[Show Intro] Jala Hey, thanks for coming! I'm glad you're here. Come on in! Everyone's out on the patio right now. Looks like a couple of people are in the garden. I can't wait to introduce you! Can I get you anything? [turned away] Hey folks, our new guest is here! [Intro music] 00:00:01.85 Fireheart Media Hello world, and welcome to Jala-chan's Place. I'm your host, Jala Prendes (she/her) and today I'm joined by Dave (he/him). Yay, Dave. Yay, me. I'm here again on the show. So much energy you bring, Dave. The most energetic. 00:00:26.65 Fireheart Media Yes, this is why you are slowpoke. Anyway, so oh today the two of us are covering a topic that is important, especially given political situations and stuff like that going on in the world right now, as of the time we are recording this. 00:00:43.37 Fireheart Media So what we are covering today is personal security. So ah this is primarily cybersecurity when it comes to um stuff online and you know just digital versions of you know your interactions with the world. And then we also are covering a little bit about personal security in terms of like physical safety ah things that you can do for yourself to keep yourself safe in various situations. So ah we both thought that this was an important topic to cover, and it was kind of a sudden switch in my scheduling. So as always happens when that is the case, that means that I get to pull Dave onto the show to be my co-host for these. So thank you for showing up, Dave. Many time. I'm always nearby. 00:01:33.45 Fireheart Media like 10 feet away, maybe. Right. So ah before we get into everything, as per the usual, I will let you tell everybody what it is that you do, your show and such. 00:01:47.12 Fireheart Media I am one of the co-hosts on Monster, Dear Monster. And we basically take a look at monsters from their origins to their current pop culture incarnations. And that's through multimedia. So it's books, comic books, movies, uh, pretty much any format that we can find that shows something a little bit different from the original folklore. 00:02:11.53 Fireheart Media Right. And recently with um just the fact that like you had several different podcasts over the course of time, you have been releasing some episodes as bonuses that are like from the back catalog of some of your other shows as well. 00:02:28.44 Fireheart Media Yeah, the, the world in general has felt like it's been a bit on fire. So, um, just due to various personal issues, um, among them the, the co-hosts on the show, and we've kind of had to take a little bit of a break, but that is, um, no problem because as Jala mentioned, I have. 00:02:47.72 Fireheart Media an extensive backlog of prior shows that do not have another archive, like they've been taking down off of the internet. So I am slowly re-uploading those and their little kind of repositories of my podcast history, because a lot of it's from like 2019 and a little earlier. 00:03:10.64 Fireheart Media Right, right. And y'all might eventually hear if I need a break as well. i Like you'll notice, I've been doing a lot of media episodes and not so many of the topical episodes. ah Some of the topics I had on the plate that I was going to do at the end of the year ah were ones that are a bit too heavy for me to deal with right now. So um this is this is one that I felt was real important. So we're talking about this. But you may in the future, if I need a break, hear a remaster of one of the earlier episodes of the show before Dave got to like super pro level with the audio editing ah that my show forced him to learn how to do. So um without further ado, just a short note. 00:03:54.75 Fireheart Media The coffee exists for people who want to support this show and Dave's show and all the other stuff that we try to do out in the world. So that is at ko-fi.com slash fire heart media, where you can kick us a few bucks. We have bonus shows, um, recently on cutting room floor, which is like the lowest tier, $2 is the like entry level, um, you know, price to, to. 00:04:20.05 Fireheart Media apply for for some of this bonus content. and um like That show has featured a lot of reviews. like We've done reviews on Alien Romulus. we did one way wait like The very first one that we did was, um or one of the first ones we did, I think it was the second episode actually, 00:04:37.16 Fireheart Media uh, was on Godzilla minus one. We had one just recently that was on smile too. So, uh, it's not just content that is overflow from our shows. It's also content that we're not covering actively on either one of our shows, but still is worth a mention. So it's a little bit more spelt and casual, not super research, just kind of talking about it and the experience of it and and stuff like that. Like what we think of it just in a review style. 00:05:06.54 Fireheart Media So check that out at ko-fi.com slash Fireheart Media. Now, without further ado, let us get into the topic starting with cybersecurity. So the first thing that I want to mention is the difference between information security and cybersecurity. So um you hear these kind of interchangeably and information security includes cybersecurity, but also is a little bit more in-depth. So Infosec deals with the protection of information in various forms, including digital, physical, and even verbal. It encompasses a wide range of measures, such as administrative, technical, and physical controls to safeguard data from unauthorized access, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. 00:05:55.16 Fireheart Media Infosec addresses the security of data in storage during processing and in transit. Infosec, as a term that you hear out in the world, is usually in terms of like offices in the business world. um What you hear on the personal side of things is most often cybersecurity. Now, it doesn't mean that like you shouldn't be worried about your physical ah storage of data and stuff like that. We are covering a little bit about that as well. 00:06:23.76 Fireheart Media um But like some of the bits about InfoSec are like out of your hands if you're just on a personal level and not in a business environment. So cybersecurity anyway is specifically focusing on protecting digital information, computer systems, networks and electronic devices from cyber threats. This field is primarily concerned with defending against malicious attacks such as hacking, malware, ransomware and phishing. 00:06:51.55 Fireheart Media that originate from the internet or other digital channels. Cybersecurity covers various aspects, including network security, application security, endpoint security, and incident response. So ah that's a whole bunch of words. It boils down to when you're on the intra internet, when you're on your phone texting people and sending them messages and posting things on social media and going to websites and reading your email and doing every little thing that you do, interacting with applications that are connected to the internet, ah internet in general, you know all of that stuff, your home network at your house, ah if you connect to a network when you are out and about somewhere outside of your house, all of that stuff is cybersecurity, and that's where we're focusing more today. 00:07:52.00 Fireheart Media So some general online safety basics, and part of this is from the National Cybersecurity Alliance. Keep all operating systems and and applications up to date. If there's an automatic update option, use that. This includes drivers, etc. Create long, unique, complex passwords. 00:08:11.58 Fireheart Media oh I will say too, um when it comes to those updates, as folks know, like usually those are security updates. um Something that I experienced here recently is that one of my rigs was so old that it just didn't want to get updates anymore, and that becomes a big cybersecurity risk. like To use that computer on the internet becomes a risk because um you know, you are exposed to stuff because you don't have the most recent updates for security purposes. Now, um most people who are in InfoSec will also tell you that updates right at first are very often patched again. So like you might want to wait just a little bit to get the the update. But, um you know, that's something that you'll have to research depending upon what kind of app or operating system is doing the update. And do they have a history of patching those or are they pretty solid when they come out? 00:09:09.63 Fireheart Media okay Create long, unique, complex passwords, including upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Do not reuse passwords. Consider a password manager app. Ideally, you wouldn't have social media or other apps that gather your data, but since most of us do anyway, be sure to use multi-factor authentication. 00:09:30.28 Fireheart Media and Lacey Mosley from Scam Goddess podcast, which um most people who have heard me talk on any kind of platform or just kind of chat with me in general know that I listen to that show. um She covers scams and and other cons in the zeitgeist. ah She said on an episode, I don't use two factor authentication. they I don't want to go through any more hoops and give them any more of my information or whatever. 