Okay, ladies, so here’s the deal.

On Friday, Facebook will become owner of the publishing rights of all your private photos, which means they could do whatever they want with them. Use them in ads. (Imagine a picture of you partying with your peeps on a billboard.) Show them to the world when you become famous. Send them to your boss when you complain about Facebook while on Facebook…

You get the idea. If Facebook owned the rights to your photos it would be bad. Really bad. But you can prevent this. And it will only take a few moments of you time. Just follow the simple instructions below and then pass the information on to all of your friends that have pictures of you. Especially pictures of you from Spring Break. Or tailgates. Or Halloween. Or, well, just everyone, OK?

1. Go to account on the upper right corner of your Facebook.

2. Then click on account settings.

3. Then go to Facebook Ads, the last tab along the top.

4. Then choose edit third party ad settings.

5. Select no one from the drop down.

Then just save and you’re done. You and your Facebook photos are safe. Phew. That was a close one.

Here on CollegeCandy we spend a lot of time warning you ladies about keeping your Facebook private. Change your settings. Change them again. Now change them back.  We try to keep up with Zuckerberg and the boys, but even we didn’t think of this one, and trust me, you didn’t either.

Because apparently that creeper sitting next to you in Calc class might still be able to get all of your Facebook information if you’re using a wireless network to access the internet. Which, on a college campus, or in an internet cafe, or you know, anywhere, you probably are.

Websites like Gmail use “encrypted HTTPS protocol” to prevent this from happening. They secure all of your information by encrypting your login cookies and the rest of your data. But Facebook? Not so much. So even though that random older dude staring at you from behind his laptop in Starbucks can’t read that e-mail you’re sending your professor, he might still be able to see that Facebook message you’re  sending your boyfriend. According to Gawker.com, one blogger sat down at a local Starbucks and was able to steal 20-40 Facebook identities in 30 minutes with the help of a program called Firesheep. The inventor claims to have created the software to encourage companies like Facebook to lock down their systems, and apparently Facebook is finally listening.

[editors note: SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) allows all of the data that you send over the internet to be encrypted. If an unwanted guest (we'll use the word Hacker), decides that he/she wants to "sniff traffic," or collect all of the information that goes back and forth between peoples laptops at a Starbucks, means that every single laptop in that Starbucks that isn't over a secure connection, is vulnerable to having their data collected (user names, passwords, credit card information, cookies, etc). While this is a scary thought, keep in mind that you can protect yourself by logging into websites that utilize SSL (that extra 's' that you'll see after 'http' which online banks most always use by default).]

Their secure browsing program is launching today, and it will apparently take “a few weeks” to get to everyone. But you should check every day until you have this option and then enable it immediately.

Here’s what you need to do: Read More »

Snooze-fest.

Do you remember the good ol’ days freshman year? Sitting nervously in front of your laptop on a Sunday morning, awaiting the moment your friends would post the infamous pictures from the weekend? Then, it happens. At around noon, after a long breakfast spent reminiscing in the cafeteria Facebook explodes with album after album of weekend adventures. You spend hours laughing at your screen with your roommates: Who is that rando taking shots with us? You did a keg stand this weekend? Oh, so that’s where we got the blow-up doll!

Back in the day, Sunday mornings (or the entire day…) were dedicated to reflecting on the moments captured from the night before via Facebook. I know I used to love those days, when you found out you weren’t the only one running around campus having a good time….er….looking like a hot mess.

But fast forward three years when everyone and their your mother is watching what you decide to post on Facebook. You can’t just post everything you want anymore with reckless abandon; you’ve got your future to think about, and the judgment of your entire extended family (who are all now your FB friends), and the fact that Facebook is changing their privacy settings so often, you have no idea who can see your latest drunken exploits. So you start thinking before you post, de-tagging unflattering (from a professional perspective) photos, and deleting anything remotely inappropriate (“Let’s get crunk tonight!”)  from your Wall. Read More »

#8: Stop spending money on Grey Goose.

You can always count on a few things Monday morning: irritation when you wake up, hitting the snooze button a million times, general crankiness wherever you turn, Regis and Kelly, and, most importantly, my Weekly Ten.

This week, after a particularly grueling New Year’s Eve spent with 25 people in one tiny house with one tiny bathroom in New England, I had time (a lot) to reflect on my resolutions (and my hangover) on the train ride back to NYC. I pondered 2010 and my resolutions between pages of Jen Lancaster’s memoirs and occasionally badgering the BF to go fetch me red wine from the bar car on the Amtrak. Studying for the CPA cannot be fun when you’re sitting next to me. Especially when I try and guess all the answers. And I am the furthest thing from an accountant in the world. Maybe even the universe.

Anyway, back on track. Resolutions. We’ve all got them. Let’s see if yours match up with mine at all. Maybe you’ll even get a few ideas for your resolution list.

10. Be kinder to strangers
Particularly difficult when in a bar and weirdos, cough, I mean, “potential new friends” try and strike up conversation. This means I probably shouldn’t shriek, “TERMINATED” at people and storm off when I don’t feel like talking to them anymore, even if said person has a Finding Nemo tattoo. On their neck.

9. Eat healthier.
I’m doing this thing where I eat exactly HALF of what I would normally eat. It counts as half if I eat one pack of Reese’s cups instead of two, no?

8. Stop spending frivolously.
This should be a good one on my vacation to Vegas next week. Blackjack isn’t considered frivolous if you’re winning. Read More »

As the week comes to an end, so do my finals (thank. effing. god). Hopefully those of you who aren’t done are almost there, because I am way too ready to be home and I’d venture a guess the rest of you are too. I am ready to jump into full-fledged Christmas cheer mode. And since us college girls have to get out all of our holiday cheer in a week, it’s time to go into holiday overload.

I’m talking red mini-dresses, peppermint cocktails, Mariah Carey on repeat, the works…

But until we can hop on that train/bus/airplane and hightail it home, here are a few highlights from the week to get you through and keep you sane:

- You might be bored studying, but condoms can add some fun to your life. Well, your sex life.

- Although no amount of horny or fun condoms could get these guys near our lady parts!

- Just because we should dump our high school boyfriends doesn’t mean we can’t have a little winter break friends-with-benefits thing going on, does it? Read More »

It was just another daily Facebook-check when a message from Mark Zuckerberg appeared on the top of my newsfeed. Blah, blah, blah. Shut up, shut up, shut up. We know there are millions of users on Facebook – my mother is on it for God’s sake – no need to write us a message about it, Mark! (Yeah, we’re on first name basis.)

Bored, I closed the letter and contined on to my daily Facebook routine (you know you have one, too):
Check notifications
Check boyfriend’s page
Check cute guy in class’s page
Check for new photo albums of friends…

And then I typed in my ex-boyfriend’s name. We’re not friends on Facebook anymore (so dramatic), but I just have to check if he’s changed his picture!  Don’t judge – you know you do it. Read More »