Smack those Hackers upside the Head! And pray...

Over the past week, several of my friends on Facebook have gotten their accounts hacked. And these hackers have a grand old time posting cruel and hideous things on their pages. This infuriates me. What is WRONG with these people? They need a good smack upside the head! Do these idiots have nothing better to do than to infect the lives of others? One friend actually said she chatted with one of the hackers on her Facebook Messenger. He commented that doing this was funny. FUNNY! They actually get their thrills this way.

Another friend this week had her email hacked. The hacker not only sent a very rude and crass message to some of her friends, but also deleted all of her folders with hundreds of saved email messages. Horrors! It makes me shudder to think of losing all of my email folders. It actually is making me consider transferring them to another account...just in case. What a mess my friend had to deal with!

Just more confirmation of a devil who is alive and well and wreaking as much havok on the earth as possible before his time is up.

It's sad, really. As angry as the whole thing makes me, the people who are doing this need prayer. We might not be able to turn things around, but last time I read my Bible (which was yesterday), it said that God is able! It also says that "greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). God is greater than the devil. WE have the power of prayer. Let's tap into that power and pray for these people who, really, "know not what they do."

BUT, in the meantime, there are things you can do to protect yourself from hackers. Here are a few tips:

1. Change your password regularly
2. Use passwords that include both numbers and letters
3. Don't give out your password to anyone
4. DO NOT use the same password for every account you have. This is probably the most important tip. Especially with your email account. Use a totally unique password for email.

Worried about keeping track of your different passwords? Fortunately, most sites have a password reminder option (which I have used many, many times) in case you do forget. But I just set up an index card system listing the site, my user name and password. You could also use a Rolodex, a small notebook, etc.

I also recommend keeping two copies, just in case one is lost or stolen. At least then you could immediately go in and change each one without trying to wrack your memory for the sites you belong to. Trust me, you'll forget a couple. And keep your list in a safe place, out of sight. Which means don't write PASSWORDS in a big bold print on the front of your notebook.

Remember to lift the hackers up before God. Even if one of them is touched by our prayers, think of all the people that will be spared the pain, humiliation, and upheaval of having their online accounts invaded and abused.

Attention FaithWriters Fans and Friends...

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT:

While the message boards are a wonderful place to learn about everything that's happening at FaithWriters, not everyone chooses to puruse the boards. But now there's another way to keep up with all things FaithWriters. We're pleased to announce that you can now find FaithWriters.com on three separate online social networks. Be notified when the monthly newsletters are posted, get updated on the Page Turner Contest and the upcoming Writing Conference (August 7 & 8), hear about mini-challenges and 500 news and when new quarterly anthologies are published.

To stay in the loop, find FaithWriters online here:

FACEBOOK - Become a fan of FaithWriters to receive automatic updates and also jump into fun discussions with Facebook friends: http://www.facebook.com/pages/FaithWriterscom/57523436628?ref=mf

TWITTER - Follow FaithWriters.com here: http://twitter.com/FaithWriters

SHOUTLIFE - For all of you ShoutLife members, get the latest news bulletin by adding FaithWriters as a friend: http://www.shoutlife.com/FaithWriters


Don't miss a thing! Be sure to keep in touch with us and stay in the loop on everything happening at FaithWriters! Hope to see you there!

My Top Five Favorite Sites...

To the average bystander, it would probably seem I'm on a mission. A mission to see how many sites I can join before I turn 40.

Oh wait. I already am 40.

No I'm not.

Ok, I am.

Now that we have that out of the way, on to more important things. Like websites.

I've heard people say they refuse to join yet another networking site. They already belong to a bazillion, they don't have the time, yada, yada. And I can understand that. In fact, for a while, I was joining sites left and right. Then I started receiving notices - daily - from sites asking where I was. "We miss you!" the subject lines read.

I was touched. Really, I was. Especially because my own kids don't say that even when they go camping for a week without me.

But I digress.

When these notices started appearing in my email inbox, I wondered if I might just be joining more sites than I could handle. Hey - my hair may flip up on the ends and I may dress a little strangely from time to time (just ask my kids), and my name may be Lynda with a "Y" but I'm no Wonder Woman.

So I whittled down a little, picking and choosing the sites I can't live without. I ended up with five, which isn't bad, as long as I am able to appropriately balance my time on each of them. That's not always easy - and sometimes I fail - but I refuse to give them up. So here are my top five favorite sites:

FaithWriters - I joined over four years ago and FaithWriters is, singlehandedly, the site that rejumped my writing career. I can't even tell you how many opportunities have come to me through FaithWriters. And don't even get me started on the members. They are the warmest, most genuine group of Christians I've ever met. And I am proud to call them some of my closest friends.

GodLinked - Ok, I'm a little biased here, because I am site administrator at GodLinked. It's my baby...well, not exactly MY baby, but I did play a (very) small part in its start-up, such as the name and the motto: Connecting our faith, one link at a time.

I don't do MySpace, even though my kids do (and we monitor their activity, believe me). GodLinked is similar to MySpace but without all the junk. The people are fabulous, we've got some great groups started (including Authors, Comedians, Desperate Moms, Weight Watchers, Lighter Moments, Teens, Prayer Intercessory, Scrapbookers Corner - just to name a few - and the forums are also beginning to pick up steam. So if you're looking for a Christian networking site, check out GodLinked. It's relatively new but there's a lot of potential there.

Twitter - Who thought of this name, anyway? Doesn't matter. I personally love the name and love the concept. The point is to type blurbs about what you're doing at the moment - up to 140 characters (which aint a lot, trust me! Really tests a writer's chopping skills). You can follow as many Twitterers as you'd like and respond to their posts. You can twitter from your computer, ipod or phone. As of right now, I am following 27 and have 20 followers. This is nothing compared to most, but give me a break - I'm just getting started.

Facebook - I felt so out of the loop...all my friends had a Facebook and I didn't. So, basically giving in to peer pressure, I joined. I didn't think I'd like it. Honestly, I hoped I wouldn't like it. But, guess what? I LOVE IT. Facebook has allowed me to reconnect with high school friends and keep in touch with far-away cousins. Lots of fun stuff there...so beware, it is a potential time-waster. But it's quickly becoming a favorite.

ACFW - I shouldn't even need to explain why American Christian Fiction Writers will always be listed in my "favorites." Loaded with all the tools and resources I need on my journey towards "published author", I wouldn't dare stray far. And the message boards are fun - where else can I rub shoulders with the authors I love? Sometimes I feel so unworthy to be in the presence of such greatness...

So there you have it. Five sites I won't be giving up anytime soon (if ever!). So what are your top 5 irresistable and addicting sites? I might check them out and I might not, depending on how much space I have left on my balancing scale.

Now, excuse me. I have to go twitter.