Google’s URL shortener service, goo.gl, was going away on August 25th which freaked many out. Now it is staying around for existing shortened links that are actively used. Check your google shortened links now and if they redirect without any warnings then your links will continue working after 8/25. As Google has a large graveyard of discontinued projects, for example see https://killedbygoogle.com/, it still might be good to switch to another link shortening service, bitly.com and tinyurl.com are examples of alternatives to look at.
There are times when you don’t want image searches to included AI generated examples. Try https://noai.duckduckgo.com/ for one search engines attempt to filter out AI generated images when they are not desired.
Finally, uBlock Origin Lite, one of my favorite ad blockers, is available for Safari on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. You can get it from the App Store. Just make sure it is the app from Raymond Hill, as other apps will also be listed.
I am amazed with how data can be visualized, look at the 2024 winners of the Information is Beautiful awards. It may a bit of time to work your way through all the categories but you should find the imagination incredible. See them at https://www.informationisbeautifulawards.com/
If you find that your Instagram has gotten really wonky because of some rabbit hole you fell down, you should try resetting your “recommendations.” Basically, you are resetting their algorithm and starting fresh. Find it under your profile, then the three line menu icon, then scroll down to the What you see section and tap on Content preferences, finally tap Reset suggested content and tap and read through their attempts to convince you to not reset your recommendations. Once done, you are ready to start fresh.
Quick way to avoid Google AI Overview is to add -ai to the end of your search words.
Phone calls or texted warnings about full cloud or email storage, amazing offers from Amazon, taxes and jury attendance failures, and more are all geared to get you to enter logins and passwords where you shouldn’t. The quickest and safest way to deal with any text or email or call that tries to scare you or get you to act with urgency for that great price is to wait. Wait and explain it to someone else, or even just talk to yourself about it.
If you think modern medicine seems amazing and curious at times, look through what medieval patients went through at the Cambridge Digital Library’s collection of Medieval medical recipes, https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/medievalmedicalrecipes This makes modern shots and prescriptions feel remarkably simple to tolerate.
If you ever have a need to ‘cast a video from your iPhone to a Windows computer, look at installing Air Screen Mirror Receiver on your PC. This will make your PC show up as an AirPlay capable device and simplify your life. If you want other options, search for something like “airplay on Windows” and pay attention to cost and limitations.