Weekly Round-Up #270: Online Security, Hanging Plants & Random Acts Of Kindness
This week we take a look the amount of data that Facebook has on you (hint: it’s a lot), how you can improve your online security & privacy and some steps you can take to secure your accounts. We also look at how your company can implement Random Acts Of Kindness during these testing times, and how you can advocate for yourself during a job search.
Welcome to this week’s round-up, I hope you have had a fun and productive week.
This week we look at some privacy and security issues relating to your online accounts – do you know what accounts are linked to your email address or phone number? Me either! And as account hijacking and phishing attempts become all the more sophisticated it’s important to know what accounts we have floating around out there that may be linked to us. If it’s an old account that you might not use anymore, it’s likely that you’ll be using an insecure password – and one that you might use on other sites as well, so it’s important to either disable these accounts or update the password to something super secure.
Speaking of passwords, if like me you’re a bit rubbish at remembering and managing them then you’ll want to get a password manager. I use LastPass Password Manager (affiliate link), which comes with a desktop and mobile app, and extensions for all major browsers. It helps you to manage your passwords, storing them securely in a “vault” for you to access when needed.
I use the free version, but you can upgrade which unlocks features like the ability to fill in passwords in applications, share passwords with family members (useful if you regularly change your Netflix password!) and access 1GB secure storage. Click here or on the graphic below to start your free no-catch trial of LastPass Premium – it automatically reverts to a standard account so you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to continue with the premium services (affiliate link).
Both the free and premium versions also support Two Factor Authentication (2FA) – not sure what that is? Don’t worry as we have a great article that explains the importance of 2FA and why you should activate wherever you can – note that Twitter now supports 2FA authentication apps instead of just email or SMS authentication so go and switch that on now and then come back to this article!
I discovered the other day (to my horror) that Facebook was tracking when I was using one of my banking apps – it knew exactly when I had opened it and how long I used it for! Initially I thought that it was Facbook snooping around apps on my Android phone but it turns out it’s a little known piece of functionality called “Off Facebook Activity”. My banking app was actually supplying 3rd parties with certain data via this “off Facebook Activity” option. Needless to say, I turned off the feature in all the apps I could find it on and I turned if off on my Facebook account as well – sure I will get less targeted adverts but I don’t really care about that as I use an ad blocker anyway!
Check out the article below for information on how much Facebook knows about you and find out more about how you can turn off Off Facebook Activity here (note that if you do that you’ll be logged out of all your linked accounts like Spotify etc. but you can re-enable them on a case-by-case basis rather than having everything tracked.
Wow – scary right? And as we rely more and more on technology it’s only going to get worse so it’s important to keep your old accounts safe and your new accounts from impacting on your privacy.
We also take a look at some of the best hanging plants you can use to brighten up your home – especially important as some parts of the world are re-entering lockdowns again.
And finally, how about spreading a little bit of cheer in the run up to Christmas? We have some ways that your company can incorporate Random Acts of Kindness into your workday.
6 Ways To Find All Accounts Linked To Your Email Address Or Phone Number – MakeUseOf
From the dial-up days till now, most of us have signed up for a countless number of online accounts. But we barely log in to even half of them today. Now, the email address or a phone number you surrendered for registration can be misused. It’s time to ask yourself “How do I find all accounts linked to my email address?”
No One Knows About Two-Factor Authentication, And It’s Putting Their Security At Risk – Lifehacker
Two-factor authentication is incredibly important because it adds a secondary challenge to login attempts. If a person has your user name and password, but not access to the authenticator app on your phone, for example, they will be unable to actually log into your account. You’ll likely get a notification that a login attempt was made—so you can then change your password to something more secure—but your account will remain safe.
What Does Facebook Know About Me (It’s Scary) – BroadbandSearch.net
You’ve heard stories of people speaking about a product only have have an advert pop up on their Facebook time line for it, right? Whether it’s these eerily-specific ads popping up in our news feeds, or stories about our data being gathered without our knowledge, there’s plenty of evidence that Facebook knows quite a bit about us – perhaps even more than Google which is worrying. But exactly what information does Facebook have? It’s a question we may not want to know the answer to, but one that we should definitley be asking. In this article, Broadband Search takes a look at how Facebook collects this information, what it uses it for and how you can protect your privacy.
19 Best Hanging Plants – Happy DIY Home
Hanging plants are a great space-saving way to add greenery and pretty flowers to your indoor or outdoor living spaces. There are tons of plant options and containers to choose from. Many of the best hanging plants are both attractive and low maintenance. They add color, interest, and texture without needing a lot of care and attention from you. You have tons of freedom when it comes to hanging method and decoration for your containers. If you’re ready to get started, then Happy DIY home has 19 of the best hanging plants for indoors and outdoors.
How To Start A Successful Blog In 2020 And Make Money – lucatagliaferro
You keep reading everywhere about how easy it is to start a blog and how you can make money blogging instantly. In this article you’ll learn how to start a blog in 4 easy steps that’ll take about 10 to 15 minutes. Luca Tagliaferro has been blogging for the last 10 years and started several blogs, he also run large companies’ blogs to increase their revenues with content marketing so he has some great advice for you.
