Happy Thought for 20 December 2024

Have a Happy Thought: 

Nearing the craziness of Christmas, Hanukkah, western New Year, and the many other holidays coming up, I’m here sharing a few Public Service Announcements. Here’s hoping you need none of these, but find at least one of them useful 😊 

 

  • When sharing links from YouTube, or really any website that has a “share” feature, the link that is created will automatically come with tracking information so that the big software companies can learn more about you and your friends. It’s really easy to “clean” the link of all those trackers though:  

  • Look for the “?” sign in the link, and delete everything after it. The link will still work, just without any tracing. 

  • Example: 

https://youtu.be/_7Gx1WjQP0I?si=ATMbrAzE5R4ky9Fw  

Is the same link as  

https://youtu.be/_7Gx1WjQP0I 

  

  • Cybercrime and fraud are unfortunately on the rise. Here are some top tips from the US’ FBI, follow the link (see? No tracking part in the link) for a few more: 

  • Create a secret word or phrase with your family to verify their identity. 

  • Verify the identity of the person calling you by hanging up the phone, researching the contact of the bank or organization purporting to call you, and call the phone number directly. 

  • Do not send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets to people you do not know or have met only online or over the phone. 

 

  • With time away from normal activities, your brain might produce “the BEST idea”! If it’s something that might make you, or someone else, money someday, you might just need a FriendDA. More than a handshake, less than a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Visit https://friendda.org/  for the details. 

 

  • In coming up with your great idea, you might need to visualise it. And if you can’t (or aren’t ready yet to) pay an artist for that work, check out these three websites to help with that. 

 


 

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