Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
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. — Heloise
DONATION NATION
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
Candace, 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 — that’s always needed. — Heloise
TECH TUESDAY
Dear Heloise: When it comes to computers, what’s a hyperlink? — Fred in Florida
Fred, 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. — Heloise
BOOKMARK IT
Dear Heloise: I wish people would stop bending the pages in the library book where they left off! It’s so easy to make a bookmark from pretty greeting cards or gift boxes. It also would be thoughtful to leave a bookmark in returned books. — D.J. in Poland, Ohio
SIGN YOUR CREDIT CARD?
Dear Heloise: In today’s electronic age, signing a credit card serves very little purpose.
No one verifies a signature when the card is:
■ Used at a self-checkout card reader.
■ Below a certain dollar amount.
■ Used at a gas pump. ■ Online or by phone. ■ At a restaurant. So, there is no harm, of course, signing the card, but there is little identity theft deterrence value. — Tim D., Kettering, Ohio
Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to 1-210-HELOISE or email it to Heloise@Heloise. com. I can’t answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.