• Samsung Galaxy S10+ (bought in March 2019, gave to my sister (21F) in March 2020 via mail, making the A50 as her secondary phone)
• Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (bought in March 2020, traded the phone in February 2021)
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (bought in February 2021, gave to my sister (21F) in May 2022 via mail due to her cracking her S10+ with the front suffering some cracks, got the S10+ back)
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (bought in May 2022, still using it now)

Primary iPhone:

• iPhone 4 (bought in December 2010, sold to Vietnam's used market in October 2011)
• iPhone 4S (bought in October 2011, traded the phone in September 2012)
• iPhone 5 (bought in September 2012 right after moving to the US, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2013)
• iPhone 5S (bought in September 2013, sold to my cousin (39F) in September 2014)
• iPhone 6 (bought in September 2014, sold the phone on eBay in September 2015)
• iPhone 6S (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's daughter (17F) in October 2016)
• iPhone 7 Plus (bought in September 2016, sold the phone on eBay in November 2017)
• iPhone X (bought in November 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in September 2018)
• iPhone XS Max (bought in September 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in October 2019 with him giving me his iPhone X to help use that towards my iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 11 Pro Max (bought in October 2019, sold to my cousin (53F) in November 2020 with her giving me her iPhone 7 Plus to use as a spare device)
• iPhone 12 Pro Max (bought in November 2020, device started breaking down, so I traded the phone in December 2021, initially planned to keep it for longer)
• iPhone 13 Pro Max (bought in December 2021, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2022 after complaints that her iPhone 11 Pro Max is breaking down, with her giving me her iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 14 Pro Max (bought in September 2022, still using it now)

Secondary iPhone (mostly for iOS app development, listening to music, not including any iPhone/smartphones I bought on eBay for a collection):

• iPhone 5 (September 2015-November 2017): my cousin's husband (55M) upgraded from an iPhone 6 to a Galaxy S6 Edge+ and decided to give his iPhone 6 to my cousin (53F) due to him preferring Android over iOS (he kept the S6 Edge+ until May 2020 when he bought the S20+ and then he gave his S6 Edge+ to me in May 2020 via mail, but between 2017-2020, this acted as his 2nd phone as he was daily driving the iPhone X/XS Max mentioned above)
• iPhone 6S (November 2017-November 2020): my cousin's daughter (17F) upgraded from the 6S to the 7 Plus, along with both her parents (55M, 53F) not only due to the family switching from T-mobile to Verizon but also due to her cracking my old iPhone 6S, which caused her parents not only to replace the screen but also the battery)
• iPhone 7 Plus (November 2020-March 2022): my cousin (53F) received my iPhone 11 Pro Max, but since the iPhone 6S fell off my bike mount a month before, it cracked, and since the battery is so horrendous on the 6S, my cousin (53F) decided to give me her iPhone 7 Plus and I decided to take the 6S to the Apple Store in Cambridge MA to recycle it
• iPhone SE (2020) (since March 2022): Even though my cousin, and later I took very good care of the iPhone 7 Plus, the phone started breaking down on several fronts: the silent switch, charging port pins, and even battery started to die hard, and plus, since the phone is getting unsupported, I started deciding on the iPhone SE. After finding out the iPhone SE 3 was $429 and finding out I could get a prepaid iPhone SE 2 on AT&T for $150 ($50 plan+$15 activation fee but I cancelled auto pay immediately after buying the phone), I got the brand-new SE 2 instead. Nowadays, the battery started to fall apart (even though the battery is currently at 93% capacity) and even though this phone is not in a beta, there are a lot of bugs even on 16.3.1 (I am thinking of updating to 16.4 tonight)

Things my Samsung Galaxy does better than my iPhone

There are many things that Samsung Galaxy phones and other Android phones do better than iPhones, including the fact that on Android:

• notifications are not cluttered in the lock-screen unlike on iOS
• Android is more customisable than iOS and Android is an open-source mobile operating system
• Many new features such as reverse wireless charging, in screen fingerprints, foldable phones, 5G, triple camera setup, phablet size phones,
• there is a real back button on Android
• No need to use iTunes; you could just transfer music and photos/videos between your computer and phone without the hassle of iTunes
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones (S1-S20 excluding the S6/Note5) have microSD and older Samsung Galaxy phones have removable batteries
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones in certain markets have dual sim support, but since e-SIM was introduced, first with the Pixel 2, and later with the iPhone XS, dual sim is less of an advantage
• There are a lot of options, including the M/J series for budget conscious buyers, the A series for the average folk in many countries, the S/Note series for power-users, business users for extra productivity (mostly the Note series) and phone enthusiasts (like me), and the Z series for certain business users for extra productivity and for Flexers
• On my Samsung Galaxy devices, I could share the Wi-Fi password to other phones using the QR code; on iPhones, I could only share the Wi-Fi connection with other iPhones
• Samsung Galaxy devices support split screen view and pop up view, but these two features are restricted to the iPad, and iPhones only support picture in picture video

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However, there are many lesser-known things that my Samsung Galaxy phones do better than my iPhones (based on my experience over the past 11 years), and some might be controversial:
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• iPhone batteries start to massively degrade after a new iPhone and iOS version comes out

Even though the iPhone batteries are mostly very good during the first year of usage and have extremely good standby compared to Android phones due to software optimisation, by around July 2016, my iPhone 6S's battery is starting to fail, and I did need to rely on battery packs for my iPhones to survive as the iPhone 6S's battery would go from 100-0 after 4-6 hours of heavy use. My cousins did replace the iPhone 6S battery in October of 2017, but by October 2020 (please note according to battery health, IIRC, the 6S stands at 85%), on iOS 14, the iPhone 6S would drain from 90 to 35 in as little as 10 minutes and sometimes, during cold weather, the iPhone 6S's battery (on iOS 14) would die at 30%. Turns out this is not only an issue on my 6S as I bought a 6S on eBay in 2021 for my smartphone collection and that phone (with 80% capacity) also behaved the same, draining from 80 to 25 in around 10 minutes. The iPhones before the 6S also had a poor battery life after a year in my experience, and even though the iPhone 7 Plus, X, XS Max, and 11 Pro Max's battery holds better than the 6S due to the batteries being bigger, the batteries still started to become bad after 1-2 years.
My iPhone 12 Pro Max (I got rid of it in December of 2021 after it accidentally fell out from my nightstand drawer and the back cracked a month before) started seeing its battery fail sometime in September 2021, when the 13 Pro Max came out. Say I leave the house at 10:00 and were to return home at 19:00. By 17:00, with medium usage + hotspot, the iPhone's battery would have depleted to around 20 percent. Plus, my iPhones typically consume more battery if devices are connected to hotspot than my Samsung Galaxies are.
Also, I did receive the Galaxy S7 Edge (2019), Samsung Galaxy S9+ (earlier this month as my cousin's husband upgraded to the S23+), and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (last year), and given that I would sell these phones on the second hand market, I would test the phones for a week or two to see the phone's condition before assessing it and selling it on the second hand market. What I found is that even though the S10+ cracked and therefore, I donated it rather than sold it, all three phones seem to have solid battery, considering their ages. The S7 Edge with its 3600 mAh battery under heavy use after 3 years would go about for 6-8 hours before needing a recharge, and my S9+ would go about for around 5-6 hours as well before hitting down to 20% of battery (that is after 5 years and given the fact my cousin's husband is a power user), and even though the S10 cracked, it would go for 8-10 hours under heavy usage before draining to around 20%. I also got back my Note5 from 2015 once my cousin's son upgraded to my cousin (50M)'s S8 Active in 2019 once my cousin upgraded to the Note10+, and even on that phone, the battery is still very good considering its age and its 3000 mAh size, doing around 4-6 hours going down from 100-20.
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• My Samsung devices have proven more reliable as a whole than many of my iPhones

