Albert Nerenberg - Candid Conversation About the World Laughing Championships

There are all kinds of contests out there. Wikipedia has a list full of them, there are so many out there that it just boggles the mind, but I heard about one that really got my attention. The World Laughing Championships. Albert Nerenberg is involved in the event which recently happened via Zoom and I got in touch with him to get the inside scoop on the giggle fest.

Albert nice to meet you welcome to Candid Conversations. World Laughing Championships. Interesting competition, who came up with this and how long has it been going on for?

Albert N.: This was the first ever World Laughing Championships but laughing championships have been going on for at least 7 or 8 years. There were live Championships in about 15 countries but actually surprisingly the Pandemic helped. The reason we never had a World Laughing Championship before is the cost of flying everyone to the event would have been prohibitive. COVID fixed that. On Zoom contagious laughing works.

Cliff T.: How did you end up getting involved in the World Laughing Championships?

Albert N.: We organized the Canadian Laughing Championships on Zoom to see if it work and it did. We were amazed how fun it was. So we thought why don’t we go big and try the first ever world champs?

Cliff T.: Are there different levels of competition or do you just have one and everyone gets a crack at the title? And, how does the winner get determined?

Albert N.: I should probably explain how it all started I had just finished a documentary Laughology for CTV, the Canadian TV network. It was the first feature documentary on laughter at the time and I was kind of blown away by what I found out. Anyway, one idea a friend bought to a MMA fight. A mixed-martial arts fight. Anyway before the fight, the two opponents squared off and did a stare down. At one point even though they were trying to intimidate each other they both cracked up. I was reminded if the old game where two people have to stare at each other. The first one who smiles loses. It’s actually quite hard to win. What was interesting was I thought I was looking at the two sides of humanity right there. When two humans confront each other it either turns into smiling and laughter or it can turn into hostility and violence. The violence side has been heavily explored. That’s boxing or MMA etc.. But what about the other side. What if you elevated some of our positive qualities into a sport. If punching people in the face can be a sport, what about elevating human joy.

Officially you have to win a national championship to make it to the worlds. In most cases that was true of the contenders with a few exceptions.

When we first starting holding championships the loudest boldest people tended to win. But when we made “Who is the most contagious” as judged by the audience. Everything changed. Having a contagious laugh is tough. You must be bold, loud and let go and release a true joy or hilarity. That’s when laughing championships really took off.

Cliff T.: Albert how does one go about entering the competition? What is the process?

Albert N.: Win a local championship. Then a national championship. Then go to the worlds. It’s more developed in some places more than others. Quebec has actually had both a Montreal and Quebec championship.

Cliff T.: Besides bragging rights what else does the winner get?

Albert N.: You get a big Cup award but usually a ton of publicity. The guy who won the World’s Dmitry Efimov has become a national celebrity in Russia getting tons of press. In fact almost every contender got press. The Iranian, the Malaysian and the contender from Uruguay who won Sexiest Laugh in the World naturally.

Cliff T.: Have you competed in the contest and how did you do if you did?

Albert N.: Yes. At the early stages but because I’m often a host a stay out of it beyond demonstrating laughs.

Cliff T.: What role do you play in the competition today?

Albert N.: I guess I’m currently the head organizer and often host.

Cliff T.: I am assuming that this year was different because of the pandemic I saw fro m your site that you did it via zoom, how did that go?

Albert N.: In a weird way, the World Championship would never have been possible without Zoom and the Pandemic. But, we plan and doing it every year now.

Cliff T.; Besides the competition I see that you are a film maker Journalist Hypnotist and Laughologist. A lot of hats for sure. Can you describe what a Laughologist does?

Albert N.: Laughter is more important than we realize and is somewhat repressed. I am often brought into to animate events for companies, schools etc.. where I demonstrate you can laugh really hard just by sharing laughter behaviors without jokes. I am also asked to comment in media about laughter in the news. I also try to promote research which demonstrates how healthy laughter is and how it’s important to laugh more. Which is also the point of laughter championships.