00:09:56.65 Fireheart Media And then right after that, her account got stolen. So ah that's a very, very obvious ah example of various ways that her cybersecurity was compromised because she put that information on Main Street for everybody to hear as well and then she got scammed. 00:10:13.82 Fireheart Media Think before you click. Consider who the text or email is coming from, whether it's a legit source. If the email says something about a problem with an account and you're concerned, manually type in the address to your bank or whatever company into your browser and check your account that way. Do not click the link. 00:10:32.62 Fireheart Media And this also includes, if you're getting an email or something like that, looking at that email address and seeing who it's from, because it might look like an official email and they are getting better about the spelling and the punctuation and the other things that are usually off when you have a scam email, but double check what that email address is that's being sent to you and all of that. And also stop and think. If they tell you, no one's going to ask you from this establishment for this information, 00:11:01.15 Fireheart Media Then if they're asking you for that information then you need to call that institution directly and talk to them and verify that that's what they need rather than you know and then to like there's with the the phone number cloning and stuff like that that happens hang up the phone and then call them back. 00:11:19.97 Fireheart Media because there are ways to make it look like the phone number, you know, the phone number that's calling you is a legitimate source that is the actual institution, but it's not. So again, um you have to just keep on top of all of this stuff and, you know, they're not going to get mad at you if you're just calling back and you say, look, I just want to make sure it was legit. 00:11:44.70 Fireheart Media So that pretty much covers, um, is the grammar off? Are there spelling errors? It's a message urging you to swift action and threatening immediate repercussions. So a lot of times these are scams that are related to, um, I, so an anecdote, I just recently had one that was telling me my Norton security was up for renewal and I needed to send them three, she was like $300. 00:12:09.10 Fireheart Media Uh, and I said, well, I don't have that service. Uh, and I'm also not just randomly sending someone $300 to reactivate my account that was going to block. and Or we had another one where it was saying that our our specific a related account was, um, was locked up and we needed to do just, you know, click the link and then submit your password and it will, it will unlock it again. Well, that, that service in question wasn't locked. So this is obviously was a phishing scam. 00:12:41.73 Fireheart Media And that one was on my dad. And the problem is my dad is terrible and has messed his phone up 7,000 times. So um he has messed his phone up so much that we just kind of expect problems. And then when my mom gets this email to her device that says, Hey, the Apple, Apple is locked up for, you know, George Prendes and whatever, and then all this other mess, then um she's looking at it and she's like, 00:13:10.18 Fireheart Media Hey, it looks like he messed up the thing again. And then Dave looked at it and it looks official, but then looked at that email that it was from, and that from email was totally bunk, not on a real one. Yeah. It wasn't Apple. It was just someone's name. So yeah, check that stuff when you're sending those things. 00:13:33.73 Fireheart Media ah Report phishing if this happens on social media. If it happens via email, immediately block the sender and delete the message. Do not use public Wi-Fi or hotspots, especially for any financial or email logins. 00:13:47.24 Fireheart Media It's also best practices to turn off Bluetooth when you're in public places to avoid potential hacking that way. And I know in particular, like a lot of people just use their wireless headphones because most phones these days do not have the aux port anymore. If you're not using your headphones, turn that off ah because that's and that's a way people can gain access to your phone. 00:14:11.76 Fireheart Media Yeah. And there was one point where I was out running errands and my credit card information got stolen because I was in like a parking lot and I was doing a bunch of errands and this is back before, you know, um, I was really aware that they were able to do this kind of thing. This is like years ago now. Okay. So keep that in mind. But anyway, I was in a parking lot. I had finished running the the grocery errands and stuff, and I was going to go, uh, reload a card real quick so that I could go get like some coffee somewhere. 00:14:41.62 Fireheart Media And when I did that reload, it was in the parking lot. I didn't realize that they could steal your data out of the air. when I wasn't connected to a wifi or anything, but I must have not turned off my Bluetooth or something. Somehow somebody proximal to me in the parking lot got information and was able to get that card's information. And then I had to lock down that card and get a replacement and go through that whole rigmarole. So, uh, just something to keep in mind. 00:15:08.30 Fireheart Media backup any critical data using the three to one rule, make three copies, two of which should be on different devices. One of which should be an offsite such as a cloud backup. 00:15:19.70 Fireheart Media And I was so proud of myself cause I've been doing this for years. Like I have a couple of different, like I'll back, I'll have it on my regular PC. I will have a backup on a removable hard drive. I will also have a cloud backup that I have as well. So, um, you know, this is pretty easy to implement. I feel these days. And also if you have stuff on a removable hard drive as your backup, you can also switch that between devices. If you need to get data like I do from, you know, a big rig to a little ah laptop or whatever. 00:15:50.73 Fireheart Media Whenever you download a new app or get a new device, check your privacy and security settings and adjust them to how you are most comfortable. So a lot of apps will ask you for specific permissions. And some of those are things that if you don't agree to, the app won't function, but that's not necessarily the case for everything. So I generally will sell it no and see if that app will still work because some apps do not need um my email. They do not need my photo gallery. These things aren't something that they need to run and that's just you're giving your data away for free. 00:16:35.12 Fireheart Media Right, right. so um Also, audit your apps every few months and delete any that you are not using. This is something that I do on my ah computer pretty often, ah unless it's something where it's like, no, I paid very good money for that and that's like an art app that I'm not using right now, but I plan to. you know like ah Other than that, like I go through my computer right rather regularly and make sure okay is this this thing that i downloaded the tryout i haven't used it do i need this am i gonna use it no get rid of it it's the same kind of purging process that you go through when you do a spring cleaning in your house except you need to also be doing this on your devices as well and phones are notorious for you just keep this app on there forever and ever if you're not using it get rid of it you don't need it is just taking your data. 00:17:24.74 Fireheart Media So um another one is to consider what you share on social media. Think about what your post reveals, who might see it, and whether it creates a vulnerability for yourself or your loved ones. So um for an example, there's a lot of things out there that are presented as memes that are like, 00:17:44.06 Fireheart Media post a video from, you know, post a gift from the, a movie that was during the year that you were born. And then, you know, every single social app also has that thing where it's like, happy birthday. Like people can find your information and put all of that information together to get, get data from you from public stuff that you're posting. Yeah. You know, just be careful. Don't put things that, Oh, post the, uh, post a book you liked starting with your mother's maiden name. 00:18:14.44 Fireheart Media Well, and then too, even stuff like, Hey, introduce yourself. Like there was one on blue sky here recently that was like, Hey, introduce yourself with some weird jobs that you've had in the past. And, you know, like the weather guy from my area that I really like ah had posted this. And I was like, just enough way. I wouldn't keep that out there if I were you because, um, 00:18:38.01 Fireheart Media Some of the information that is needed to get a look at your credit report is based on like, you know, you answering questions of which of these places have you worked. And that's one of the things that you can answer and then stuff about like your first car or this, that, and the other, you know, and this is information that you're just giving somebody. If you're just posting that out on the internet, you know, like just think about that. Yeah. Anything that sounds like it could be part of a general like security account security question. Don't just put those answers out on blast. 