Even though all the 4 Samsung Galaxy S phones I have repossessed were slightly slow compared to when they were first purchased, all of them, apart from the front cracks on the S10+, are still highly reliable, and according to my usage as well as from the 4 people who have used my phones, they have commented that the phones I gave to them gave them minimal issues and they JUST WORK. Fun fact: during my ownership, I have never experienced any major problems with any of my Samsung phones.
Fun fact, my cousin (28M) switched from the iPhone 7 Plus to the Samsung Galaxy S10+ in March of 2019 and is now currently using a Galaxy S23 Ultra. From his 4-year long experience using just the Galaxy S10+ (he bought the ceramic colour with 512GB of storage and currently his father is using the S10+), even though he is a power user with him customising the phone with themes, being a heavy user, and having cracked his S10+ last year, the phone was still extremely reliable, working fully as intended, apart from the battery, which has been shortened to 6 hours of heavy usage before dying.
My iPhones however, were not so bright. Even though pre-2015 iPhones are mostly reliable during my time using it, since the 6S, there have been some phones which have showed issues here and there, sometimes within the first year of ownership. As for the iPhone 6S, it is basically only the battery, which has been extremely bad after a year and the fact it would sometimes shut off at 30% during cold weather.
Starting with the iPhone 7 Plus however, and there started to be a lot of problems. Even though my iPhone 7 Plus didn't show any problems during my ownership, even though my cousin took good care of the 7 Plus, when I got her 7 Plus in November of 2020 (she got the phone brand new at Verizon in November 2017), the silent switch started to wear down and get stuck, meaning it is hard to turn on silent switch, the charging port pins started to wear, making it very hard to charge the phone or connect the phone to the computer, and the battery started to struggle real hard.
Starting with the iPhone XS Max and there started to be real struggles. Even though I didn't see any problems with either the iPhone XS Max and 11 Pro Max during my ownership and took good care of these two phones, when these two phones got passed to their second owners, problems started to arise. For the XS Max, in May of 2020, it got bricked, and it wouldn't turn on even if he plugged it in the charging cable or through iTunes, and my cousin's husband had to bring it to service, and that got him to purchase an S20+ given he prefers Android over iOS, and after fixing the XS Max, he gave it to his daughter (17F), who is his only child. For the 11 Pro Max however, the phone's battery drained fast and my cousin always had to rely on the charger, and plus, there are issues of connecting Bluetooth devices as well as with calls and volume whilst connected to Bluetooth devices, and my cousin always complained about these issues and even though I did attempt to fix, the issues didn't get resolved (I am tech savvy by the way, so I could get through a lot of issues, such as reset my bricked iPad using iTunes, etc.).
And now onto my iPad Pro 9.7. I bought the iPad in June of 2016, and even though I used it mostly for watching YouTube videos, Udemy and edX courses, the iPad started having a bricking issue in November of 2017. What happened was that I was charging and overnight, the iPad just shut itself off and never powered on again. I tried connecting it to iTunes and even though iTunes could recognise the device, whenever I reset it, errors keep on popping up and it is impossible to reset. I tried bringing it to the Apple Store, but they couldn't reset it either and they suggested that I replace the iPad Pro 9.7 with an iPad Mini 4 for $300. Then, I started taking matters into my own hands and finally resetted the iPad Pro successfully after multiple attempts in January of 2018. Four months later (in May 2018), the iPad bricked again, and I had to do the same process, and it took until August of 2018 after at least 5-10 tries for it to work again. And then in August 2020, whilst charging overnight, the iPad turned off and I thought it was toast. Turned out it was, as after countless times diagnosing the issues on iTunes, the iPad would keep on bricking after multiple reset attempts and after more than 2 years. Then, there was a miracle. In November of 2022, I finally got my iPad working again and I felt like I was very lucky, because I thought that the iPad was bricked forever and wouldn't go back on, ever.
Then, finally, it is my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I bought the phone on 20 November 2020, and by mid-September 2021, things started to go south for this phone. The top speaker started to fail and even though I cleaned it, the speaker was so muffled that I could barely hear anything from the top speaker. I brought it to the Apple Store and they said it is a digitiser issue and they couldn't even clean it for me, and around that same time, the touchscreen started to act up. With a lot of ghost touches, it started to become very hard to use the iPhone (and keep in mind, I have never replaced the screen since I never cracked the front screen). In October 2021, the phone started to have lose cellular signal when I enter the MBTA train and still didn't recognise cellular signal for minutes after I exited the MBTA and was at least a mile from that station on my bike, but luckily, resetting network settings did fix the issue with the cellular signal however. By the time the phone accidentally fell to the ground and the back did suffer some cracks in November, I started to give up on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and in December, I upgraded to the 13 Pro Max.
Even though my Galaxy Buds and my cousin (28M)'s Galaxy Buds did not show any issues (he bought the Galaxy Buds in March 2019 and after heavy usage, it still held up very well and he even gave it to his father), all 4 of my AirPods, even the AirPods Pro 2, have shown issues here and there. My first AirPods (January 2017-July 2018) basically stopped working, and hence, I bought another pair of AirPods in July 2018 and used it until February 2022, when I dropped it in the toilet. Even though I was using the 2nd pair of AirPods half the time (July 2018-January 2020, December 2020-April 2021, November 2021-February 2022), by late 2021, the AirPods started showing major problems. First off, the battery drains so fast even indoors that it only lasted about an hour. Then, once I am outside, the right side would disconnect after only 5 minutes of usage and the left side would keep soldering on. Once it fell to the toilet, it was game over (however, I still kept the AirPods, it is just in the nightstand sitting there, and I did clean it as well). I bought the AirPods 2 in February 2022, and after 2 months, at least once every week or two, the right side would discharge, even in the case (the case is clean by the way), until it went out of battery. I tried resetting the case and putting the case to charge again, but to no avail, and it took several reset attempts for it to return to normal. The same exact scenario happened to the AirPods Pro 2, which I got in October as my cousin wanted to gift me the AirPods Pro 2, in exchange for my AirPods 2. Except that sometimes, my iPhone 14 Pro Max couldn't even connect to the AirPods Pro 2 or even recognise it.
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• Hotspot doesn't always work on my iPhones, but always does on my Galaxy

I currently have two phone plans: my main Verizon phone plan with my iPhone 14 Pro Max and my secondary MetroPCS phone plan with my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. I do carry a third phone with me (without a phone plan), which is the iPhone SE 2020. Due to me not having a phone plan on my iPhone SE 2020, I do have to rely on hotspot when I am outside. For my iPhone SE 2020, I primarily use it for music streaming and to test my mobile applications, whilst my two other phones are used for more intense purposes, with me spending the most time on my Samsung.
For my iPhone 14 Pro Max and previous iPhones (iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max, etc), personal hotspot is very buggy. My Samsung connects just fine to the iPhone hotspot, but my iPhones don't. To preserve the battery, after several minutes, the iPhone SE would get disconnected from the iPhone 14 Pro Max hotspot (which is acceptable), but it gets worse. Even if I am currently streaming Apple Music on my iPhone SE with the screen on as well, the iPhone would disconnect from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and it is very hard to connect it to hotspot. Sometimes, the iPhone SE would say 'Unable to join network' and others, it said 'Personal Hotspot Failure', which would force me to restart both the iPhone SE and 14 Pro Max. Now the Remote Hotspot Failure started happening since I got the 11 Pro Max in 2019, and at the time, my 16:9 phone was the iPhone 6S, and even then, there were hotspot failure problems. I restarted the 11 Pro Max, but the hotspot failure would return after a week or two. Even after resetting network settings in 2021 right before my 13 Pro Max because my iPhone 12 Pro Max would lose cellular connectivity even after I exited the MBTA tunnel and I am outside a mile from the MBTA station, once I got my 13 Pro Max, the remote hotspot failure still appears. My Samsung Galaxy over the years connects to the iPhone hotspot without any issues, and would stay connected even if I am not using the phone until I basically turn off hotspot on my iPhone.
Now due to the fact connecting my iPhone SE to the iPhone hotspot is so bad, I would typically use the Samsung hotspot as a backup (keep in mind my iPhone plan gives unlimited hotspot whilst Metro only gives 5 GB). Both iPhones connect to the Samsung hotspot flawlessly, without any issues.
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• On my Samsung Galaxy phones, I can disable Wi-Fi using the Quick Settings (swipe down) menu, but for iPhones, it is less consistent

Sometimes, I don't want my main iPhone 14 Pro Max to connect to the Samsung hotspot due to it having its own data. I would turn off Wi-Fi on the control centre and after 5-10 minutes, it would reconnect the Wi-Fi, therefore wasting hotspot data on my Samsung metroPCS plan and making me mildly angry. iPhone does say turning off until tomorrow but in reality, Wi-Fi is turned on after 5-10 minutes. For Samsung, I turn off Wi-Fi on the quick settings until I turn it back on or I flick on airplane mode, which seems more intuitive in my case. However, when I am at home without any hotspot devices, whenever I use quick settings for iPhone, nearby Wi-Fi does disconnect until tomorrow
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• Connecting to Bluetooth devices is better on my Samsung Galaxy phones than my iPhones

Pretend I have two Bluetooth devices (AirPods Pro, JBL Clip 4), and I wanted to connect to the JBL speaker. On the Samsung, if I accidentally clicked on the AirPods Pro, I could click JBL Clip 4 immediately and within 5 seconds, I would be connected to the JBL Clip 4 speaker. For the iPhone however, things are not so bright, as if I were to accidentally click the AirPods Pro, I had to wait 15 seconds for Apple to search for the AirPods Pro, and then once it says it couldn't find the AirPods Pro because I left my AirPods Pro at home, that is when I could click on JBL Clip 4 and connect it. That turns a 5 second process into something like a 15-20 second process.
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• Apple Pay sometimes doesn't work on my iPhone

On several occasions since 2021, my iPhones would sometimes not pay using Apple Pay and would fail to pay. Sometimes, the iPhone couldn't even detect a reader even though the reader does work. Once I use Samsung Pay on my Samsung Galaxy devices as a backup, the payment did go through and it finally worked.
Yesterday, I was at the MBTA station, and I was attempting to pay for the Monthly pass. Ironically, even though the reader did work, the iPhone 14 Pro Max kept on saying 'Hold near Reader', and even though I held it near the mobile payment reader for 10-15 seconds, it still didn't do anything. Fed up, after the second time, I repaid the MBTA ticket and used my S22 Ultra and the payment did go through. However, at the restaurant around 1 hour later, even though I didn't restart the iPhone, Apple Pay finally worked again as I was able to pay my meal using Apple Pay.
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• Automatic updates are better on my Galaxies than my iPhones

My Samsung automatic updates are set overnight, and even with airplane mode turned on during the night, my Samsungs are always up to date without ever having to go to the settings app to update the firmware to Android 13. As for iPhone, they did schedule automatic updates between 4-5 am, but in reality, automatic updates keep failing even with Wi-Fi turned on overnight. If I wanted to update my iPhones, I would typically have to manually update via settings
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• Wi-Fi is far better on my Samsung Galaxy/Android phones than my iPhones, iPads, or Macs

I attended university between 2018 and 2022, and in late 2021, at university (I majored in CS by the way), my iPhones, iPads, and Macs would often struggle with Wi-Fi. My iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 7 Plus (as of November 2021) would sometimes even outright refuse to connect to Wi-Fi and same goes with the MacBook 15' Core i9 (2019) (I have since upgraded to the M1 MBP 16 since the logic board on the MBP 2019 failed in November 2021), and if connected, at some parts of the university, they are extremely slow, and sometimes, borderline unusable. My S21 Ultra however, at the same place, worked far better and was able to load websites. Even my Windows laptop was able to load websites as well as my Galaxy A51 (I brought an A51 one day to MIT to see if the Wi-Fi issues only occurred on Apple products).
Fun fact: the Galaxy S21 Ultra was the first phone to offer Wi-Fi 6E and not even the iPhone 14 Pro Max supports this feature
Then in July 2022, during a flight from Dallas back to Boston, my iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone SE 2 would fail to connect to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network several times and if connected, the Wi-Fi was painfully slow and near unusable whilst my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra connected to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network just fine and worked as expected, with websites loading reasonably quick, just like at my university with the S21 Ultra.
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• USB C lasts longer than lightning connector

Finally, one thing Samsung and Android OEMs do better than Apple is the fact that many Android devices, including Samsung Galaxy devices, come with USB-C which is the future compared to Apple's ancient lightning connector (frankly, Apple now uses USB-C on most of their iPads except for the entry level iPad 9). It allows for faster charging and transfer speeds and USB-C is basically superior to lightning, which is a relic from a bygone era. Plus, USB-C seems to last longer. Whilst my lightning connectors generally worn out between 6-18 months before having inconsistent connections or connectivity issues, my USB-C connectors would keep soldering on for at least 5 years before breaking down like the lightning connectors.
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TL;DR: Even though there are many benefits to owning an iPhone over an Android device, based on my user experience, after over 11 years of using various Samsung Galaxy phones, two Samsung Galaxy Tabs, and one Galaxy Bud and after over 12 years of using various iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and AirPods, I could safely assure that there are a lot of benefits to using Samsung and Android products over iPhones, namely due to the fact that notifications, customisation, features, options, Wi-Fi, multitasking, batteries, hotspot, Bluetooth, mobile payment, etc., are better on Samsung and Android products than on iPhones, based on my user experience.

