One common rule for backups is 3-2-1, three backups, on two different types of storage, with one of them offline or offsite. And as more people consider SSDs for that backup drive that is unplugged and stored safely out of the office or house, be aware that the less expensive SSDs (less expensive per gigabyte because they use more compact data storing magic) need to be plugged in and used at least once a year or they can start losing data. The “old fashioned” spinning magnetic (and cheaper) drives can keep data longer without being turned on and since speed is lees important, those drives are perfectly good for backup.
Android and iOS sharing of files and such is slowing getting better. Android’s Quick Share now shows iOS as a location to send things to, whileiOS’s AirDrop is what Apple uses to share more with Android, at least if a Pixel 10 is your Android device. Both Apple and Google are “working together” to make transferring between either easier. Bless the EU going after restrictive tech company practices.
With more web searches using AI, specifically chatGPT, people are complaing of more “slop” in their answers. At least one artist/engineer is exploring ways to evade those GPT generated results with her browser extension Slop Evader that only returns content created before ChatGPT’s first public release on November 30, 2022. You may be amazed at how much good information we still had before that date! See more at https://tegabrain.com/Slop-Evader
There is another really good ad blocker for Safari users called wBlock. I have long liked uBlock Origin Lite as there are versions for common browsers across Windows, Apple, and Android products but wBlock may be a better and faster choice if you are all in on Apple and the Safari web browser. It is less than a year old and you will find it it on the Apple App store by searching for “wBlock” by Alexander Skula.
Many of us have learned to clear our browsing history as a way to reduce data leaking out to websites. At the same time, more of us will sync our devices to the cloud, including our web browsers so that we can see the same bookmarks and passwords across computers, tablets, and phones. And there is the catch, we have just synced our browsing history and such also. You could just use a different browser when you don’t want your browser history and such showing up across other devices while your main browser is still conveniently sharing passwords. Remember that your ISP stills knows where you are going, even if they can’t “see” the content as most websites now use SSL. Using a VPN will shift this knowledge to the VPN company and many state they don’t keep logs of where their customers are going.
Amazing what people will show through their windows around the world, https://www.window-swap.com/ will let you peek out windows around the world for at least a 10 minute snapshot.
And, to start off this new year, here is a wonderful chart explaining how we use company website’s when trying to get help. https://xkcd.com/3175/