00:19:15.20 Fireheart Media So also if there's a private option, consider using it. But remember that nothing you post on the internet is truly private. So if you post it out there and you're like, oh, I've got my account on private, it's fine. It's not. People can hack into that. People can hack your account. People can friend you and then you think they're fine. And then actually it's not fine. 00:19:36.41 Fireheart Media And that's something that we've seen specifically with the platform formerly known as Twitter, where they basically allowed anything private to be viewable. So when people had something that were issues like I blocked someone because they were stalking me. um allowing them access to view your posts and you may have put a location or you showed a picture where you traveled recently, they can find out where you're at from that. So just be careful. And people can use um general background photos to like triangulate people like almost instantly. And that's just from like some one-off photo you thought was cool about a building or something. 00:20:19.06 Fireheart Media There's also the fact that if you have other people in that photo, you could be setting them up for a problem if you know it's pretty obvious where you are and everything. So like definitely ask people, is it okay if I post this photo, um you know if this is a concern for anyone? And also be aware that like if you're in a photo with another person and that person, like maybe you are real secure, but that person posts a lot of information out there on main, then they are presenting you with a security risk and you might be doing everything right. But because they tagged you in a photo or because you show up in a photo of theirs and they're a friend of yours that's in your network, somebody could snoop around through all of that and then find out where you're at or do whatever, those kinds of things. It is still a security risk. 00:21:04.25 Fireheart Media that. And then there's a, there's been a steady influx of, um, like account impersonators to where folks pretend to be someone famous or a friend, and then they're messaging you for money or for just to get your information. And so just, uh, it's the same kind of thing. We're checking, checking a link before you click on it, like look at people's screen names and make sure that's the correct one. 00:21:36.03 Fireheart Media This is also something that's been happening a lot on Facebook. Like even some of my aunts and uncles and stuff like that have suddenly been like, I've gotten friend requests from like a cloned account and it's somebody who's taking their photo and everything and setting up a new account. And then people are just friending them like, Oh, they must've made a new account and not even double checking to see what's going on. 00:21:58.49 Fireheart Media And, you know, like I had to report these and stuff like that because these people are trying to get into, you know, especially older people, but everybody's vulnerable to this, um you know, getting their information by just pretending, just taking a photo off the internet and making another account with the same name. 00:22:15.15 Fireheart Media And, you know, like that's that's a big danger. Also, regularly review and prune your friends following and follower lists on social media. ah This is one that I kind of go through every once in a while. I'll look through all my lists and I'll go, OK, do I want to still follow these people? What are they up to now? Have they even been posting? um You know, who is this person? How long has it been since I last interacted with them? You know, and then just kind of trimming up from there. 00:22:44.56 Fireheart Media And um you know like I recently had a a person that I met, oh gosh, what is it? Like six years ago. I met him once six years ago and they were cool and all. And you know we had this whole whole thing going. um I'm not going to reveal details of that, but like ah we had a whole thing going where we were doing stuff for for a certain amount of time together. And um then like I hadn't really talked to them too much in a long time. And then suddenly I get this message from them with this multi-level marketing scheme. And I'm like, ah, that's another thing. like Because then you get those messages from every single person that gets gets roped into Ponzi crap as well. So the more you prune up everything, the less of that kind of bullshit you have to deal with. 00:23:32.12 Fireheart Media So also using an antivirus at all times, use an antivirus and also use an anti-track. We will get there also using a VPN. ah So a VPN is a virtual privacy network. So ah some apps and stuff will not work if you are on a VPN. 00:23:52.40 Fireheart Media they That's just to make sure that people from their impersonator accounts and things like that are not using your data. like I know certain streaming services won't work on VPN or things like that, but um as much as possible, use your VPN. and if If a site's not working when you're on a VPN, you might have to turn off the VPN, but otherwise, it's very useful and important to do. 00:24:18.57 Fireheart Media So also setting your browsers to delete your data regularly. I know that a lot of people like to keep their browsing history so they can go back and find stuff, but you need to delete your browsing history regularly. Otherwise, anybody who gets access to your computer and access to all of your stuff will have your entire history of everything in all of the stuff that you have saved in your browsers. So that's important to get rid of as well. 00:24:45.92 Fireheart Media and turning location services off on your phone when not in use. And some of these are by app, depending upon what type of phone you have. You can turn the location services off for apps. um you know In particular, you can set the them to only use the location when you're using the app or things like that. So consider all of that and figure out how you want to do that. 00:25:11.55 Fireheart Media ah Also, using end-to-end encrypted messaging services such as Signal and set it to automatically erase after a few hours or days. So, um what is encryption? 00:25:31.49 Fireheart Media Encryption generally refers to the mathematical process by which a message is made unreadable except to a person who has the key to decrypt it into readable form. For data in transit, such as messages, your options are unencrypted, such as standard text messages and HTTP web addresses. Transport layer encryption, where the message is encrypted from your device to the app's servers, where the app's servers can access and an own unencrypted version over your message. 00:25:58.59 Fireheart Media The transport from the app servers to the recipient is also encrypted, but the midpoint is unlocked. So that means that any person who is ah using that kind of a service, that app is still able to access all of your information and stuff like text messages are very open and loose. People can hack in to see that kind of stuff. There are people who also monitor and save stuff off of these um you know text messages and stuff. like there i I don't know if this is still a thing now, but I do know it was for a while. um I knew somebody who used to have the job of being a guy who screened text messages as they went through just to see if there was anything threatening, but that also meant that they that he also got all the texts and stuff like that that he had to go through and all the various photos that people send via text message. 00:26:52.11 Fireheart Media and um all of that was there and he claimed he wasn't one of these people but there were people at that job who would save all of the sexy stuff that they wanted into like folders and stuff and then somebody somewhere has you know all of your dirty pics that you sent over text message without um using an encrypted end-to-end encrypted service. 00:27:15.97 Fireheart Media HTTPS web web addresses are TLS or Transport Layer Security as are VPNs. End-to-end encryption is when the message is encrypted until it reaches the recipient. We recommend checking out Surveillance Self-Defense's article in the show notes for more on encryption. 