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AITA
I’ve got a huge credit on my grocery store account. Maybe more than I could use up in years. Meanwhile, my best friend of over 20 years says he’s having financial difficulties. I proposed a simple solution to both problems:
He could purchase his groceries using my grocery credit, and pay me cash, at the rate of 80 cents on the dollar. He gets his groceries at 20% off, and I get to exchange some of my credit for cash.
This worked out fine for several shopping trips over the course of several weeks, without any issues. Until one week, soft drinks were on sale, and he decided to stock up. The sale price, plus the 20% discount, made them the lowest price anybody had seen around here in quite some time! He put four 12 packs in the cart. 48 cans of Coke and Coke products!
Here’s the problem: We live in Michigan, where each can comes with a 10 cent deposit. You pay the deposit when you buy the soda, and you get your dime back when you return the empty can to the store.
So naturally, I said “So, how are we going to handle the $4.80 deposit?” His position was I should pay the deposit, or at least 80% of it, using my store credit; And he should get the $4.80 deposit back, when returning the cans. (Evidently, I had let this slide on previous shopping trips, on smaller soda purchases, and that therefore, I was “changing the deal”. While I maintain that even if bottle deposits had been included in our previous dealings, I’m certainly allowed to “change the deal” on higher volume purchases. And that he should pray that I do not alter it further…)
Anyway, my 50-something friend threw a tantrum in the store, not only putting the 4 cases back on the shelf, but wheeling the cart back through the store and putting back all the other grocery items he was going to purchase. And declaring that if I wanted to do the deal in the future, he demanded a 50% discount. Then my friend of 20+ years proceeded to tell me to go fuck myself, and to shove all 48 cans of soda up my ass. (No clarification as to whether I could take them out of the packaging first.)
So, I put it to you, esteemed Jury of my Reddit Peers: AITA?