I also directed several documentaries about laughter including Laughology, Extreme Laughter and You Are What You Act. Did a lot of research.

Cliff T.: What is the reaction you get when you tell people what you do and what the contest is about?

Albert N.: People often laugh!

But people think it’s a crazy idea until they understand how it’s done. I think people think it’s a bunch of people sitting around laughing until someone decides who is the funniest. It’s actually quite structured and sport like. There are several rounds of laugh and many kinds of laughs included the Diabolical, The Snort Laugh, The Alabama Knee slapper etc…

Cliff T.: Albert it sounds like a whole lot of fun, along with a lot of hard work putting the competition together and doing other things along the way. Thanks for taking the time to do a Candid Conversation.

Albert Nerenberg, Film Maker, Author Hypnotist and one of the team behind the World Laughing Championships.

You can find out more about him and the competition below.

Alberts Laughology and Hypnosis pages https://www.laughologist.info/

https://www.hypnologist.net/

World Laughing Championships https://www.worldlaughingchampionship.com/

Albert wrote to us from somewhere in Canada.

Candid Conversations is like a radio show in email format.  We feature stories and people from around world on this blog.  My name is Cliff and I am the creator and blogger behind Candid Conversations.  Want to do a Candid Conversation about what you do, your company or product, book event etc.  Write me at candidconversations@hotmail.com and we'll get your tale out. 

Cyber Security, it's Your Business - Scott Schober Author Senior Cyber Explains on Candid Conversations

I have been working with computers since the 80's and have been online since the early days of the internet. I remember the first webpages and also how slow a connection could be due to connection vial dial-up. The rise of DSL and then cable internet has given way to huge growth of the internet. There a lot of great places to hang out and then there some that are not so great and yes there is that place called the dark web.

Briefly the dark web is a part of the internet you and I do not see, search engines like Google can not see it either. It's a great place for those challenging regimes like the one in Burma to get the message out about what is going on in country. But, it's also a dangerous part of the web where just about anything goes. For safety and security I am not going to disclose how to access the dark web, though it's not hard to find out how, yes you can Google it.

Instead I want to talk about protecting yourself so that people who use the dark web and other tactics online and via phone don't take advantage of you and to help me I connected with Scott Schober. He is an author inventor and head of a company that helps improve on security in the online word. His latest book Senior Cyber Best Security Practices for Your Golden Years discusses how to keep yourself safe while still working playing and connecting online Scott thanks for taking time out to do a Candid Conversation nice to have you.

Scott S.: Cliff so great to join this conversation. Thank you for having me.

Cliff T.: COVID has really changed a lot of things. People are working from home, retired folks have become a little more distanced from family members and kids are online more or less all day. Has this caused a spike in security concerns and if so what are the biggest ones?

Scott S.: We saw almost overnight a migration to remote working environments from the home office. Often when a home office is set up quickly security is an afterthought or not even considered. When employees are remotely working they need to sign into their corporate networks and use a cloud-based application. This shift from office to home is often where security risks are introduced. Think about WiFi and the connected devices we have in our home. When we initially installed these IoT (Internet of Things) wireless devices we likely did not spend much time worrying about security. Perhaps we used that same old password we use everywhere else because it is the only one we can remember, or perhaps we were so excited to set up our new IoT device we left the default ADMIN password in place. Our home WiFi network and all the IoT device we plug into the internet are conduits for hackers to get into our computer and work toward getting into our companies’ network. When setting up these devices it is imperative that we create long and strong secure passwords unique to each device. I recommend that when setting up numerous passwords that individuals consider using a good password manager which will discipline them to create that strong password to keep their devices protected from hackers.

Cliff T.: Which age group is at the highest risk when it comes to security threats online?