00:27:33.32 Fireheart Media Also, lock your devices when not in use. Note that locking your device does not necessarily mean that full disk encryption is in place. Consider file and or disk encryption. Device encryption or full disk encryption renders the device unreadable until the passcode, facial recognition, thumbprint, etc. unlocks it. 00:27:57.48 Fireheart Media Right, so some operating systems have full disk encryption set as their defaults, such as iPhones. Others do not. So that means somebody could access the data on your mobile device by breaking the device lock, but not having to break the encryption key, since the device itself is not encrypted. Some systems still store unencrypted plain text on RAM, even when you are using full disk encryption. 00:28:23.57 Fireheart Media RAM is temporary storage which means that shortly after your device is powered down the memory typically can't be read but a sophisticated adversary could attempt a cold boot attack and conceivably retrieve the RAM contents. 00:28:39.14 Fireheart Media so um I don't know who's got super high level adversaries looking in their their RAM, but I mean, like depending upon who you are and what you're doing out in the world and what people you know might think that you are or are not doing, you know ah you might be targeted for one or another reason, especially in the coming situation we've got going. so ah Things to keep in mind. 00:29:03.36 Fireheart Media You can also layer your encryption methods. So say, for example, you want to protect your medical data. You encrypt that specific file or files. That's file encryption. Then you encrypt the drive that they're stored on, which is drive encryption. Then you use full disk encryption on your computer. So that is thrice encrypted. And that requires three keys to get to. 00:29:29.22 Fireheart Media rather than just having it open on your computer for anybody who happens to open up your your device for you. So um that is just kind of like our overview of just like intro to cybersecurity. 00:29:46.63 Fireheart Media And a lot of these things are also, so it's not just in your office life or your daily life. They can, they can transfer between the two. An example will be, there's a lot of times offices, they don't think about this, but people, because you have to like redo your password every three months or something, and you have to use a new one every single time, we'll write down their password and like tape it to their monitor. 00:30:12.73 Fireheart Media And that that right there is a, like there's no reason to have the password if someone can just read it off of your monitor and just access your systems. That could be someone coming in to do like night crew cleaning and they just turn on the computer, use your password and they can get into all the systems. 00:30:30.72 Fireheart Media So the same thing goes for home, ah having those things jotted down so thumped in something that's accessible just by like opening it up like a notebook. um Some folks, you would want to like encrypt those or put them in something that's a lockbox. So you have your own physical ways to like encrypt this information um in in addition to digitally encrypting them. 00:30:57.35 Fireheart Media And we have just a few more notes actually on cybersecurity that I got courtesy of Phil and Mike from the server. So ah just a few more reminders is so be wary of web browser extensions. They are common avenues for malicious software. So look at those web extensions and make sure that you are getting legit stuff. 00:31:19.84 Fireheart Media And also, always factory reset a device before reselling it or trading it in. um you know like I am super wary about, you know um like I will factory reset stuff if I am um trading something in, but um like reselling it, I still get kind of like, 00:31:38.72 Fireheart Media iffy about wanting to resell something that has data because like there are ways, even if you factory reset something, to still get the data off of that disk. um so I always try to pull the memory out of whatever it is and get rid of that memory, um smash it, destroy it. But even even with that, people can still read that data too. like You have to melt it into nothingness and destroy it utterly. ah It's kind of like Terminator. 00:32:05.06 Fireheart Media There are ways people can recover data that are unimaginable, but but um they have to be have to have the knowledge or the resources to do all of that before they're going to get that data and how many people that are just buying your old computer really want to hack into your life. i mean you know your Your own particular place that you feel safe is is where you need to be with that. 00:32:32.89 Fireheart Media you know Also, another thing from Phil is to ad ah additionally consider an ad or script blocker since ads have gone from intrusive to downright hostile. And if you want to support the site, allow them by exception, not by default. I have an ad blocker that's automatically part of my browser because I used, like I have My antivirus has its own web browser and it has the ad blocker in there so um i definitely already have that set and i have to allow individually when i'm going places cuz there is malware that i've had come up in ads before. And i don't know if it's still accident but on firefox there was an extension you get out on. 00:33:18.93 Fireheart Media That was called no script. And that would just block, um, all of any, any script that was running on a website, it defaulted to block at all. And then you could pick which ones would run, um, or just deny all of them. Now that made a lot of websites and like not functional. Um, but again, you were in control of what was going to run on that. And it's not just going to be pushing stuff through onto your system. 00:33:45.20 Fireheart Media right Those scripts are just as dangerous as those ads are. So that is something to consider for sure. Especially if you're doing like lots and lots of of web browsing, even if you're on quote unquote safe sites or on like a Google search, like that doesn't mean anything. You can get stuff anywhere these days. so But um especially if you are out on the seedy underbelly of the internet for any reason, ah you definitely want all of this stuff in place. 00:34:12.31 Fireheart Media so So yeah, that's about all we've got for cybersecurity, but let us move on to talking about self-defense. Dave, I will allow you to kick us off here. 00:34:25.99 Fireheart Media All right, self-defense. Types of self-defense. Non-physical techniques. These techniques focus on diffusing or avoiding a dangerous situation through communication and decision making rather than physical force. So this is going to be something like ah situational and awareness. 00:34:45.57 Fireheart Media um We're not always in full control of the environments that we find ourselves in and what that can do. So an example will be your walking from your office to your car in that's in a ah parking garage. 00:35:04.67 Fireheart Media ah You want to try to do this like not alone if you can and you also want to be focused and this goes for like most situations so a lot of us are looking at our phones and I will tell you that if you're looking at your phone you are not paying attention to your surroundings. 00:35:20.10 Fireheart Media ah So try to save that for when you're securely into your vehicle or wherever your destination is. ah And if you see something that like ah lights are out in a specific area, ah don't just go there. Don't assume that, okay, that's fine. Everything else is well lit. I'll just walk through this little part that's busted out. Somebody could have broken that on purpose. 00:35:42.46 Fireheart Media so keeping in mind like the situation and then you're in control of whether you're going to go further into that. um Yeah, you know, call for a security guard ah or an escort or wait for someone else to walk to their your your car with you. um And that's not just in like those situations. um Also, if you were going downtown or you're walking around the city. If there's something, if you're if there's a place that you're familiar with, you know, stick to those places and don't just, I'm going to go see what's down this alley. That may sound silly, but people will do that. And that's when they find themselves in trouble. 00:36:25.50 Fireheart Media um Additionally, yeah another thing you can do is if you drive to work or commute and you go a specific way every single day because that's just your preferred route, um that's making it easy for someone to like follow you and follow you home. So you kind of want to vary those routes and those sort of things are options you have and tools you can use to kind of keep yourself out of trouble. 00:36:54.25 Fireheart Media There's also de-escalation if you are in like a direct kind of conflict with someone who's face-to-face with you. um you know Part of the non-combat forms of self-defense are you know trying to de-escalate the situation, calm things down, you know ah not getting saucy and feisty right back to somebody who appears to be threatening to you, you know that kind of thing. You need to to kind of back off that situation. get look around, see if you can get some help, you know, that kind of a thing as well. And a lot of times your own gut instinct can help you. So if someone or several folks are costing you and they're just demanding like your purse or your wallet or your, you know, your money. 