Finding this subreddit has been so therapeutic and validating for me. I’m 26, married to the love of my life (32M) with the most amazing 5yo stepdaughter.
Reading all of your stories has inspired me to sit down and type out my own. I must warn you, there are times when I am the villain. Buckle up. This is a small novel.
If we start at the very beginning, my DH began dating HCBM (33) when they were very young in their early 20s. Shortly into their relationship it became clear to DH that she was struggling with very severe alcoholism. I cannot even begin to write out all of the stories I have heard from DH about her alcoholism. He was very young, didn’t have a positive model for a healthy relationship as a child. He believed he could help HCBM. They were extremely on and off together for almost 7 years. Every time he’d try to break up with her she would weasel her way back in. She would go as far as showing up at his family events because she had his family wrapped around her finger (don’t worry, that changed. Read on.) She almost drank herself to death several times. The police in her town know her by name and recognize her car because her family has had to call in for welfare checks so many times. She’s had bits where she’s gone missing for several hours. Been listed as a missing person. Had the police ping her phone. I’ve read the police reports myself.
Where do I even begin with her family? Her parents are extremely proud. They own two businesses in their small town. They’re the kind of people who are very obsessed with image and making people think they’re wealthy. HCBM started drinking when she was 16. Her parents would deal with her problem by sweeping it under the rug and hiding it. They cared more about their pride than getting her the help she needed. When they were together, my DH was often the one who would drive her to AA meetings. HCBM didn’t like AA because she felt she was above the other people there. Her family now despises my DH, and weaves a narrative that she drank because of her toxic relationship with him. Though her drinking problems existed long before and after their relationship.
I’ll share a few stores in particular with the goal of establishing the absolute delusion that HCBM feeds to anyone who will listen about my DH.
There was one evening where they were at my DH’s uncle’s house in the city. The thing about HCBM is that you never saw her drink until she was drunk. She’d sneak in a bathroom or what have you to drink. DH and HCBM got into some kind of argument and she ran off into the city late at night. DH spent several hours driving around the city searching for her until he finally found her in a bar, making out with a random guy. He said “you can take her home tonight” and left. Several hours later in the wee hours of the morning, HCBM stumbled back to the uncle’s house, wasted and crying.
Another occasion, DH was at work and HCBM was at his apartment (she did not live there) and went to hang out with his upstairs neighbors who were girls. She got drunk with them. When DH got home, he tried to explain to his neighbors that she had a problem and shouldn’t be drinking…. They said “don’t control her! That’s manipulative”. DH went back downstairs, HCBM followed, and they fought. She ran back to the neighbors crying and the girls stormed down into his apartment saying “What did you do to her? What did you do to her?!”
A different time HCBM was drunk she had locked herself in DH’s roommate’s room. He was trying to explain to her that she needed to come out, that it wasn't his room and she couldn’t be in there. HCBM called DH’s mom (now my MIL) and began wailing “he’s doing it again, he’s being crazy again!” God knows what she was talking about. Eventually DH called HCBM’s dad who came to pick her up. HCBM’s dad dragged her by her arm down the stairs rather roughly, and DH got upset, like “hey I get that she is drunk and being a problem but you can’t manhandle her like that” so HCBM’s dad responded my shoving DH up against a wall and holding his arm to his throat.
Shall I go on? There are dozens more. The worst is yet to come.
Anyways, about four years into their relationship, after multiple incidents of infidelity on her part, DH started chatting with other women sporadically. He says he knew it was wrong, but he thought if he could show himself there were other women out there who could make him happy, other stable relationships he could be in, he might be able to get away from HCBM. It was about five years into their relationship that DH actually cheated. And so begins HCBM’s favorite narrative, that DH was an awful, unsupportive unfaithful partner who drove her to drinking because he was so shady. She will never, ever consider the fact that my DH to this day is traumatized from their relationship. He’s been in therapy several times and every single therapist identifies her as a narcissist.
Several years ago when DH and I met I was in college. We had an on and off fling for a while on the coattails of him trying to end it with HCBM once and for all after over six years stuck in a cycle. I think my DH made poor decisions, dumb even. But I sympathize with the trauma bond he was stuck in with this woman, and how difficult it was for him to cut ties with someone who would go to great lengths to insert herself in his life, and with the pressure of his family saying he should be with her. He cut things off with me and fell back in with HCBM. Lo and behold… HCBM gets pregnant. This may be shocking…. But it was not a good situation to be bringing a baby into. HCBM was 28 at the time. She was (and still is) working for her mom at the business she owns because she had gotten fired from every other job for showing up drunk. A side note, her mom owns a gymnastics center where she is a teacher. My DH has told me about several times her mother would text him to come pick her up because she’d shown up drunk. Her mom would get her out of there and just sub in another instructor to cover her ass. Anyways, DH was terrified. However, DH grew up without a father, so there was no way he wasn’t going to be involved in his child’s life. It is an impossible thing to talk about in hindsight because I love my SD so dearly, she turns mine and DH’s world. But DH told HCBM to terminate initially. And to be fair, he was right. It was not a stable situation to bring a child into. Would I reverse time and change anything? Never in a million years.
As you may have guessed, HCBM decided to keep the baby. She repeatedly told DH that if he left, he would not see his child. DH was stuck and miserable. During her pregnancy, while HDBM was parading about as if they were this cute happy couple, DH began to miss me. He realized he had real feelings for me, and he reached out. I loved him the moment I met him, so I was thrilled. I’ll keep this part concise; DH began cheating on HCBM with me, and I knew. It was an ugly decision on both of our parts. Despite how much I loathe HCBM, she is a person. She did not deserve that. DH and I are both pretty ashamed about our choices back then. I’ll go into detail later about how both DH and I have tried to atone for our actions.
When she was about 7 months pregnant, HCBM caught on and contacted me. Those conversations are forever burned in my mind. She said some of the most disconnected, ridiculous shit I’ve ever seen. She was obsessed with the image she was trying to portray to everyone about her life. I’ll never forget one conversation where we were discussing their daughter’s impending arrival… I had said something along the lines of “do you think it’s wise to bring a child into this situation,” and she said “I have lots of help. I’m old enough.”
“I’m old enough.”
Like she’s a kid trying to convince her parents to let her stay out past midnight.
DH and I broke things off before SD arrived. I was heartbroken, but let’s be real, that was a mess. An entire mess.
Still, HCBM thought it was just a brilliant idea for her and DH to move in together. So her parent’s rented them a house in their small town…. DH kept paying the rent on his apartment the city about 45 minutes away. DH has told me how miserable their relationship was, and HCBM knew all about his affair with me. But like I said, she was desperately trying to create this pretend life for herself.
SD arrives, a day I am so glad to celebrate each year. She is truly the joy of my life. DH cried more than she did. He was instantly in love with his baby girl.
About three weeks later, HCBM is back on the bottle.
DH told me about how he’d come home from work and find her drunk. She’d grab the baby and lock herself in a bedroom and cry. DH feared for his child’s safety.
HCBM was only able to breastfeed for a month or so because she stopped producing milk due to heinous dieting. She was obsessed with getting back to her pre-pregnancy weight. She would eat only miso soup for days on end. This poor relationship to food comes into play later. HCBM’s mother was always over at the house. Cleaning up, buying them things. Contributing to the facade.
DH was severely depressed. He continued to stay with HCBM to monitor her drinking and watch out for his daughter. They got to a point where DH would sleep on the couch. One night DH came home and HCBM was drunk again with SD in her care. DH called her parents who came rushing over to remedy the situation as they always do. Shortly after they arrived, HCBM had slumped over on the couch and became unresponsive. An ambulance was called. DH says it was one of his most traumatic memories holding his baby daughter watching the EMT’s resuscitate her mother wondering how he would raise this girl on his own.
After a hospital stay, HCBM returned home and her parents ordered pizza and put on a movie and pretended as if nothing had happened. That was the routine. When DH expressed his anger, his justifiable concern for what was going on, HCBM’s parents treated him as though he was the problem, he was an asshole for bringing it up and blaming her.
It wasn’t long after this, SD must’ve been around eight months old that HCBM was on a binge and DH returned home from work to find the house empty. He frantically began calling people to locate SD when HCBM’s parents informed him that she was with them, and that HCBM had crawled out a window and was missing. A missing person’s report was filed. HCBM’s father told police to check ditches and park benches, as she could often be found there. She turned out to be at some random man’s house, and was located about 36 hours later.
DH was at the end of his ropes. He took the police report and lawyered up secretly.
Here’s a fun new component to the story, remember how I said that DH had began sleeping on the couch? In said police report, it is documented that DH and HCBM were not in a relationship and were merely roommates. Because that was the situation. Behind the scenes, HCBM had met the man of her dreams. Let’s call him PF….. for psycho fiance. Yes, they’re engaged now. We’ll get to that part. PF randomly messaged HCBM on facebook and they began talking. PF was a recovering alcoholic in his 30s with no driver’s license due to a DUI.
Now, recall when HCBM was missing? Her parents searched through her facebook accounts to try and locate her and found her messages with PF, they explained their daughter’s drinking problem and asked PF if she may be with him. She was not. They had not even met yet. But PF thinks this woman who clearly has severe personal issues is just the cream of the crop. He decides to take her out to lunch. By the end of their lunch date, he is love-bombing the daylights out of her. Calling her his wife, his galaxy, all of this grandiose crap.
Two weeks after they met, PF got HCBM’s name tattooed on him. While DH was trying to sort out a plan of action with his lawyer…. HCBM informs him that he has to move out so that PF can move in because he will soon be without a place to live. She wants to invite this man she’s known for three weeks to live with her and her baby daughter. I’ve seen the message she sent to DH, it reads, “I know it seems fast but I know in my heart that he is so good.” HCBM’s parents are thrilled.
Less than a week after PF had moved in and DH was out, the ex parte motion was filed. DH was granted full emergency custody of SD until a hearing could be held. HCBM did not see SD for nine days… and of course, DH was the villain for this.
At the hearing. DH was awarded majority custody, with HCBM being allowed one overnight a week. PF was not permitted to be present when SD was there for overnights until CPS could investigate.
Now, HCBM’s parents funneled money for lawyers, rent, utilities, basically any adult expense HCBM needs is taken care of by her parents. DH did not have the same luxury. He was working himself to death as a single dad trying to pay for his lawyer while the court battle ensued. Almost two months later, DH contacted me. We hadn’t spoken in close to a year. I was off living my own life almost halfway through college. DH just needed someone to talk to about it, and still had very strong feelings for me. I was a shoulder for him to lean on.
We began hooking up, with no real intention to enter into a relationship. I met SD and would watch her while he was at work. There was an obvious deep love between DH and me, but the circumstances were just so insane. Plus, HCBM despised me, and was weaving stories to the court about how DH was an emotionally abusive partner, a narcissist and the reason for all her drinking.
DH and I did not want the drama of HCBM knowing I was around. Since we were operating under the guise that this was just an indulgence and would end at some point, we kept our interactions a secret.
Then, the universe must’ve thought we were owed some karma for what we did during HCBM’s pregnancy. I was diagnosed with ADHD at age five and have had a prescription for stimulants since a very young age.
One morning I awoke and heard what sounded like tiny wretching from the other room. My medication had spilled out in the bottom of my purse as the safety cap was screwed on crooked. SD was playing on the floor and digging around in my purse. DH noticed her putting something in her mouth, realized it was my medication and immediately ran into the bathroom and began making her puke.
I called poison control who instructed us to bring her to the hospital. She seemed relatively normal, a bit dazed maybe. We called the ER to let them know we’d be arriving. We got there and they stuck charcoal down her throat, drew blood, the whole ordeal.
I brought my medication bottle with me to give to the nurses so they knew what she had ingested and to prove it was a legally obtained prescription. I was frantic and bawling, a nurse comforted me and told me that ingestions are extremely common and we had done the right thing by bringing her in.
SD had an elevated heart rate, was fussy and stressed. She was administered medication to help lower her heart rate and as a result had to be admitted to be monitored. The blood tests came back with extremely minimal amounts of my meds in her system, but it was protocol that she be monitored after the medication was given to regulate her heart. If you’re feeling anxious, I’ll add that SD is perfectly healthy and happy, she fully recovered and did not suffer any seizures or damage to her brain/liver etc. which were the primary concerns with this ingestion.
Since she was being admitted, HD had to inform HCBM. I had told him he should tell her immediately, but he did not want to deal with her reaction or her family arriving. I think this was a poor decision on his part. As flawed a person as she is, I do know that HCBM loves SD very much, and I can sympathize with her wanting to be informed if her daughter was being seen at the hospital.
HCBM and her family arrived, I had left to avoid the fallout and gather some things for DH to drop off while he stayed at the hospital with SD. Naturally, HCBM was in a blind rage that she had not been contacted immediately. She demanded that the CPS worker who was mandated to check in because of the ingestion file a report of negligence. The CPS worker declined, saying that there was no negligence to report. That evening, security was called to remove HCBM from the hospital because she was screaming at DH in the pediatric wing. She was told she could return on her custody day.
I went to visit DH and SD the next day, she was back to her old self and able to go home. We were nowhere near prepared for what was about to ensue.
HCBM had weaved a story that I was addicted to drugs, and that whatever I was doing had to have been in a plastic bag in my purse or how else would SD have gotten into it? HCBM and her lawyer filed an ex parte motion. Now I’m sure most of you are familiar with the workings of family court, but for those of you who aren’t; and ex parte motion is an emergency motion. It is a piece of paper laid in front of a judge. The details can be as vague or exaggerated as the writer pleases them to be, and it is not until a hearing is scheduled can anything be disputed.
HCBM and her lawyer claimed that SD had ‘overdosed’ on stimulant drugs and conveniently failed to mention that they were a legal prescription. More than that, ‘overdose’ was a completely sensationalized description of what had occurred, and not a term used at all by any of the medical professionals nor was it included anywhere in her chart of the incident. SD never lost consciousness. There was never a point where doctors were in fear for her life. But the judge sees what is put before them and signs off with the limited information they are given.
When HD filed an ex parte motion against HCBM, the hearing was scheduled for nine days later. When HCBM filed an ex parte motion against DH, the hearing was scheduled over two months later.
This was the worst time period in DH’s life. He attempted suicide. He lost an insane amount of weight. He sold beloved possessions to pay his lawyer. He did not have custody of his daughter and HCBM allowed him rare visits in public places once or twice a week.
But ah, how the tables turn.
A month before the hearing on the ex parte motion, HCBM got a DUI with SD in the car. Her driving was so ballistic, someone had called in her car. She was arrested. I could go into detail about the bullshit-ery of her and her family I read in the police report from that, but there is still so much ground to cover.
CPS notified DH of the DUI. HCBM and her lawyer told DH’s lawyer they wanted to settle custody outside of court before the ex parte hearing.
