This is a copy of our monthly friends email newsletter. If you want to get it via email, you can sign up on our about page.

DuckDuckGo friends,

To help you search with speed and safety we've published two informative blog posts:

" What does a secure web connection actually do? " — How much does a secure connection protect your online communication and transactions? Read how inspection software can (or can't) "see" internet traffic.

" — How much does a secure connection protect your online communication and transactions? Read how inspection software can (or can't) "see" internet traffic. "Save time with these search tips" — How you can get more accurate results more quickly.

One of these tips is our ever-popular !bang feature with which you can search directly on other websites from the DuckDuckGo search box. We've added hundreds of suggestions from the community to bring the total number of bangs to over 7,000! Try them out, and if you'd like one added for your favorite website please let us know: duckduckgo.com/bang

And of course, DuckDuckGo would not be DuckDuckGo without the wonderful Instant Answers contributed by our many volunteers. Recently we've added:

Upcoming rocket launches: duckduckgo.com/?q=upcoming+rocket+launches&ia=answer (created by github.com/globalspin)

duckduckgo.com/?q=upcoming+rocket+launches&ia=answer (created by github.com/globalspin) Check whether your account has been compromised: duckduckgo.com/?q=pwned+me%40example.com&ia=answer (created by github.com/b2ddg)

duckduckgo.com/?q=pwned+me%40example.com&ia=answer (created by github.com/b2ddg) Illustrated yoga postures: duckduckgo.com/?q=surya+namaskara+a&ia=yogaasanas (created by github.com/zachthompson)

Speaking of volunteers, something new this month is a virtual Green Bow Tie award which we'd like to give to people who have done outstanding work in the community. This month, we present it to Sarvesh D (srvsh) who has done great work on DuckPAN — software which is not visible to users but essential for DuckDuckGo development. Thank you Sarvesh!

Finally, we always like hearing your feedback, both good and not-quite-so-good! You may have noticed a new feedback button at the bottom of search results on desktop. Please use it to send us your suggestions for improvement, or even just end-of-year greetings for the developers :-)

Best wishes to you all for a happy 2016.

Until next year!

The DuckDuckGo staff

P.S. Developers! Another way you can improve DuckDuckGo for others is to create an Instant Answer, even with basic programming skills. To make this easier, we've just announced a second global Quack & Hack event on Saturday January 30th, 2016. Join us either remotely or as part of a local meetup to learn, create and have fun.