00:37:41.89 Fireheart Media and These days, most, most folks don't carry around and like hard cash. It's, it's on into your, it's in like credit and debit cards, things that you can cancel and replace fairly easily. What you can't cancel or replace is your own personal is your life. So, you know, hand hand over the wallet or the purse or whatever the money is. And you can deal with like the repercussions later with your bank. That's much easier than you were refusing that. And then they pull out a knife or a gun or something. And then, you know, physically. 00:38:11.86 Fireheart Media hurt you. So that's like your first step is this kind of knowing when to comply. Um, but also you can get a feeling whether whatever they're asking for is like, is that all that they actually wanted or was that just an excuse? And in those instances, yeah, you may need to, to default to like either removing yourself from the situation or fighting back. But, uh, in the initial stage of that, 00:38:39.91 Fireheart Media handing over the thing that's replaceable is is probably your best bet. 00:38:48.04 Fireheart Media Right, so then we've got physical techniques and these involve using the body's natural abilities and physical force to defend yourself. An example would be striking techniques or joint locks or ground fighting moves like what you'd see in martial arts. um What we'll talk about here is going to be super, super basic just because um for things like that, 00:39:10.59 Fireheart Media You really need to have actual training from actual people like, you know yes, you can go on the internet and find stuff. Yes, you can find books, but you need to find an an actual instructor to teach you properly how to do this. And there are so many different avenues that you can go through. There are a lot of free self-defense classes that are offered by a variety of different sources out there in the world. So just kind of like look in your area and see what's available to you. 00:39:37.72 Fireheart Media There's also non-lethal weapons, which include items like pepper spray, tasers, and stun guns that can temporarily disable an attacker without causing permanent harm. And lethal weapons, which refers to potentially deadly tools of self-defense, such as knives and firearms. It's important to note that the use of lethal force should only be considered in life-threatening situations and with proper training. ah Also, if somebody dies or even die ah like If they die, and you have used some particular form of self-defense, we'll get into a little bit of more that later, like some kind of weapon against them, ah you can actually end up with a lawsuit on your hands against you for using excessive force. 00:40:25.99 Fireheart Media so ah It's always important to keep in mind if you are arming yourself with something. you know like I will carry a knife around a lot, but I do it more as a deterrent. like People see that I have a knife on me, and they see that I have muscles on me, and they see all this other stuff that I i do, which we'll get into later. 00:40:45.08 Fireheart Media And um then they decide that I'm not a good target because I have all of these different things on me that they can very clearly see that will make me harder to deal with. And they want easy targets, not hard targets. So ah we already kind of talked about some of the situation, like the physical, non-physical techniques of situational awareness and such, but I'll let Dave touch on anything we might have missed that's in the notes. 00:41:13.15 Fireheart Media Yeah, I'll just go over these, um even the ones I've already talked about just because this is a specific list. So the best way to defend yourself is to avoid harm in the first place through awareness, preventive measures and deterrence. Situational awareness includes things like do not walk around with your head bent over your cell phone typing away or watching a video, which I'd mentioned. 00:41:32.47 Fireheart Media Do not walk around with noise canceling headphones on to where you cannot hear what is happening around you. That's another one. ah Thankfully, a lot of the more the newer models of headphones have their noise canceling, but then they can also have sound pass through where certain frequencies like voices or car horns will still come through even if you have the noise canceling part i'm engaged. 00:41:56.79 Fireheart Media Do not have your personal effects hanging off of you. Know where they are and stash them securely on your person. That's like, uh, I don't know that people don't use wallet chains anymore, but that's the thing. Um, and that's hanging off where someone can grab that. Or if your purse or handbag is on a strap, um, that can be just pulled off of you or you can be injured because if someone's pulling that off and it's like wrapped a little bit more around your arm and it they could be dragging you along with them if they're like zooming by. really quickly Be aware of any exits, possible hiding spots, and anything which could be used as a potential weapon in a pinch. And that works both ways. So again, I mentioned like, make sure you're not, you'll stay in under streetlights. Don't walk into dark areas. Don't walk through a city park at night and you don't have a light with you. 00:42:45.65 Fireheart Media Um, you often, if you do have a phone, which most people do, I would say everyone does, but those do have a light on them, which you can use to guide your way. And that's a little bit better than not having anything. 00:43:00.82 Fireheart Media Observe the people around you, pay attention to their body language, facial expressions, and actions. This can help you spot possible danger. And that's another good thing. ah If you can avoid something, you know, across the street, if there's unsavory, unsavory looking folks in one section, or if you just don't feel comfortable, um it doesn't have to be, again, kind of go with your instinct. If something seems wrong, it probably is. So err on the set of caution, because that's, that's your best bet. 00:43:30.73 Fireheart Media And if somebody is going to do something, especially if they're an amateur, they're going to show it all over their face. And this goes for ah like, say, for example, David and I both take martial arts. And so, you know, in martial arts is real obvious because somebody will look somewhere before they punch or kick in that direction and things like that. And so like, if you watch someone's face, you can see a lot of what they're going to do unless they're super highly trained. But most people you encounter are not going to be. 00:44:01.52 Fireheart Media And again, this set this speaks directly to avoid isolated or dark areas whenever possible and trust your intuition because your intuition, you know, yeah, that might fail you at why some point, but by and large, you can kind of feel if if something doesn't seem right, then try not to be in that place. 00:44:22.36 Fireheart Media Make yourself an unappealing mark. We address this a little bit. Hide any valuables out of sight in your car or on your person. Either dress humbly like you have nothing or make yourself look more menacing and formidable. The latter is probably more difficult, so it's better to kind of dress down or like if you're going out on the town and you're dolled up to go to a function or something, have an overcoat, have something on top of that that covers up, you know, your whatever else you're wearing that looks flashy. 00:44:54.38 Fireheart Media That other one about looking menacing is absolutely what I do when I go running. um I always wear a sleeveless shirt to show off my massive arms. And I also, again, have a knife that's out. I have a flashlight. I have other lights on my person. I also have a pepper spray on me. I also have a personal alarm on me and my phone is right there as well so I can use that you know like with the the quick ah functions on the sides. You can set up your phone to do like a quick 911 call and you can do that just um by looking in your settings and then you know finding where that is without having to go and unlock it and type the numbers and you can do a ah quick emergency call. 00:45:36.87 Fireheart Media that way so um i also have it where like my carmen my watch can if i feel the need to share all of my location information with specific parties when i'm out for a run and then you know it will let them track where i'm at and if i stopped for a certain amount of time it will send them an emergency message. 00:45:57.22 Fireheart Media So um these are also things that you might consider doing. They also have apps for your phone that do something similar to that where it will share your location with specific parties. And then if you haven't moved in a while or whatever, then it'll do something like it'll, it'll flash information to them. And that's another thing is um if you have friends or family members that are in a position to kind of help you out, ah let them know where you're going. 