DH was exhausted. He was broke. He just wanted his daughter back. He settled with HCBM on 50/50 custody. This is perhaps the greatest regret of his life. The GAL at the meeting even told DH he didn’t have to do this, that he could fight her and probably get more custody. But DH was a shell of a person at this point. He was in debt. He was exhausted.
Mere days after they settled he checked himself into an inpatient mental health facility for treatment. He and I were in touch every once in a while throughout that entire time, but had ended our romantic relations after the ex parte was filed. I was more of a confidant and friend, but he had drifted apart from everyone in his life and I was focused on school.
The day that DH left inpatient, PF messaged him to tell him that HCBM had slipped up and drank again. Saying, “she just has such a big heart, this is so difficult for her.” DH suspects that she had gotten herself into another nearly lethal situation or gone missing and PF was hoping to do damage control by contacting him rather than him finding out another way.
So 50/50 custody it was. Nine months later, HCBM gave birth to her and PF’s son. I’m not sure of any exact dates but judging by the date of that message and the birth of the baby there is a high change HCBM was drinking while unknowingly pregnant.
For the DUI, HCBM was sentenced to 40 days in jail while pregnant with her son. It was a work release program. Since she worked for her mom, she worked as many hours as she possibly could. Her mom would pick her up from prison with her phone and her makeup so she could hide what was going on from her coworkers and the community. DH would bring SD to the gymnastics center to visit her. She had an IED put into her car when she was released, meaning she had to blow into a breathalyzer to get her car to start.
DH and I would check in every once in a while over the course of the next year. We both dated other people. HCBM of course had issues with DH’s girlfriend he was with for a few months. But things had relatively settled save for the tension and resentment between HCBM and DH.
More than a year had passed since everything transpired and since DH and I were last romantically involved. We began talking more frequently during COVID lockdown and DH admitted he was hopelessly in love with me and wanted to be together. We had a major problem though.
When HCBM and DH were settling on their custody agreement, HCBM insisted I was not to be around SD. If you recall, HD was broke, exhausted, and severely struggling with his mental health. He and I hadn’t seen each other in person in several months, we talked but very infrequently and never of rekindling our relationship in any capacity. So he gave in. As long as he could be done with the nightmare and have his daughter back.
A single sentence in a five-page custody agreement meant that I couldn’t be around SD. I want to specify, this was not a restraining order. I was never served any papers, I would not be punished in any capacity were I to see SD, there was no court record of any kind indicating that I was restricted from seeing a child or was a dangerous individual. DH wouldn’t even lose custody or face any legal ramifications were he to violate that single sentence, it would just mean an official would have to intervene to investigate and ensure the stipulation be adhered to. Still, it would’ve prevented us from having any sort of real relationship. So we filed a motion to have the line removed. I had not seen SD in well over a year and we abided by the order which was exceedingly painful.
The first hearing was before a court commissioner. We came armed with letters of recommendation from friends and family, from the families I had nannied for during college. DH’s family had finally seen the light and turned against HCBM and attended the court hearing, filing the seats.
The court commissioner spent about ten minutes reviewing our plea, and decided this was not a matter of my character or whether I was a threat to SD, but that this was a communication issue between DH and HCBM, and since DH had agreed to this, they needed to work it out between the two of them.
Ha. Like that would ever happen. DH and HCBM began communicating through a court monitored app and attending co parenting counseling while our lawyer filed a motion to bring the issue before a judge and have a GAL and Family Court Worker appointed. As we all know with family court, things move slowly and this we had to wait months to make progress on our case.
Co parenting counseling was fruitless. HCBM is not capable of accountability. She insisted DH was a narcissist because she’d read about narcissism on the internet and she believed she deserved full custody of SD.
A judge appointed a GAL and Family Court Worker to our case. I’ll never forget the relief that day as the judge told HCBM that me being in SD’s life was inevitable at this point. There was no evidence that I was a dangerous person. At one point, our lawyer brought up the language used in HCBM’s ex parte motion all that time ago, pointing out the sensational language used, specifically the term “overdose”. I was shaking when HCBM’s lawyer admitted to the judge that “there was no overdose.” I’ll never forget the sheepish look on that lawyer’s face, or how HCBM’s jaw tightened as she refused to look even a millimeter in my direction.
Everyone met with the GAL and Family Court Worker. Of course HCBM got the earliest appointment possible so she could try to sell her story. When I sat down with the GAL he said “I don’t know why you’re here, to be honest.” But that’s the ridiculous thing about family court, people can just spew this insane shit and it has to be looked into.
Both the GAL and Family Court Worker recommended the line be removed entirely. We still had to wait another month for our hearing for these recommendations to be made to the judge. Over the course of these proceedings, DH and his lawyer (with my consent) had been urging HCBM to attend a co parenting counseling session with me to address her concerns. HCBM of course vehemently refused, actually speaking to me would destroy the picture she had painted and deluded herself into believing about me.
We continued to press the issue though. After the GAL and Family Court Worker’s recommendations were passed on to everyone’s lawyers, it was clear this was not going to go in HCBM’s favor. It could’ve easily been settled outside of court, saved everyone time and money. But that was never going to happen, HCBM was going to go down swinging. Less than two weeks from our final hearing before the judge, HCBM agreed to attend co parenting counseling with me. Both parties signed NDA’s before going into these sessions, they were meant to be mediation for parents to work out their issues and not dig up fodder to toss around in court. A safe place, if you will. DH and I suspected she’d want to attend a session with me so she could fabricate some story about me being awful, or make it seem like she was being reasonable since she’d refused any and all attempts to mediate this issue civilly.
We were correct, but her feeble attempts at control were fruitless and the line was removed. I could see my girl again. Since then, DH and I got married and have been in absolute bliss as a family of three. But of course, the mess with HCBM does not stop there.
DH and I have no idea it HCBM has been drinking or not. We have no proof. She claims she got sober, but she never received any professional help or rehab so that seems doubtful to me. There are a few red flags. She now shares a car with her mother, claiming her car has “been in the shop” for well over a year now. DH explained that when she would go on drinking binges, her parents would take her car away so they could control where she went and monitor her.
We’ve also had the issue of SD not wanting to go to her mom’s house. I have ring video footage of HCBM coming to pick up SD. SD was in hysterics, she ran back in our house several times while HCBM stands annoyed in the driveway. DH sits with her and consoles her, encouraging her and telling her she will have so much fun with her mom and brother. On this particular occasion, it took 45 minutes to get SD to go with her mom. This happened numerous times. DH eventually brought this up to HCBM, expressing his concerns and saying that he wished she would participate in co-parenting their daughter in these situations rather than hiding behind her car. HCBM dismissed him, saying she was a great parent and he was obviously making SD act this way. Give SD an oscar at this point. I can’t even fathom what DH would say to make a five year old act that way.
Eventually, HCBM stopped picking SD up and instead sent her mom to get her. SD has no issue going with her grandmother. A bit suspicious to me that it was specifically her mom that caused such an upset for her.
HCBM is very obsessed with image. She dresses SD in expensive outfits with intricate hairstyles. I should add, expensive outfits that are purchased for her by HCBM’s mother. She has told DH that she is not pleased with how he sends SD to school and has concerns about his ability to parent. He sends her… a 5 year old… to school in leggings and t-shirts like the rest of the 5 year olds in her class. Don’t get me wrong, I love to dress SD up when she’ll let me and I have indulged in Rylee and Cru outfits and what not, but the majority of the time SD wears normal kid clothes. She runs and jumps and plays and likes pink and sparkles and tops with her favorite characters on them. We let her pick her crazy mismatched outfits and throw her hair up in a quick bun or braid so it is out of her face. She bathes almost excessively because she loves the bath and is a very well looked after child.
Now, HCBM lost a significant amount of weight after she got together with PF. Her mother is also extremely thin. DH has told me about how they were always doing fad diets, they’d call themselves fat and critique their appearances constantly and clearly did not have a healthy relationship to their bodies or food.
At our home, SD is fed a balanced diet but I try to encourage a positive relationship to her body and food. No food is “good” or “bad,” they simply serve different purposes. For example, carbs give us energy, protein helps us grow, sugar makes us happy, etc. Creating guilt around eating certain types of food can lead to eating disorders, body image issues, I know because I had a poor relationship to food and my body for so long. SD loves fruits and veggies. She also loves chips and candy. She is allowed to indulge in sugar within reason and without guilt. I don’t think it's rocket science, and for us it has had fantastic results. We'll be at a gas station and ask SD if she wants a snack and the kid will want celery. I follow the instagram page “kids eat in color” very closely and when we prepare SD’s meals, the “treat” component is served together with the rest and not withheld until later. This is so SD doesn’t view certain foods as special or more desirable than others, and won’t associate treat foods with this rush of excitement and overwhelming positivity moreso than say chicken nuggets or carrots. When DH sets down her plate to eat, SD rarely if ever reaches for her treat food first. She eats everything on her plate until her body tells her she’s full.
HCBM constantly berates DH about SD eating “healthy.” She criticizes him for getting candy at the movies. Goes off about her having a cup of sugar-free pudding at 11 a.m. On Halloween, SD is allowed two pieces of candy from her trick or treat pile at her mom’s house.
Last Halloween at our house, we dumped all of our candy out in a huge pile and watched a movie. SD ate, I kid you not, four pieces of candy. She didn’t feel the need to binge on all this candy because she knew it wouldn’t be withheld if she asked for more in our home. There is still halloween candy in a bucket in our pantry and we weren’t even out trick or treating for an hour.
HCBM accuses us of “competing” with her. This. Is. Rich. SD loves visiting my parent’s and sometime last fall took a liking to playing my dad’s drumset. Later that week, HCBM bought her a kid-sized drumset. We adopted a kitten, HCBM adopted a kitten. We started playing barbies as a family, HCBM buys a barbie dreamhouse. We planned a weekend trip to a big city a few hours away, HCBM and PF take SD and their son to that city the week before we’re supposed to go. My husband is a Dungeons and Dragons fanatic, and recently he has been making kid friendly campaigns for the three of us to play as a family. SD loves playing dungeons and dragons with her daddy. It has become our family’s thing. The dungeons and dragons movie came out recently and DH and I got tickets for an early screening on a day we didn’t have SD. Who do you think we saw there while we were waiting in line to get popcorn? Their family does not play dungeons and dragons. You’ll be pleased to know that SD came down to sit with us for the last half hour of the movie, PF who had taken her had to give in because they were seated a row behind us and she kept leaning forward to excitedly whisper to DH about the movie.
I have suffered extreme emotional issues due to the abuse from HCBM. I’ve attended therapy specifically to address it. I developed severe social anxiety because HCBM will tell anyone who listens these fictions about me and DH. We live in a small community, one that HCBM and her family have been a part of for a long time and I am constantly afraid people I meet will know them and have these crazy ideas about who I am as a person. The flipside of this is that their family’s reputation is not as positive as they like to think it is, particularly to police in the area. In addition to HCBM’s drunk escapades involving police, her father has a court record pages long for tax fraud.
Thankfully, I work in the city 30 minutes from where we live and that has allowed me to build my own village and have a life untainted by HCBM and her crap. Through lots of work I have been able to establish firm boundaries. I’ve had to restrict HCBM and her friends from my social media accounts after being watched obsessively. HCBM’s mother even went as far as messaging my mother on Facebook to try and say DH is a narcissist and she should be concerned for me. DH and my mom are very close, and my mom was mainly worried about how far these people were going to go to untether my life.
HCBM doesn’t seem to understand the concept of equal guardianship. She views herself as the primary parent and believes she should have access to everything in our lives. This is legally not the case so luckily we’re just able to ignore those demands but it gets taxing.
HCBM’s parents pay for SD’s health insurance so HCBM makes all of her doctor and dentist appointments and acts as though that’s because DH is an uninvolved parent, despite the fact that he has asked to make appointments on his custody days so he could go. I have excellent benefits at my job and could take SD on as a dependent since she resides with us 50% of the time. We haven’t even proposed this idea to HCBM because god knows she would never agree despite the fact that this would probably save her parents a ton of money.
HCBM has SD involved in several activities on her custody days. A bit too many for a five year old in my opinion. Multiple gymnastics and dance classes and soccer. Since HCBM’s parents are always funneling her money and paying her bills they are constantly going out to do expensive activities, weekend trips, shows, you name it. HCBM thinks these things make her a good parent, but I personally don’t think that SD feels as emotionally attached to HCBM as she does DH. DH and I spend a ton of one on one time with SD. We play with her with her toys, we do crafts, we watch movies together. HCBM thinks dropping her off at some expensive activity makes her this stellar mom, but she doesn’t engage in the same level of connection with SD that DH does. HCBM’s parents of course bought them a trip to Disney World last year, and the day they came to pick up SD to leave for the airport she did not want to go. She began crying and insisting she wanted her dad to take her, and that she would miss him too much. What five year old objects to effing Disney World??
We have issues on the horizon with SD attending kindergarten next year. I know a battle will ensue about where she attends. The custody schedule does not give us any weekend time because when it was written, SD was one and DH was working weekends and the days they agreed on coincided with his schedule. This means that when SD attends school in the fall five days a week, we will not get a full day together as a family. DH and I are very nervous about addressing this. We don’t have any desire to change the 50/50 custody, just to adjust the days so that we can have some weekend time with SD. It is likely this issue will end up in court and cost us thousands.
I have had to come to the hard acceptance that this is just how our relationship with HCBM will be, likely forever. I hold on to selfish hope that she may screw up drinking again, but at the end of the day I want what is best for SD which is a healthy and stable mother and I will do whatever I can to encourage a positive relationship for them. At this point we have no proof of her drinking for the past few years. Either she miraculously stopped or her family’s response is just so calculated to protect her from getting into any shit and jeopardizing her custody. If that is the case, that can only go on for so long before SD is old enough to tell us what is happening.
I think that HCBM is deeply insecure and ashamed. I think she needs to make DH and I the villains so she feels better about herself. I think her upbringing has allowed her to shirk any and all accountability, she is surrounded by people who tell her she’s never wrong and she’s this great person and great parent.
I don’t know what the resolution is here. If you have read this far, thank you sincerely. Though I confide in my mom and friends about the situation with HCBM, I keep my venting to a minimum so as not to let her live rent free in my life. I am not going to spend all this energy being pissed at her and her immaturity. I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of getting on my nerves, being the subject of my conversations. I’m not even going to let her think I care enough to trash her to people. But it feels extremely therapeutic to get this all out to a group of people who understand.