Scott S.: It is a bit sad, but seniors 65+ have been heavily targeted and often are victimized with online scams by cyber criminals because they tend to be a bit more trusting. Seniors also tend to have more income that they have accumulated over their lives and are much better at saving and growing wealth than current generations. Unfortunately, these facts cybercriminals know all too well and therefore continually target innocent seniors through various online scams, phone scams, and email scams every day. In much of my research I was trying to find good information that would help myself and my senior parents and grandparent stay safe on the internet and from scammers, but I found very little material that was not filled with tech jargon and acronyms that turn seniors off or intimidate them, so I decided to author Senior Cyber in hopes to educate and empower Seniors.

Cliff T.: Scott what are the most common types of attack?

Scott S.: I am constantly hearing of phishing and spear phishing attacks paralyzing small businesses, hospitals, schools, and municipalities. Phishing attacks are the practice of sending emails that appear to be from a friend or co-worker (a trusted source we know) with the ultimate goal of gaining personal information or even influencing someone to do something. Much of these attacks are growing in sophistications and appear to be legitimate emails because they so carefully craft them with convincing logos, graphics, text, phone numbers you would actually believe the phishing email was from your bank and you actually click on the link. I always warn email users to not be so quick to click and rather pause and carefully analyze the incoming email asking yourself a few questions such as were you expecting this email? You can easily hover over the links with your mouse (without clicking on them) so you can see where the link might take you. When you analyze the URL you get a clue to where you might be sent and if it even remotely seems legit.

Cliff T.: in your book you cover security for seniors what are the topics covered in the book?

Scott S.: I cover many basic tech and security topics such as:

Email, browsers, search engines

Big data pitfalls, privacy, security

Healthcare cyber security

Computers and smartphone basics

Politics of technology

Internet and phone scams to avoid

Video chatting in the age of Covid-19

I also focus in a few more advanced security topics that seniors need to learn about:

Spotting email phishing scams

Dealing with spam and junk mail

Creating strong passwords

Keeps your searches private

Avoiding big data collection

Stopping identity theft before and after death

Securing your digital footprint

Cliff T.: Why the focus on seniors, Was there a specific event or did this topic just sort of pop out to you?

Scott S.: For the past decade, I have been speaking and writing on cybersecurity topics but my audience was typically other cyber security experts or small business owners. When I found myself helping my aging parents and my grandfather on a more regular basis I asked myself what resources might be available to seniors that can better aid them to use computers and the internet while staying safe from scammers. I quickly learned there is very little information available that talks to the senior audience. The little bit of information that was available seemed to talk down to seniors rather than trying to relate to them.  

Cliff T.: So what would you say are the 3 most important things you want readers of Senior Cyber to get from the book?

Scott S.: Great question… I hope that all readers both seniors and perhaps even caregivers can walk away feeling they do not need to live in fear of scammers and cyber criminals. I hope that they can relate to technological advances they have witnessed first-hand in their lives and take progressive steps to gain confidence using computers, smart phones, the internet, and technology in general. As they gain further knowledge, insight, and experience I hope they can share that with other seniors so in the end cyber criminals will ultimately give up.

Cliff T.: Cybersecurity is every ones’ business, why or should I say what are the consequences if people don't take cybersecurity seriously?

Scott S.: Back in 2013 when we first heard of the Target credit card data breach likely we were concerned if we shopped at Target and became a victim. Breach after breach has hit the headlines and for the most part people have grown somewhat complacent not educating themselves and their loved ones on the importance of implementing best cyber practices in their lives. Now when we fast forward to 2021, everyone I know has been a victim of a data breach and had their personal credentials stolen, their debit card hacked, or their credit card used by thieves. To stay safe when we use a computer and go on the internet we need to realize that cybersecurity is now everyone’s business and take necessary precautions.

Cliff T.: What is the first thing you would suggest anyone and in particular seniors do to protect themselves while online?