00:46:25.11 Fireheart Media Uh, just so they have an idea of like potential itinerary and when you're supposed to arrive somewhere. That way, if you don't or something holds you up, they can check in on you. Uh, let someone know when you're on your way home, because if that takes longer than usual, again, there's a chance that someone can check in. Uh, and if there's something going on or you're in trouble or you're hurt, um, that's all the sooner that someone can get to you. 00:46:50.95 Fireheart Media Uh, and then a note on pepper spray, uh, that's a viable option. And I would suggest if you're going that route to get something, that's a, like a gel version instead of an aerosol, uh, an aerosol one can blow back on you in the wind and the gel one has a better chance of like sticking to the target and not hitting you also. 00:47:11.28 Fireheart Media That's in the notes later. Right. So um some other things. You can also run and hide. So if there is a potential threat coming your way and you are fit enough to run, consider putting distance between you and your assailant. And if you work out regularly, be sure to incorporate running, jumping and climbing in your routine just so that way, if you have a situation, you can capably get out of there. 00:47:37.85 Fireheart Media And if this happens to be in a building, consider hiding in a room you can lock and call the police. So ah if something is happening and you are indoors, that's what you need to look for. Something you can lock where you can call the police. 00:47:52.59 Fireheart Media Another thing you can do is cause a scene. If you can't run, make a ruckus instead. Scream, throw things, spit, flail, make the attacker uncomfortable. Most are looking for an easy target. The more attention you draw to yourself, the more likely it is that they they will back off because they don't want the attention on them. They want this to be discreet. They want to just take you down, take whatever they want, whatever it is that they're trying to get from you. 00:48:18.01 Fireheart Media And then leave. So, another thing you can do is de escalate so communication skills, employee active listening, acknowledging emotions and offering alternatives. This is something that you really only and want to attempt if it's safe to do so and it's in a situation where you can. 00:48:34.81 Fireheart Media you know employee active listening and and do all this other mess like is this a mess because somebody misinterpreted an action or a look or something or is this a mess because somebody's trying to steal your wallet i mean like one of those is one that you might be able to talk your way out of and the other one is not so you know it's it's ah only applicable certain times. 00:49:01.18 Fireheart Media All right, that takes us to physical techniques. We recommend looking for self-defense courses in your area, even though video and book learning can help to a degree, having hands-on training is always your best bet, particularly because a lot of these techniques, even if they're basic and you stick to one or two things and practice those diligently, um that can still fail you. 00:49:27.40 Fireheart Media Um, but that being said, here are some types of moves which can be useful in a pinch. Head strikes, particularly to the forehead, temple, nose, or chin. Hitting the head hard enough can discombobulate an attacker. Uh, keep that. Yeah, here we go. The forehead is bony, but a strike there will stop them even mid attack. 00:49:45.89 Fireheart Media generally with probably an improvised weapon and not just like your fist because that's more tense of you breaking something than hurting them. The temple is a soft point as are the eyes. If there's dirt or sand around, even if you don't have pepper spray, you can throw these in their eyes. The nose is particularly bony, part partial partially cartilaginous, but it has a lot of nerve endings. Blood in the attacker's nose can potentially give them pain pause from pain. 00:50:10.78 Fireheart Media If you get an elbow, knee, fist, or anything under the chin to uppercut them, this is a potential knockout. Small joint manipulation such as bending fingers or toes to cause pain. Yeah, those, those are all options and that doing that's better than doing nothing. And that may give you the moment to like break away and and flee because the longer you try to stand and fight, the more chances of you getting hurt, um, increase. And that's the other thing to keep in mind is, is once. 00:50:41.90 Fireheart Media things escalate to physical confrontation. The other thing to prepare for, um, even if you are, if you feel reasonably skilled as you are likely going to get hurt, um, in the exchange, you're not going to come out of this unscathed. So using that more as either a last resort, or if you know, the situation's bad, that has to be your first move and then go. Uh, if you stick it out, then you're, you're going to get hurt. And if you're not. 00:51:08.39 Fireheart Media training yourself, um, outside of this, uh, you're going to be tired very, very quickly because your adrenaline is just going to peak em and then peter out and leaving you drained very, very fast. Um, non lethal weapons. 00:51:27.47 Fireheart Media Yeah, so pepper spray is the first thing on this list. And again, Dave and I recommend the gel type to avoid potential blowback. Pepper spray has several drawbacks, however, so folks need to be aware of that. It's not effective on everyone. Um, actually my ex-husband, he got pepper sprayed in the face because he was in the military and that was part of his training and nothing happened. He thought it was funny and then that was it. Like nothing happened. 00:51:54.60 Fireheart Media ah It's also not immediately effective. You don't get sprayed in the eyes and the face or the whatever and then it immediately works. um If you've ever cut really spicy peppers, you know that it's not right away that that pepper kicks in. It takes a little bit before it starts. 00:52:10.02 Fireheart Media And it can be difficult to deploy in stressful or violent situations, particularly if you don't already have the pepper spray out. So ah there are small cans of pepper spray that have like a little glove or something attached to them that are meant for you to have in your hand ready and prepared with your finger on the trigger. 00:52:28.90 Fireheart Media Just like if you are feeling nervous about a particular situation, if you have one of those, pull it out, have it in your hand, have it ready, because having it ready cuts some few seconds off of that time, which could be super critical. hu Also, it can spray up to 15 feet, but most attacks happen at a closer range. So if people are going to be attacking you up close in your face, um you know like you need to be able to get it in their eyes, not get it in your eyes. 00:52:57.22 Fireheart Media and get out of there as fast as possible, and this, that, and the other. So it's also not often and ah deployed the way it's supposed to. You're supposed to empty the entire can in a controlled, steady stream into the eyes of the attacker. So most people, they just go, and then they run away and or whatever. They expect that to be enough, but you're supposed to actually empty the entire damn can into their face. 00:53:21.70 Fireheart Media So um that's something you need to keep in mind. And then like that's time that you have to be holding down the the button and standing there waiting for all of it to get out onto this person. And then finally, it also expires. You need to replace your pepper spray every so often. So ah even if you've never used it and you're like, oh, I don't want to throw it away because it's still good. No, it's not. It expires. You need to get a new one. 00:53:46.24 Fireheart Media So another thing to keep in mind, um, the pepper spray. And if it, if you're using the aerosol version, yeah, you might tag a second attacker. Um, if the gel one isn't going to hit someone else, it's a, it's a stream like silly string. Uh, so that's a disadvantage is the pepper spray is kind of just a one on one on one situation. You're not going to get a bunch of people with it, uh, unless you. 00:54:12.43 Fireheart Media are carrying like a can of the bear spray, you might get someone else. Um, so that's one thing to think of. The other one is I've been next to someone who was pepper sprayed and there you, there's a secondary like blowback. So you, you'll get caught up in a little bit of an enough to kind of cause it, it activates your mucus membranes. You get teary eyes, you'll nose will run. 00:54:37.14 Fireheart Media Um, it's uncomfortable and, but that's the extent of it. It's not disabling to like the second person or to second or third people around. So just be aware of that fact that it's, it's less effective, um, than you might think it's going to be. And the same du is going to be said, um, for tasers. 