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1. Fakhre, Danny & Christine: Danny Fakhre is the Chairman of Kochii Oil out of Australia. Christiane is his wife.
   
2. Falletans, Olivier de: Managing partner at Bryan, Olivier, & Co., a mid-market investment bank in Technology. Olivier comes from a family of nobility dating back to at least the 13th century.
   
3. Fanjul, Pepe: Jose “Pepe” Fanjul is a billionaire businessman involved in sugar and real estate. Vice Chairman and President of Flo-Sun. “Pepe” is a Republican. He was one of the largest contributors to George W. Bush’s campaign, is an ardent supporter of Marco Rubio, and co-hosted a large fundraiser for Donald Trump. His older brother, Alfonso Fanjul Jr., is a Democrat and was a co-chair of Bill Clinton’s Florida campaign,
   
4. Faulkner, Terence & Cornelia: Terence Faulkner is Chairman of Leathams PLC, a London-based food distributor. Cornelia is Terence’s wife. She is Director of Leathams and a specialist decorator.
   
5. Felix, Helena: Not much to be found on Helena. She was possibly the director of an investment firm called Edenhaven Limited. Her husband, Peter, was an oral surgeon. He passed away in 2011.
   
6. Ferragamo, Leonardo & Beatrice: Leonardo is the son of Salvatore Ferragamo, the creator of Salvatore Ferragamo, S.p.A., an Italian luxury goods company specializing in shoes, leather goods, and watches.
   
7. Flick Mook: Likely Friedrich Christian Flick, known as Mick Flick. The Flick family was a billionaire coal and steel conglomerate that was accused of war crimes during the Holocaust. Flick’s grandfather financially supported the Nazi Party and used 48,000 forced laborers from the concentration camps, many of whom died due to the conditions. Grandfather Flick was found guilty of war crimes at Nuremberg and served 3 years of his 7-year sentence. Mick (Mook) sold most of his holdings in the ‘80s and retired a billionaire.
   
8. Forbes, Chris (Kip) Astrid: Son of Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990), the former politician and sole owner of Forbes Magazine. Chris Forbes is Vice Chairman of Forbes Publishing Company and brother of former Republican Party primary candidate, Steve Forbes. His wife, Astrid (nee von Heyl), is a German baroness and a descendant of the House of Bismarck, a German noble family.
   
9. Forte, Rocco & Aliai: Rocco Forte owns the Rocco Forte Hotels group. They own fourteen upscale hotels throughout Europe and employee 2500 people. His wife, Aliai, is in fashion design.
   
10. Fraiser, Violet: Likely refers to Violet Fraser, a Communications and Marketing Manager that works with Moussaieff Jewellers through World Media Group. She has also worked for Dior and Bulgari.
    
11. Fraysse, Isabel: Isabelle Fraysse is a former Style Editor for Vogue. Founder of ISI Style Consulting.
    
12. Freud, Mathew: Matthew Freud is the head of Freud Communications, an international public relations firm. Matthew is also the great-grandson of Sigmund Freud. Freud’s first wife, Caroline Hutton, went on to marry the 9th Earl of Spencer (Princess Diana’s brother). Elisabeth Murdoch, his 2nd wife (now divorced), is the daughter of Rupert Murdoch.
    
13. Fry, Cosmo & Amanda: Cosmo is a chocolate heir and the son of well-known inventor Jeremy Fry. Jeremy had royal connections and was slated to be the best man at the wedding of Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II’s younger sister, but was replaced after it had been found out that he approached a man for sex. Cosmo’s owns a company that specializes in making plate racks and bookshelves. Amanda eventually went on to marry rocker Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates fame in 2009 after her divorce from Cosmo.
    
14. Furstenberg, Alex, Alexandra V.: Alexander is an American businessman and the son of the famous fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg. He remains a partner in his mother’s company. Alexandra is a furniture designer and Alex’s ex-wife. They divorced in 2002 but have 2 children together.
    
15. Ganoza, Esteban Juan: A Peruvian businessman who said he met Maxwell in the 1980s when he lived in New York, but denied any ties to pedophilia when his contact information was revealed to be in Epstein’s ‘Black Book.’
    
16. Garland, Michael: Likely the Chairman of investment firm C5 Capital, located in London
    
17. Giussani, Luca: President, CEO of Dorial Telecom, Inc., a telecommunications company.
    
18. Goldsmith, Isabel: An art collector and owner of Hotel Las Alamandas in Mexico. Goldsmith is the daughter of Sir James Goldsmith, a French-British financier, tycoon, and member of the European Parliament.
    
19. Gomme, William & Emma: William Gomme is a former director of several furniture manufacturing companies in London. Emma is his wife.
    
20. Gordon, Jacobo: Spanish businessman who co-founded several real estate and gaming companies with Alejandro Agag. Agag is a former politician in Spain. He became Secretary General of the European People’s Party (EPP), a tremendous political faction in Europe. Agag played a huge role in getting former Italy PM Silvio Berlusconi’s party into the EPP. Berlusconi has been charged for underage prostitution in the past. Agag quit politics to pursue financial and sporting interests. He is married to the daughter of Jose Maria Aznar, the former PM of Spain and Ana Botella Serrano, the first female mayor of Madrid. Guests at Agag’s wedding included kings and queens. Berlusconi and Tony Blair served as witnesses.
    
21. Geary, Tim: Served in public relations and was Director of Membership at Soho House, a restaurant and private members club.
    
22. Gelardin, Jack (jacque)Jacques P. Gelardin currently Founding Partner of J P Gelardin & Co, LLC , Lehman Brothers Inc, Member of the Management Committee,Chairman & CEO, Lehman Brothers International.
    
23. Gertler, Eric: A venture capitalist who served as Chairman of U.S. News & World Report, a media company most known for publishing news, consumer advice, and rankings ranging from education (top universities, high schools, etc.) to job professions, healthcare, and too many others to mention. In 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo nominated Gertler to serve as President and CEO of Empire State Development, New York’s chief economic agency. In Epstein’s ‘Black Book,’ Privista is listed under Gertler’s name. Privista is a company that protects against identity theft. Gertler was President and CEO.
    
24. Getty, Mark: Co-founder and Chairman of Getty Images, a photographic conglomerate. If you have ever surfed the Internet, you have seen several pictures/images belonging to Getty Images. From 2008-2016, Getty was the Chairman of the Trustees of the National Gallery in London. Grandson of Jean Paul Getty Sr., founder of Getty Oil Company, and one of the richest men in the world during his time. The Getty Family has a net worth north of $5 billion as of 2015.
    
25. Getty, Pia and Chris: Pia Getty is the daughter of billionaire Robert Warren Miller, an American-born British businessman and founder of Duty Free Shops. Pia’s sisters are Princess Alexandra von Furstenberg of designer fame and Maria-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece, Princess of Denmark. Her ex-husband (1992-2005), Christopher, is Mark Getty’s first cousin. Christopher is also the grandson of Jean Paul Getty Sr. When they were married, Pia and Mark would hold A-list parties on the rooftop of their Manhattan townhouse. Their townhouse was located half a mile from Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion. Many people think that the Getty Museum in Los Angeles houses an underground base and city for the elites.
    
26. Goulandris, Dimitri: Founder of The Cycladic Group, which invests and creates businesses. Spent 8 years at Morgan Stanley in its private equity group. Goulandris is the Executive Director and a Board Member for Knightsbridge Schools, which has 3 schools (KSI Montenegro [a boarding school], KSI Bogota, and KSI Panama), all of which are primary/secondary schools for students aged 2-18.
    
27. Grabau, Lorenzo: Spent seventeen years at Goldman Sachs before becoming CEO of Investment AB Kinnevik, a Swedish investment firm. He was fired less than 3 years after taking the position.
    
28. Graff, Francois: CEO of family-owned Graff, one of the world’s most notable jewellery houses. The company is worth several billion dollars. Graff has been photographed with the likes of Wilbur Ross. In 2001, there was a party celebrating the opening of a new Graff’s store. Attendees included Ghislaine Maxwell, Ivana Trump, Joan Collins, and Denise Rich (source: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/05/style/IHT-laurence-graff-and-his-pockets-full-of-diamonds-the-buccaneer-of.html
    
29. Grant Jamie: Likely James Grant, owner of No2 Pound Street, an award-winning wine shop that specializes in British Cheese and cured meats. He and his wife previously worked at some leading hotels and restaurants.
    
30. Green, Jeremy: Likely the former Chief Executive of Quba Property Holdings in South Africa.
    
31. Guccioni, Tony: Son of Penthouse creator Bob Guccione.
    
32. Guest, Cornelia: Named Debutante of the Decade of the 1980s, Cornelia is a well-known New York socialite who comes from money. Her family made money in iron and steel and have served in British politics. In December 2015, Ghislaine Maxwell attended Cornelia’s holiday party.
    
33. Guggenheim, Barbara & Bert Flelds: Guggenheim (not part of the Guggenheim museum family) is a partner at the well-known art advisory firm, Guggenheim, Asher Associates, Inc. They have built collections for Coca Cola and Sony, as well as Tom Cruise and alleged pedophile Steven Spielberg. Epstein victim Maria Farmer once worked for Barbara at her home before meeting Epstein. Farmer got the job through Barbara’s sister, Eileen, who has been accused of being an Epstein enabler. A petition (https://www.change.org/p/david-kratz-eileen-guggenheim-must-be-removed-for-harm-she-caused-to-maria-farmer-by-jeffrey-epstein?recruiter=30424804 to have her removed as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the New York Academy of Art as a result of Maria Farmer’s allegations has over 10,000 signatures. Farmer says that Eileen Guggenheim forced her to sell a painting replicating Degas’s “The Rape” to Epstein. Two weeks after meeting Epstein and Maxwell, Guggenheim took Farmer and other art students to Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico (source: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/epstein-ranch-art-students-1760265 Barbara’s husband, Bert Fields, is an entertainment lawyer who has represented the likes of Steven Spielberg, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, George Lucas, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, etc.
    
34. Halpern Jen: A British philanthropist, PR guru, and businesswoman. Her father was knighted by Margaret Thatcher.
    
35. Hammond, Dana: Socialite and heiress to the Annenberg Publishing fortune. Hammond is friends with Ghislaine Maxwell. They have been photographed together at various parties.
    
36. Hayworth Reggie: Heyworth runs the 160 acre Cotswold Wildlife Park, which attracts more than 400,000 people a year. He lives in the middle of the park at the Bradwell Grove estate. .
    