Scott S.: Just about every cyber breach that I have researched over the past decade it seems that weak passwords always played a part. As humans, we are not too good at remembering more than about 7 digits in our working memory. Now when you are told that passwords should be minimum of 12 to 14 digits long, with numbers, upper/lower case letters, as well as symbols you quickly see why people end up using PASSWORD123 or other simple passwords they can recall. The other challenge is that seniors and for that matter pretty much everyone else tends to re-use the same password across multiple login accounts. The tremendous danger this opens up is if a cyber-criminal hacks our account figuring out one of our passwords.

Cliff T.: That said what are absolute do not do's? And if confronted with someone attempting an attack what should they do?

Sometimes the simplest things can be some of the best things to keep seniors safe and yet are overlooked. Shredding junk mail as well as any documents you want to discard with personal information on it is essential. I always recommend everyone invests in a micro cross-cut shredder that will turn any document into over 2,000 pieces of confetti. These shredders cost around $100 but are well worth every penny. DO NOT cheap out and buy a regular $20-$30 shedder as they simply don’t ‘cut it’ (no pun intended) as they only will shred in long strips which cyber criminals can piece together with relative ease especially with the assistance of software that can rebuild documents from taking a picture of the shredded pieces.

Another important DO NOT DO is do not reuse the same password across multiple web sites. If/when your password is compromised cyber thieves will likely try that same password across multiple sites to see if you did in fact re-use.

Amazingly, I often see/hear people share their password with other colleagues. DO NOT DO this even if they are a trusted friend. The other day I had a friend that wanted to host a Zoom call but did not have a paid account so they asked for my password. I would not provide them with my password, but rather I offered to start and host the meeting and when they came on I assigned them as co-host. When I left the meeting, I shifted all hosting over to them so I could leave and they could stay on and finish up their meeting. Regardless of how inconvenient it may seem…DO NOT share your password with anyone ever.

Cliff T.: Scott besides being an author you are the head of a company that works in the field of online security how did you get into this line of work and what is the most fascinating part of it?

Scott S.: Everyday, I go to work I do not fully know what is in store for me which can be exciting and challenging. I therefore need to stay focused and be able to pivot from one challenge or problem to the next. I like to make a physical check list on my desk each morning as I have my coffee so I can work toward accomplishing several key things throughout my day. Since BVS is a 49 year-old company.  We are privately held family business, this is the only job I have ever had since 6^th grade. BVS has enabled me to try many different facets of jobs all working under the same roof which helps me gain perspective as to what each employee does every day everything from jobs they love to do to stuff they hate. For the more mundane and tedious jobs that employees hate I can personally understand since I was in their ‘shoes’ doing that same job and can help motivate them or challenge them to find a better way to design or build what they are working on. One of the more fascinating parts that I am proud of is that I can continue to run a successful company and carry on the legacy that my father worked so hard to build when the company was founded almost 50 years ago.

Cliff T. Senior Cyber is the latest book, where can people get a copy and do you have other books, and are planning more in the future?

Scott S.: My first book was called ‘Hacked Again’ https://amzn.to/39Nrxzz

My second book was ‘Cybersecurity is Everybody’s Business’ https://amzn.to/3wp8eGt

The most recent release that just came out is ‘Senior Cyber’ https://amzn.to/3dImfGO

If you are wondering… yes I have already started research and writing on book#4 ‘Teen Cyber’ that will help teens better understand some of the risks about being too social on social media and how sometimes putting too much personal information out there can come back to bite you later when you are applying for a job.

Cliff T.: Scott thanks for dropping in here to Candid Conversations it's been interesting.

Scott S.: Thank you for taking some time with me to have this important conversation – Stay Safe !

Scott Schober, CEO of Berkley Varitronics Systems https://www.bvsystems.com/

Author of Senior Cyber Best Security Practices for Your Golden Years. https://www.amazon.ca/Senior-Cyber-Security-Practices-Golden/dp/1736315803

https://scottschober.com/ Author inventor and cybersecurity expert.

Scott wrote to us from Metuchen, NJ