How To Study: A Guide For College And Adult Learners – Premier Nursing Academy
How to Study: A Guide for College and Adult Learners provides 7 of the most critical tips for studying, along with practical applications for each piece of advice. This guide differs from others in its brevity. Premier Nursing Academy found that most students simply need reminders of what they already know, so that’s what we’ve created — a simple guide to help students get back on track and remember the skills and resources available to them.
12 Employee Engagement Statistics You Need To Know In 2020 – People Managing People
The fact that 2020 has been a challenging year for many workers worldwide because of Covid-19 is well recognized. For instance, Tamaryn Nelson, a researcher at Amnesty International, produced an article that uses the words nightmares, exhaustion, and burnout when describing the pandemic’s emotional toll. But what does this mean for employee engagement?
How To Improve Your Credit Score In 2020 – ABCBizLoans.com
Student debt, medical bills and unpaid personal loans can make it feel like a normal credit score is impossible, but American Business Credit is here to tell you that’s not true. Boosting your credit score isn’t the fastest process, so you’ll need patience. On average, it takes 12 to 18 months for someone with poor credit to reach a fair score. The best way to increase your credit score quickly is to develop new spending habits, assess your debt and develop healthy credit habits. Check out this article to view suggestions on how you can get started.
7 Tips For Effective Project Management – Monday.com
Being an effective project manager in the ever-changing project management landscape needs more than just having the right combination of personal traits and a dedicated skillset. Even seasoned project managers experience difficulties in successfully overseeing projects, because every assignment brings with it new challenges and different criterion.
Project managers who have been in the field long enough will agree that this profession needs a delicate balance between science and art. Science, as an array of professional qualifications, abilities, and knowledge acquired through experience, hard work, and lifelong study of this field. Art, as an inherent talent for leadership, organization, communication, and creativity with a slight hint of intuition to foresee problems even before they arise. For those who often find the project management process daunting, here are some tips to help you become an effective project manager.
How Your Business Can Incorporate Random Acts Of Kindness During A Crisis – GoSite
Although the pandemic has disrupted the lives of so many around the world, times of crisis tend to bring people together. Throughout 2020 many people, organizations, and companies have ramped up their charitable activities, introduced innovative ways to connect with others, and shown compassion to friends and strangers alike. For business owners who’ve been able to survive and even grow during the pandemic, lending out a helping hand not only feels good, but it’s a great way to establish your company as a socially responsible entity within your community. This article from gosite covers some ways that your businesses can give back during the pandemic and beyond.
How To Advocate For Yourself In Your Job Search – JobHero
Self-advocacy is a fancy way to say “speak up for yourself” or “communicate your worth”. This skill is helpful in life for maintaining relationships and negotiating with others, and is even more important in the job search process. Without it, hiring managers might not ever know your potential. If you are getting interviews but no job offers, use these worksheets to build self-advocacy skills to communicate your goals and values constructively.
When you walk into an interview the person you are meeting typically has limited knowledge of who you are. Even though they may have read your resume, checked references or even looked at your social media, these sources won’t tell them why you are an excellent candidate. For them to understand that, you must advocate for yourself in your interview. This article covers the importance and basics of self-advocacy and has some great printables for you to download and fill in so you can get interview responses just right.
Subconscious Mind: 9 Facts You Should Know Plus Free Workbook – INLP
Your conscious mind is like a radio receiversubconscious mind radio receiver. How many channels are you picking up? Getting one or two channels severely limits the amount of choices you have. The subconscious mind is the file cabinet of all your memories. Through those memories, your subconscious mind determines how you respond to life and make decisions. In this article INLP looks at the importance of our subscious minds and how we can use them to become more effective, plus there’s a free workbook for you to go through too.
25 Essential Productivity Statistics For 2020 – TeamStage
The secret to productivity lies in committing to excellence, intelligent planning of resources, and smart business ventures. However, keeping employees busy as bees does not necessarily make them more productive. Humans, unlike bees, come with distractions. In fact, employees are only productive 60% of the time spent in the workspace.
Idle, ill-directed and ineffective employees cost money, and it is an employer’s job to make sure they are appropriately motivated and engaged. Productivity statistics offer a peek into an employee’s perspective of the work process. In this article, TeamStage look at 25 important productivity stats and the impact they can have on your business and company’s performance.
2 Simple Solutions To Clean Oven Racks – Maid For You
It’s not uncommon to find your oven racks caked with burnt-on grease and charred food bits, especially when you haven’t been paying attention to them in a while. Unfortunately, this built-up grime is inevitable inside ovens and therefore, must be manually cleaned for best results.
There are various ways to clean oven racks, of course, some are more ineffective than others. For those reasons, MaidForYou are sharing two of the best methods to clean oven racks that are not only 100% effective in removing all kinds of grimes, but incredibly simple, too!
Have A Great Week
I hope you have enjoyed this round-up, as always if you have any links you like to share with me and my readers please contact me through the website or send me a tweet.
Until next time, Stay Productive!
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