37. Hefner III, Bob: Founder and CEO of GHK Companies, which specializes in oil and natural gas. Founded the Robert and MeiLi Hefner Foundation which sponsors educational trips to China for outstanding high school students. His grandfather, Robert Hefner Sr., served as Mayor of Oklahoma City, was a Supreme Court Justice of Oklahoma, was a member of the executive council of the Boy Scouts of America, and was a thirty-second degree Freemason. This article makes a connection between Jeffrey Epstein, Bob Hefner III, and a winning Powerball lottery ticket that was purchased in Oklahoma in 2008 (source: https://www.thelostogle.com/2019/08/14/no-jeffrey-epstein-did-not-win-25-million-from-an-oklahoma-lottery-ticket-or-did-he/#comments
    
38. Heineken, Mr. Fredie: A Dutch businessman for the Heineken brewing company. Was chairman and CEO from 1971-1989.
    
39. Helen and Tim Shifter: Helen is a former Vogue Magazine staffer. Tim is former CEO of LeSportsac and serves as Senior Advisor at Blackstone Group, a private equity firm. The Schifters are personal friends of Ghislaine Maxwel
    
40. Hersov, Robert & Kim: Robert is a South African entrepreneur and mining heir who has worked for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and News Corp. (owned by Murdoch).. Ex-wife Kim is a London-based fashion editor and designer.
    
41. Heseltine, Rupert: Businessman and heir to Haymarket Media Group. Son of Baron Michael Heseltine.
    
42. Jameel, Mohammed: Saudi Arabian businessman. CEO of Abdul Latif Jameel, a collective of family-owned businesses that specialize in transportation, investing, and real estate. Royal pervert Prince Andrew infamously partied on Jameel’s yacht during the 2011 London riots (source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/prince-andrew-frolicks-on-yacht-with-mystery-147496
    
43. James, Susie: Founder and owner of 123 Send Ltd, a company that provides payment terminals.
    
44. Katz, Anton & Robin Plant: Anton is CEO and co-founder of Talos Trading, which specializes in cryptocurrency. Anton and Robin are friends of and have been photographed with Ghislaine (source: https://www.patrickmcmullan.com/search/?person=5b3ef50c9f929066764df255
    
45. Kegan, Rory: A nightclub designer and creator. Co-founder of the exclusive, celebrity-filled London nightclub, Chinawhite. Prince Andrew (source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9818190/prince-andrew-pictures-cast-doubt-epstein-sex-slave/ and Prince Albert of Monaco are regulars. Chelsea Clinton has been there, as well (source: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/bright-night-for-china-white-6299739.html). Other patrons include: Prince Andrew, Kate Middleton, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, and more.
    
46. Keidan, Amanda: Owner of Keidan Jewelry.
    
47. Kersner, Sol: South African accountant and hotel and casino magnate who died of cancer in 2020. Kerzner was a close friend of Donald Trump. They even worked together to create The Palm, a man-made island off the coast of Dubai (source: https://www.ft.com/content/46393280-d9f9-11da-b7de-0000779e2340. Kerzner was also close friends with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York (https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sarah-ferguson-the-duchess-of-york-sol-kerzner-chairman-and-news-photo/83768272), Naomi Campbell (https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/naomi-campbell-and-sol-kerzner-pose-backstage-during-the-news-photo/82869744), and Bill Clinton(https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8144647/As-Sol-Kerzner-dies-aged-84-RICHARD-KAY-looks-riotously-louche-life.html Kerzner was very good friends with Nelson Mandela and built his casino resorts with Gerard Inzerillo
    
48. Khayat, Antoine, Jana, & George: Jana is an heiress and businesswoman. Jana is the niece of Galen Weston, a close friend of Prince Charles. George is her brother and CEO of Associated British Foods. Jana’s husband, Antoine, is a former banker and currently runs their vineyard.
    
49. Klesch, Johnathan: Former Director of Klesch Trading, which specializes in industrial commodities. It has offices in Russia, Malta, Surrey, and in London, down the block from Buckingham Palace.
    
50. Koch, David: Co-founder of Koch Industries, a diversified manufacturing conglomerate. Koch Industries has stolen oil from Indian reservations, committed hundreds of polluting, labor, and workplace safety violations. When he ran on the Libertarian ticket as the vice presidential nominee in 1980, Koch aimed to abolish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare benefits, and minimum wage. Koch and Epstein were friends. Epstein even attended a party at Koch’s Southampton home (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7270735/Jeffrey-Epstein-Trumps-closest-advisers-Wilbur-Ross-Rudy-Giuliani-Steve-Mnunchin.html). Koch has also been photographed with Ghislaine Maxwell (https://www.reddit.com/KochWatch/comments/dcjth3/david_koch_ghislaine_maxwell_getty_images/
    
51. Kohl, Astrid: A businesswoman involved in pharmaceuticals. Married to Prince Alexander of Liechtenstein. Daughter-in-law of Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein. Niece of former German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl.
    
52. Kotic, Boby: CEO of Activision Blizzard, a video game holding company. Used to run several electronic companies. From 2003-2008, he was a director at Yahoo! In 2012, he became a non-executive director of Coca-Cola.
    
53. Lal, Dalamal: Director of Akron Corp. & Akron (Nig.) Ltd., a food and beverage import company based out of Nigeria.
    
54. Laurie, Jonathan: Founder and CEO of Cheyne Capital Management, an alternate investment fund firm.
    
55. Lavlada, Laura D.B. de: Laura Diez Barroso is a Mexican businesswoman. She sold her stock in Televisa for $726 million in 1993. Since then, she has been the head of several other companies.
    
56. Le Fur, Jean-Yves: French businessman and magazine creator. He was once Princess Stephanie of Monaco’s ex-fiance. More notably, Le Fur was the one who discovered supermodel Karen Mulder (his girlfriend at the time) on the floor after she attempted suciide. Mulder blew the lid off the rampant rape and sexual abuse that she and her modeling colleagues had suffered at the hands of businessmen, royalty, celebrities, and government officials. She was even the protege of Epstein collaborator (allegedly), Jean Luc Brunel (https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article238351108.html
    
57. Lea, Piers: CEO of Learning Technologies Group, a workplace digital learning company.
    
58. Lester, Dominick: Founder and owner of MortgageFlex Systems, a mortgage lending company.
    
59. Lindemann, Adam & Elizabeth: Adam is a billionaire investor and art gallery owner. Brother of Sloan. Elizabeth is his ex-wife. She is often photographed with many other people mentioned in Epstein’s ‘Black Book.’
    
60. Lindemann, George(Sr.) & Freida: Now-deceased billionaire father of Sloan and Adam. George was the CEO and Chairman of Southern Union, a pipeline company and served as Vice President of the Metropolitan Opera Association of NYC. His wife, Frayda, is the President and CEO of the Metropolitan Opera.
    
61. Lister, Paul: Likely the director of legal services and company secretary for Associated British Foods
    
62. Lorimer, John & Lottie: John works as a private investor and as a realtor. His wife, Lottie, is an interior designer.
    
63. Macmillan, Dave & Bella: David is a publisher and the grandson of Harold Macmillan, former British Prime Minister (1957-1963). Bella is a British socialite and author. She also designed dresses for Princess Diana. They are now divorced. David and Bella made news in 2015 when it was revealed that Michael Lynton, the CEO of Sony Pictures, jokingly mentioned firing the UK culture minister so that David can take over (https://www.theregister.com/2015/04/18/sony_emails_lynton_vaizey/). David and Bella were voted a top 50 power couple over the age 50 back in 2013.
    
64. Mahler, Giovanni: Businessman in the gas industry. He co-founded Navigator Gas shipping company. The most interesting story revolving around Mahler can be read here (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/millionaires-wife-is-killed-by-speedboat-in-sardinia-305350.html). Mahler was on a motorboat on the way to his yacht in Sardinia where close friend Flavio Briatore (Briatore is Naomi Campbell’s ex-boyfriend and was photographed with Epstein victim Virginia Roberts several times - https://www.the-sun.com/news/265368/prince-andrew-epstein-scandal-accuser-virginia-roberts-posts-chilling-message-aimed-at-naomi-campbell-and-ghislaine/) waited. On the way to the yacht, Mahler and the others on board struck and killed Alex Ciardi, wife of investment banker Giuseppe Ciardi. Turns out that Alex Ciardi worked with the NSPCC, a children’s charity that several others in Epstein’s ‘black book’ (Jemma Kidd, Tim Jeffries, Mary Glanville, Clare Hazell-Ivaegh, Ben Holland-Martin) and Princess Margaret have served. The accident occurred close to Silvio Berlusconi’s villa. Berlusconi is a billionaire businessman and four-time former Prime Minister of Italy who throws infamously raunchy Bunga Bunga parties. He was convicted of paying an underage prostitute for sex, but those charges were later overturned.
    
65. Malenga (Mandela) Machel: A managing director at Whatana Investments Group in Mozambique. His father, Samora Machel, was the first president of Mozambique. He died in an airplane crash in 1986 under mysterious circumstances. His mother, Graca Machel, runs the company. After her husband Samora died, she married Nelson Mandela, who died in 2013.
    
66. Malina, Marjorie: Wife of Frank Malina who co-founded Aerojet, an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer. Frank went on to become head of scientific research at UNESCO before creating Leonardo**, a peer-reviewed research journal. Frank was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1990. Marjorie is the mother of Ghislaine’s brother-in-law, Roger Malina.*\*
    
67. Malkin, Shelly & Tony: Shelly comes from major oil money. Her grandfather founded Belco Petroleum, which was bought out by Enron in the ‘80s. Tony is the chairman, president, and CEO of Empire State Realty Trust, the real estate investment company that owns the Empire State Building, and other properties around New York.
    
68. Manconi, John: Businessman who hosts super exclusive charity polo events attended by Prince Charles, Harry, and Andrew (https://variety.com/2002/scene/vpage/royals-have-splendid-time-1117868882/).
    
69. Manzano, Jose Luis & Alejandra: Jose Luis is an Argentine businessman and former politician. He is a partner in Grupo America, the second largest multimedia group in the country. He has given money to the Clinton Foundation and The Climate Reality Project ran by Al Gore.
    
70. Marks, Stephen & Alisa: Stephen is the founder and chairman of French Connection clothing brand. Alisa is his gold digging ex-wife.
    
