A few things worth cheering for

Tips are included, and the crowdsourcing is free

Once in a while I like to rely on the wisdom of crowds, stealing (er, borrowing) life tips from social media. This column did that, and now history is repeating itself, much as I do.

Interspersed among the tips are four videos that answer a question from this thread: “What movie had a scene that received the loudest cheering when you saw it in theaters?” May they bring you joy.

Let’s start with a tip that stands by itself (this thread includes a video): If you’ve lost your car in a big parking lot and your beeper ain’t a beepin’, use your head. Literally. If you hold the remote to your head, it will act as an antenna and extend the beeper’s range. You can also do that with a water bottle, but what’s the fun in that?

When a thread asks for great advice on any topic, you’ll get a ton of stuff, some helpful, some meh, some from people who think they’re more clever than they are. (“Don’t eat yellow snow.” Really?) Here’s a dozen as a sampler (all quotes are verbatim, typos and all):

• Travel outside your country in your twenties if you’re able to. It changes the narrative of your country and gives you perspective. Then keep traveling.

• Baking soda, peroxide and dawn dish soap will knock out any stain

• Never make someone a priority who only makes you an option.

• If you're *almost* ready to sneeze but can't quite get there in that really annoying, face-scrunching sort of way, look directly at a bright light like a naked lightbulb and it'll do the trick instantly.

• Learn everything you can about financial literacy as early as possible. If I started ten years ago, I would’ve done a LOT of things differently.

• invest time to personally meet good friends.

• Start before you're ready. Your real enemy is not other people, but your own ability to over think and self sabotage yourself.

• The grass always looks greener on the other side until you water the side you're on

• If you’re in your 20’s be patient. Don’t let society make you feel like you’re behind or you’re not doing enough. You are doing great. Big things and life accomplishments come with time. Sit back and enjoy the ride. Don’t stress yourself trying to rush.

• Don’t take sleeping tablets and laxatives together.

• If, and only if, you are responsible with credit cards, use them to pay your bills and then pay the balance off immediately. For instance, you paid your bills this week, pay the balance off next week. It’s a great way to earn cash back as well for the cards that offer that. It also can keep you level headed about spending because you know you’ll eventually have to pay what you spend back.

• Bend when you can, snap when you have to

The other main topic I see a lot is iPhone tricks, including a favorite I’ve mentioned before: When you hold down the space bar, the keys go blank and you can move the cursor by sliding your finger. A dozen other tips:

• When you want to send an image in iMessage, you don't have to touch the Plus icon and then Photos to begin selecting an image. Just press down on the Plus icon a little longer, and the images will appear directly.

• A new one when texting…there’s a little “A” on the right of the options bar. It gives you special effects for your texts!

• Use the volume keys to take a photo instead of trying to hit the button on the screen

• If you’re on a bus or in a public place and you’re reading and get distracted easily by sounds around you, you can turn on background white noise (rain, ocean, etc) if you go to settings - accessibility - audio/visual, and then select background noise. I have drowned out MANY an annoying person on the bus with this.

• To get a brighter or dimmer light on your iPhone, press and hold the flashlight icon and drag the meter up and down to adjust the brightness!

• If you can't find your phone, call out “Hey Siri, where are you?” She'll answer out loud, even if the phone it on silent/DND.

• My favorite is that the camera will make text for you! Hold the camera up to a page (or anything with words) and yellow brackets will appear around a paragraph. Then a black circle with lines in it will appear on the bottom right corner. Tap, then you will see the option to copy that text. You can then open you Notes or your email or wherever and paste the text. It’s extremely accurate and has saved me a lot of time typing large blocks of texts I’m quoting in papers I write.

• I used the photo app to identify a plant today for the first time! Take a photo of a plant, click on the photo that pops up on the bottom left (or open it in the photo app), then click the leaf/circle icon at bottom centre (btwn the heart and filter icons) - the first prompt below “add caption” is “look up plant”. (If you don’t get the prompt, the photo isn’t distinct enough - it will show up if it detects a plant.)

• Another one I really like is taking photos while you record videos— start a video and then you will see a random white button on the screen. That’s the button to take photos while you record.

• Use the camera on a clothing laundry label, and it will decipher all the different symbols for you.

• You can press the plus sign on a text and schedule it to send at a later time, just like an email.

• If you drop your phone and can’t find it in the dark, shout “Siri turn on the flashlight” and there’s your phone all lit up Can’t tell you how many times this helped find my phone in the car.

Before we get to a favorite “Harry Potter” clip, here are two pieces of advice that stand alone:

Murphy Slaw

Something old: This saying isn’t always a misquote: Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.

Something new: I don’t get paid for ads, and only share them if they make me cry. Here’s an ad:

Something borrowed: One more treat for Harry Potter fans:

Something blue: Although most people made it out alive, the Southern California wildfires are among the most brutal disasters in history. Here’s how you can help: