HELPFUL HINTS
DEAR READERS: Today is St. Patrick’s Day, named for St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland — a day to celebrate the legacy and customs of the Irish. Celebrate with green pancakes shaped into shamrocks, or pop some green food coloring into any food or drink.
DEAR HELOISE: I’m annoyed by all the social media birthday fundraiser requests people promote. Is it safe to donate money to them?
— Candace C. in Illinois DEAR READER: I understand your frustration. However, rest assured, the recipients of the donations have been confirmed as legitimate (vetted) by most of the big social media platforms (SMP).
The SMPs ensure that the charity is a nonprofit organization and that they are registered with the Internal Revenue Service. Also, your credit/ debit information should be safe; the biggest SMPs utilize encryption, which guarantees the agency will not see your card information.
Not up to giving cash? Consider volunteering for the charity to honor your friend’s birthday.
DEAR HELOISE: When it comes to computers, what’s a hyperlink?
— Fred in Florida DEAR READER: A hyperlink, or simply a link, is a portion of text, an icon or a graphic within a document, and it may appear bold or a different color, usually blue. When you click on the hyperlink, it will typically open another browser window on your computer and take you to a new document or website, presumably to a subject that is referenced in the initial document.
Methods can vary, but to create a hyperlink in your text document, highlight the word where you want the link to be, right click and select hyperlink from the dropdown menu. You can then select another text document as the linked item or look for the globe icon to link to another website.
DEAR HELOISE: When my kids were little, I would clean many of their plastic baby toys in the dishwasher. I never had any problems with the plastic toys melting or fading. This was easier than hand-washing, and I could do it when they were sleeping.
— Ruth, Dallas, TX DEAR READER: The temperatures in the dishwasher tend to get hotter than hand-washing — great for a good clean.
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email
Heloise@Heloise.com