Things To Do In SW Florida

By Anna Helhoski, NerdWallet

The battle to get here was certainly an uphill one, but people are generally feeling better about the economy and their finances than they once did. On top of that, the economy has been easing into an ideal, Goldilocks-like position — not running too hot or cooling too quickly.

Throughout 2024, consumer sentiment data showed people were fairly positive about the economy and their own finances, even if there’s remaining frustration over elevated prices compared to four years ago.

Looking ahead, households are feeling more optimistic about their personal finances in the next year, as the share of those expecting to be in a better financial situation a year from now hit its highest level since February 2020.

Combine positive personal vibes with a strong economic picture and it looks like 2024 wasn’t so bad for consumers, after all. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t bumps in the road or potential roadblocks ahead.

To cap off the year, NerdWallet writers reflect on the top trends in personal finance and the economy this year — and what they think might be ahead in 2025. read more

Rachel Christian | (TNS) Bankrate.com

Just because retirement planning involves some guesswork doesn’t mean it has to be a total mystery.

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer

Nearly half of American teenagers say they are online “constantly” despite concerns about the effects of social media and smartphones on their mental health, according to a new report published Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

As in past years, YouTube was the single most popular platform teenagers used — 90% said they watched videos on the site, down slightly from 95% in 2022. Nearly three-quarters said they visit YouTube every day.

There was a slight downward trend in several popular apps teens used. For instance, 63% of teens said they used TikTok, down from 67% and Snapchat slipped to 55% from 59%. This small decline could be due to pandemic-era restrictions easing up and kids having more time to see friends in person, but it’s not enough to be truly meaningful.

X saw the biggest decline among teenage users. Only 17% of teenagers said they use X, down from 23% in 2022, the year Elon Musk bought the platform. Reddit held steady at 14%. About 6% of teenagers said they use Threads, Meta’s answer to X that launched in 2023. read more

By KELVIN CHAN

LONDON (AP) — After a sprawling hacking campaign exposed the communications of an unknown number of Americans, U.S. cybersecurity officials are advising people to use encryption in their communications.

To safeguard against the risks highlighted by the campaign, which originated in China, federal cybersecurity authorities released an extensive list of security recommendations for U.S. telecom companies — such as Verizon and AT&T — that were targeted. The advice includes one tip we can all put into practice with our phones: “Ensure that traffic is end-to-end encrypted to the maximum extent possible.”

End-to-end encryption, also known as E2EE, means that messages are scrambled so that only the sender and recipient can see them. If anyone else intercepts the message, all they will see is a garble that can’t be unscrambled without the key.

Law enforcement officials had until now resisted this type of encryption because it means the technology companies themselves won’t be able to look at the messages, nor respond to law enforcement requests to turn the data over. read more

Six months after top Florida officials advanced a deal that would swap 324 acres of state forest to a golf course company, Chase Pirtle hiked through the woods to document the creatures that stood to lose their home.

He found a threatened indigo snake basking in the sun, a rare animal some scientists spend years trying to spot. Florida mice, an imperiled species with distinctive big ears and hind feet, scurried through the sand, captured on a night camera. And Pirtle, who leads a nonprofit research group hired by the Sierra Club, tallied at least 112 burrows of endangered gopher tortoises — more than half of which showed signs of active use.

“Every acre serves significant importance,” said Pirtle, director of the Ashton Biological Preserve, considered a leader of gopher tortoise protections in Florida. “The loss of sandhill habitat in this state is horrific, and every little habitat that we can hang on to is extremely important right now.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis, along with the three members of the Florida Cabinet, spent less than 30 seconds in June discussing the swap before voting to move it forward. The deal meant the state would give the forest land to Cabot Citrus Farms, a luxury golf resort in Hernando County looking to expand its neighboring operation, in exchange for 861 acres of timber land in Cedar Key. Environmental groups have decried the proposal, saying the state forest is home to fragile habitat in need of protection. read more