00:54:58.01 Fireheart Media Right. And one more note about pepper spray. There are pepper spray guns now that shoot pepper spray in a more directed fashion and are less likely to cause blowback. I don't know much about pepper spray guns myself. So those are going to be more like, um, it looks like a flare gun, but it fires basically a pepper ball. So it's sort of a small paintball gun. Um, and that just bursts on impact. Um, you have a little bit of more range with that. Uh, but again, it bursts into a cloud. So if you're up close and then you like pepper bald somebody, you're going to get hit with it too. Right. And again, most of those attacks happen within 15 feet. So the likelihood of you actually needing to use a pepper spray gun for farther away where you won't get hit is pretty minimal. So keep that in mind as well. 00:55:50.11 Fireheart Media So tasers and stun guns. People tend to use the term taser and stun gun interchangeably. Both devices emit high voltage, low amperage charges that um immobilize assailants without serious harm by causing temporary paralysis due to the hindrance of neuromuscular function. But they differ in how their electric shock is emitted. Whereas stun guns require physical contact with electrodes. So the device must be physically thrust into a person. 00:56:20.11 Fireheart Media tasers shoot electrodes in a series of prongs that will pierce the skin of an assailant. So um the tasers have like a one shot, like there are some that have like reload or you can get multiple cartridges to reload your taser, but they're usually one shot and if you've missed that shot, you're out of luck. 00:56:40.97 Fireheart Media um The stun gun though, you have to shove it up into somebody's body. So you have to be right on them. So if they're five feet away from you and and ah you know threatening you and you pull out a teaser, or rather not a teaser, a stun gun. There's me doing the same thing, using it interchangeably. If you pull out a stun gun. 00:56:58.73 Fireheart Media you have to actually dart up to them and shove it into their body to get that contact. And you have to have contact that's solid enough and long enough that they will become disabled. And you have to also do it in such a way that you don't accidentally get yourself in the process. So so ah yeah. 00:57:17.13 Fireheart Media And this along with the pepper spray, because it's something you're holding, it can be taken from you and used on you. And that's not something you want. And it it seems like these things are ah capable of like stopping a larger attacker. But if the person's bigger than you and that close in range and they're already kind of grappling for you, if you just, if you use a stun gun on them, they already have you. 00:57:43.32 Fireheart Media And that just means you can't escape because it's locking them up when you're zapping them. It also doesn't last very long. It's a couple seconds and that's not going to stop someone if they're really intent on hurting you. 00:57:55.24 Fireheart Media Right. And these two weapons, the stun gun and the Taser, are legal in most but not all states. So you have to also check your local guidelines as to whether or not this is legal or illegal for you to have. So ah you have to know that. And then also like um with the Taser, if you happen to have additional charges, if they're not out somewhere like on your belt where you can pull them out like Batman and reload your thing like you you are SOL if you have to rummage in your bag or something to get those out. So they have to be ready. So yeah. 00:58:30.10 Fireheart Media Another item that you could try is a self-defense baton. There are several telescopic models out there. You can even get police batons. The sturdier and longer they are, the heavier they are, but you do not have if you do not have knife training, they are an option that is quicker to strike with than a walking stick, especially if you are short, they extend your range, which can be a crucial element of your survival. However, 00:58:55.39 Fireheart Media As mentioned earlier, there are legal ramifications for using batons for some reason. It's often considered excessive force to use a baton, but not when shooting an attacker with a gun. An actual ass gun is not considered excessive force. But if you use a baton, that's a whole nother matter. They will prosecute you if they, you know, catch you and then decide to do like a whole lawsuit thing against you. 00:59:21.13 Fireheart Media A lot of times that's also the same for guns versus knives. For some reason knives tend to be scarier to juries and other people doing the prosecution. Whereas a gun just seems to be like that's just what we're supposed to use. um So there is drawback to using a knife in a self-defense situation and or using a baton. 00:59:45.00 Fireheart Media right. You can also use a walking stick which is more incognito than carrying around a bat or a self defense baton and it has longer reach. These are heavier though and they can't be folded up. And um you know, there are a lot of different resources out there for cane and stick fighting. 01:00:01.47 Fireheart Media And I will have in the show notes, a link for one particular book that Dave and I have come across that we both think is a pretty good one. Um, we are in the process of learning walking stick self-defense now, but like also if you were in a court of law and you said you had a walking stick on you and then you beat somebody with that stick when they came after you, if you had a walking stick and they know it's a walking stick, it's a very different kind of perception that that jury is going to have of you versus I was carrying around a baseball bat. 01:00:31.83 Fireheart Media like little slugger you know from a paranoia agent so anyway so that's something to keep in mind um walking sticks are something that could be a thing and that is something that is acceptable for you to walk around with so You know, ah always keep that in mind. And there's also finally a marlin spike. So this is a metal spike the size of a pen. This could be lethal possibly if it's well aimed and applied with enough force, but it's more likely just to cause pain to an attacker so you can get away. ah If you happen to be an individual with long hair, you can get a marlin spike hairpin to make it incognito and use your hairpin 01:01:14.13 Fireheart Media as a self-defense tool. so I actually have one that looks like a little knife. It looks like a little sword that can go through my hair and it's made out of solid iron. and It's a cool decoration, but I can also use it as a weapon if I need to. so ah If I feel like I'm going into a situation where I might want that for protection, I can use that. and yeah Of course, in a court of law, if they see that it looks like a little sword, they might be like, ah That's sus. You were definitely going into that situation expecting a thing, but like you can get a solid hair stick. Even if it's a wooden hair stick or a plastic hair stick, any kind of a hair stick like that, um those will be usable for you know a self-defense thing because it's a sharp and pointy thing that you can jab into somebody if they're not expecting it and then run. 01:02:11.23 Fireheart Media That brings us to lethal weapons. Weapons such as knives and guns should only be used by someone who has received training and only in life-threatening situations. Of course, check your local laws for guidelines and seek courses for these weapons in your area if you have interest in these. 01:02:26.89 Fireheart Media definitely recommend going and getting at least, um, general, if it's for a firearm, um, firearm safety courses, these are offered at any local gun ranges or gun clubs, um, as well as you need to practice, uh, target shooting because in a stressful situation, you're not just going to be, um, 01:02:47.00 Fireheart Media firing off rounds and hitting everything that you're aiming for. Um, and if you're trying to like, it's harder. Uh, and this goes in the case with all the weapons and, um, unarmed combat. It's, it's actively harder to not hurt somebody, but incapacitate them than it is to just hurt them permanently. So ah generally a lot of firearm courses would be like aim for center mass because that's that's your best likely chance of hitting something, especially if someone's moving. 01:03:19.49 Fireheart Media But if you're going, Oh, I'll just shoot them in the leg and then they'll fall down and stop chasing me. Um, the odds of you being able to do that are are far, far slimmer, um, particularly if you're not actively practicing using the the tool in question. And that goes the same for. any of the techniques you're learning, if it's unarmed combat, you have to practice these things regularly and probably a lot more than you think you're going to because it needs to be instinctual. Um, and you can't stop and think about what you're doing. It just needs to like be reactive and happening. 