71. Marsh, Jeremy: Has served as a managing director and president of Warner Bros. Records, Virgin, Telstar, and RCA.
    
72. Massimo, Parisi: Founder of Baltic Model Management.
    
73. Mattsson, Carolina: Owns a consulting company in Sweden.
    
74. Mavroleon, Basil & Carina: Basil is still involved in shipping, working at Genco as an Independent Director.
    
75. Mavroleon, Manoli: From the same Greek shipping magnate family. His name was listed in the Panama Papers (https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/11000305 for using offshore tax havens.
    
76. Mavroleon, Nicholas & Barbara: Nicholas works in the family business. His ex-wife, Barbara Carrera, is a model and actress.
    
77. Mayhew, Mr John: Owner of the famous Rules restaurant in Covent Garden. Inherited the Lartington Estate.
    
78. McDonald, John: NYC-based restaurateur.
    
79. Mcleod Jock & Pru: Alasdair ‘Jock’ MacLeod is a long-time executive at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. His wife, Prudence, is Rupert Murdoch’s daughter. Coincidentally, Prudence attended The Dalton School while Epstein taught there in the ‘70s (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-dalton-teacher.html). Rupert Murdoch is listed later on in Epstein’s contacts. Murdoch also goes back a long way with Ghislaine. Murdoch and Ghislaine’s father, Robert, were rivals since they both owned competing newspapers in the U.S. and abroad (https://c8.alamy.com/comp/B502J2/rupert-murdoch-media-baron-in-conversation-with-fellow-newspaper-owners-B502J2.jpg
    
80. Merison, Guy & Caroline: Guy is co-founder of Hartees, a commodities firm specializing in energy.
    
81. Merivale-Austen, Bruce: Managing Partner of DM Partners Asia, a private wealth management firm. Plays polo every summer with Prince William and Prince Harry (https://www.thailandtatler.com/people/brouce-merivale-austin
    
82. Mermagon, Mr Jonathan: Businessman and close friend of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose name keeps popping up. Memagden even served as Chairman of the UK PTI Secretariat (https://news.cision.com/curzon-pimran-khan-shares-vision-for-building-a-stronger-pakistan-through-trade,c9336910). PTI is the current ruling political party in Pakistan.
    
83. Minot, Carie & Bell, George: Caroline is a jewelry designer. George has been responsible for several Silicon Valley startup companies. Before that, he was a senior editor of Outdoor Life magazine and has won Emmys for directing and writing conservation documentaries. He also founded Outdoor Life Network (now NBC Sports).
    
84. Montemayor, Cesar: Founder and President of InverCap, a large investment firm
    
85. Monti Riccardo: Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG (Milan), one of the largest management consulting firms in the world.
    
86. Morton, Peter: Co-founder of the Hard Rock Cafe.
    
87. Murray, Jean Pierre: Founder of Surf Channel and co-founder of TransCash, a prepaid Visa debit card firm.
    
88. Nadler, Emanuel: Businessman involved in mortgage companies.
    
89. Nagel, Adam: Works at W Nagel, broker and advisor to premier diamond manufacturers, such as De Beers.
    
90. Nagel, William: Chairman of W Nagel. Diamond merchant.
    
91. Newman, Mr & Mrs John: John is Hetty’s father. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards. He later became a businessman and was director of several companies.
    
92. Niarchos, Constantine: Billionaire son of shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos. Was once married to Alessandra Borghese of Italian papal lineage (and black nobility). He was also romantically linked to Koo Stark, Trinny Woodhall, and Kerry Kennedy (daughter of Bobby Kennedy), all of whom are in Epstein’s ‘black book’. Constantine died of an overdose with enough cocaine in his system to kill 25 men (https://www.theguardian.com/theobserve1999/oct/17/life1.lifemagazine7
    
93. Noel, Vanessa: Luxury shoe designer, hotelier, and gallery owner. Many celebrities are clients of hers.
    
94. Ojora, Yinka: CEO and/or Director of a number of investing groups in Nigeria
    
95. Ong BS & Chritina: Christina is a Singaporean hoteliebusinesswoman who is heavily involved with Club 21 (a luxury fashion brand) and COMO Hotels and Resorts. She runs all of the Armani outlets in Britain, as well as the franchises for Donna Karan, Prada, and Bvlgari. Christina and her husband, Beng Seng, are worth $1.9 billion.
    
96. Ong, Melissa: Christina and BS’s daughter
    
97. Orlando, Fabrice: CEO of Cocoon Events Management Group, a luxury event planning company based out of Morocco.
    
98. Osbourne Rachel: British businesswoman who has served as director for several companies. Otto, Beo & Edwige Edwige manages 2 companies (2 mandates), his main mandate is Administrator within the company 18 MONTAIGNE . Edwige OTTO works in the Real Estate business sector. Julian PORTHAULT is part of Edwige OTTO's network, he is Chairman and CEO of 18 MONTAIGNE .
    
99. Parker, Jackie: Management consultant who sits on the board of several companies. Also the head of global philanthropy for General Motors.
    
100. Paulson, John: Billionaire hedge fund manager
     
101. Pedrini Tito: Jeweller
     
102. Pekeler, Marcus: Communications consultant in Switzerland.
     
103. Picciotto, Michael: Vice-Chairman at Engels & Volkers AG, a real estate firm. Former head of global financial activities for UBP, a Swiss private bank owned by Picciotto’s family.
     
104. Plouvier, Diane & Denis: Denis is the owner of Trousseau linen company (https://www.denisplouvier.fblank
     
105. Polii, Edoardo: Powerboat champion and textile entrepreneur.
     
106. Polu, Clary: “Marketing director of Lycos and Meetic, wife of the "startup" Christophe Schaming, co-shareholder of Winamax, the online betting company co-founded by the mysterious passenger of the Lolita Express Nicole Junkermann” (http://faitsetdocuments.com/articles.html
     
107. Porthault, Mr & Mrs: Marc Porthault runs the family linen business, D Porthault. Marc’s parents founded the company. Clients include Bill Gates, Woody Allen, the Mellons, and the Kennedys. Marc’s wife, Isabelle, is the head of human resources of Chanel in Europe.
     
108. Porthault, Remi & Isabel: Remi is the marketing director and president of the U.S. subsidiary of D Porthault linens.
     
109. Potter, Muffie: Socialite and former executive at Van Cleef & Arpels, a watch company. Married to famed plastic surgeon, Sherrell Aston. She has been photographed with Ghislaine and Peggy Siegal at various events.
     
110. Prestin, Electra: Former vice president of merchandising for Ralph Lauren and co-founder of Adam & Eve clothing company. Her father, Lewis T. Preston, was chairman of J.P. Morgan and president of the World Bank (appointed by George H.W. Bush). Her great-grandfather was newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, whom the Pulitzer Prize is named after. Another great-grandfather of hers was a partner in the Standard Oil Company of John D. Rockefeller.
     
111. Price, Judy: Founder of Avenue, a magazine about New York City.
     
112. Puig Marc: Chief executive and president of Puig, a fragrance and fashion company.
     
113. Quartucci, Alan: Founder of North Shore Bloodstock and North Shore Insurance, thoroughbred bloodstock companies that provide equine insurance, consulting services, racehorse management, and more.
     

There's a few lesser known quests/unlocks that provide small boosts to your character:

• If you have a level 150 Cygnus, you can get level 30 Empress's blessing by completing the Noble Mind from Neinheart. Completing these quests gives a 6 ATK/MATK boost to your entire account.
• Completing the Will of the Alliance questline (unlocks at level 75) is fast for most classes and provides your character with permanent 5 all stat and ATK/MATK.
• The Wild Hunter legion block gives a chance for increased damage on attack. This block is comparable to boss damage blocks like Kanna and Demon Avenger.
• The Depths and Time familiar badges provide 1% WATK and 3% IED, respectively. These badges are not commonly completed when unlocking 3 familiar slots due to requiring field boss drops. If you have drop gear, it may be worth your time to hunt down these badges. (takes around 100 field boss kills per card).
• Charging your Soul Weapon gives a small flat ATK/MATK boost. This is something you can do beforehand to prepare for a struggle boss run.
• If you don't plan on getting the 7 Day's Monster Parker Medal, completing the Knight's Stronghold questline (takes around 30 minutes) and killing Empress 20 times (takes 20 weeks) awards the "Savior of the Empress" medal, which gives 5% IED.
• In Threads of Fate, getting >70 closeness with certain characters unlocks special skills. The best skills are:
  • Tengu, which gives a daily +20 WATK buff for 1 hr.
  • Takeno, which gives a 30 minute cooldown full heal + shell for 5 seconds. This skill can be used to dodge mechanics like Lucid bombs and Will screen crack, or used to heal through black curse in Black Mage.

In addition, getting closeness with specific sets of characters buffs the Wings of Fate. Tengu + Yoruzu + Izuna gives -1 skill CD, which can be useful for some training rotations. Tengu + Nue + Izuna gives +3% meso.
Warning: maintaining closeness with characters is a small weekly chore

• Candied Apples can be purchased cheaply at Showa Town and give +7 all stat for 30 minutes. Ciders, also purchased at Showa Town give +20 WATK but doesn't stack with Tengu. Baby Dragon Food is an alternative that can be purchased at Leafre general store and gives +7 WATK for 20 minutes (also doesn't stack with CideTengu).

• Bring bags or boxes to transport your purchases home.
• Wear sturdy gloves when sorting through merchandise due to potential sharp objects.
• For your safety, when merchandise bins are rolled onto the sales floor, please move out of the way. Please stand back until a Goodwill team member indicates “okay to shop” before approaching the bins.
• The outlet is strictly “cash and carry” meaning we cannot hold or set aside your items. If shopping for furniture or other large items, please make sure you have a vehicle that can transport your purchases at the time of sale.
• Monitor your cart and personal belongings! You are responsible for safeguarding.
• Test electronics in designated areas.
• Bring batteries to test toys and measuring tape if purchasing furniture.
• Be patient and be courteous to fellow shoppers.
• If bringing children, please do not leave them unsupervised; they must be accompanied by an adult.
• If you plan on visiting our regular store afterwards (usually located next door!), please take your purchased items to your car first.
• Clean your treasures when you get home. Wash what you can in hot water and use disinfectant wipes on toys, books, and other items. Rent a steam cleaner at your local hardware store to deep clean soft furniture.

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Once you accumulated enough cashback, it can be deposited directly into your PayPal or you can request a cheque.
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You earn $30 after a purchase of $30+, within the first 90 days of signing up, on one of the many supported stores :D
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