01:03:53.62 Fireheart Media Right. And um with all the different stuff that we've had going on in the recent little bit, um Dave and I both have have decided that we are switching from just studying a particular form of martial arts to kind of studying more broadly self-defense, incorporating any number of different weapons and non want-weapon types of combat. 01:04:16.94 Fireheart Media ah So like we are practicing a broader range of things now to kind of give ourselves a bigger repertoire, if you will, ah for our own safety and the safety of others around us. um But also we will be pursuing some firearms courses and things like that. We happen to live in Texas, which is open carry. So everybody's got guns in the first place, but then also um you know Even though both of us have shot before, both of us have have handled guns, it's been a while. ah you know It's better to have all of that knowledge brushed up and everything just you know to keep that in mind for future. so 01:04:57.15 Fireheart Media again like Even though I do carry a bunch of stuff on my person like I carry um a knife on my person. I'm not carrying this knife with the intention of oh yes, if somebody is is coming at me I'm gonna, you know, pull out this knife and, you know, necessarily. 01:05:14.55 Fireheart Media do anything with that. I think I probably would use my ah martial arts training first and get the hell out of there. Second, ah more than I'm going to use that knife. That knife is for physically like you see it on my body, you know that I have a knife, you don't want to come and mess with me because I have this in an easily accessible location where I can use this if I need to. ah It's again, one of those ways that I do in order to make myself look unappealing. And thankfully for my me, myself and I, I happen to have that resting gym face that I have where I can look intimidating and scary as shit without even meaning to. So I have that going for me where I can have my big arms out and I can have this knife out and this pepper spray and this alarm on my person and this light and all this other stuff and then look big and strong and also angry. 01:06:07.88 Fireheart Media Nobody wants to mess with me. It's pretty great. So not everybody has that situation, but again, like a lot of it is making yourself not look like a target and avoiding the situations where you could be potentially harmed in the first place. Those are the primary ways that you can defend yourself in a physical space. 01:06:30.51 Fireheart Media And when it comes down to it, um, legal matters aside, if you're finding yourself having to defend yourself and, and fight for your life, you know, do what you can do what you need to do. Um, but also recognize that anything that goes beyond just your trying to flee or, or use, um, unarmed self-defense, uh, your escalate, your, your ramping up the situation. So if someone's. 01:06:56.85 Fireheart Media a costing you and they're unarmed, at least at first glance, and then you pull out a weapon, you're, you're going to, ah for one, now you look like the aggressor. Um, and for two, then that cues them to, Oh, okay. well Well, maybe they had a gun or a knife or whatever, then they plot that way. It's just, you're, it's youre doing an arms race. So in something that could have just been resolved with, 01:07:24.50 Fireheart Media unarmed and hands and feet. Um, you now you've made it very dangerous, um, by, by relying on an external weapon. So that's just something to keep in mind. Um, but I don't like discourage that because your odds go up. The, um, the more things you have at your disposal, the more tools you have in your tool belt, the better chance you are of defending yourself. 01:07:49.52 Fireheart Media Right. Because it could be a situation where they maybe they don't have another weapon. Maybe what they have is a knife and you've got a gun and you pull out your gun and you should aim it at them and you're not intending to shoot them, but they don't know that. And then when you pull that out, even if it's not loaded, they're not going to take that chance and they'll dip. 01:08:06.98 Fireheart Media you know like they're not going to Unless there's a bunch of them, they're not going to do that. If it's a one-on-one and you've got a guy and he doesn't have a gun too, then that's that's a different kind of situation. and Usually, if people do have a gun, they lead with that gun. They don't pull it out of nowhere after you know first accosting you without the gun. They will pull the gun first. so um That is something to keep in mind as well. 01:08:29.79 Fireheart Media but yeah um In any case, this is a episode that is ah kind of a weirdo, but hoping that this will be helpful for folks just as a refresher of important information. ah Stay safe out there as best you can out in cyberspace and in meet space, ah cyber meet space. 01:08:50.42 Fireheart Media and Dave just gave me a look. He didn't like that one. ah Do you have any kind of wrap up thoughts there, Dave? um The biggest thing that I would say is what Dave said about like in a physical space, having that training be automatic, where like you have trained enough that it is an automatic, that these are the things that you do without thinking, that is important because in the moment, the moment you get terrified, the moment that you have a stressful situation, you forget things. And if you know, because you went to a class once, but you've never practiced it, 01:09:20.74 Fireheart Media You don't know it in that moment, I will guarantee you. you don't You don't remember it in that moment. You have to practice it. You have to know it. You have to be able to execute it in these situations and you know grind it into your your soul. you know um Having been in martial arts classes where you know you might learn the thing and you know it for that weekend and then the next weekend you come back to class and go, what? Then you get punched in the face. Yeah, it's a whole thing. 01:09:47.54 Fireheart Media And we're aware that not everyone is um able to engage in unarmed training, um whether because it's it's it's not um free, it costs money, it costs time. oh And you have to actually be able to do it in the first place. So you may have a personal situation where that's not an option for you. 01:10:09.67 Fireheart Media um In which case, ah it is unfortunate, but it's far easier to learn to use a firearm effectively within, oh, like a weekend um than to spend the years required to train yourself for unarmed combat. and the the the Added weaponry is always an equalizer and always a trump card. It's going to win out over someone that that is only mildly trained in unarmed combat unless they got extremely lucky. um And the other thing, again, is any weapon you use can be taken from you if you miss or aren't skilled with it in the first place. And then then that's a bad situation to be in. 01:10:55.67 Fireheart Media So ah keep that in mind because everything comes with caveats. 01:11:01.10 Fireheart Media Absolutely. And again, when it comes to cyberspace and cybersecurity, think before you click stuff, make sure that you've got all the protection, use protection guys, use protection. ah And in all of that, ah definitely look into those resources that I have in the show notes and ah read yourself some articles and do a little bit of spring cleaning on your socials and devices and this, that and the other and look into some encryption and encrypted forms of communication 01:11:33.31 Fireheart Media so And this is an episode in particular where we do really value feedback. If you have questions or insights um into any of these topics, let us know so we can share this with the community at large and the other listeners. We're not in specific expert on any one of these things, but we know folks who are, and we can get things um cleared up, clarified, and um expanded upon, but only if we have those questions to do so. 01:12:04.00 Fireheart Media Absolutely. So, um all of that being said, take care of yourself. it Do all your self-defense, bruise up cleaning of your your apps and devices and things and stuff. And remember to smile. That sounds kind of awkward on this episode, but yes, smile, smile dang it. Oh, oh, Dave's doing the smile from like the Smile 2 movie. Oh no, no. [Show Outro] Jala Jala-chan's Place is brought to you by Fireheart Media. If you enjoyed the show, please share this and all of our episodes with friends and remember to rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice. Word of mouth is the only way we grow. If you like, you can also kick us a few bucks to help us keep the lights on at ko-fi.com/fireheartmedia. Check out our other show Monster Dear Monster: A Monster Exploration Podcast at monsterdear.monster. Music composed and produced by Jake Lionhart with additional guitars and mixed by Spencer Smith. Follow along with my adventures via jalachan.place or find me at jalachan in places on the net! [Outro Music]