Category: Uncategorized

Let’s call it keeping cables out of the landfill, or just saving money. Sony has started omitting the USB charging cable with some of their smartphones. Apple also is omitting such cables in their latest AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 3. You may want to keep some of those cables around that you may be…

I am going to start with the fun stuff this time. Many people search for specific recipes online but cookbook lovers should browse the Internet Archive’s “Cookbooks and Home Economics” collection to see how we used to cook and eat. It is at https://archive.org/details/cbk and don’t be surprised at the time you spend there. Then…

Google’s URL shortener service, goo.gl, was going away on August 25th which freaked many out. Now it is staying around for existing shortened links that are actively used. Check your google shortened links now and if they redirect without any warnings then your links will continue working after 8/25. As Google has a large graveyard…

Make your smartphone less appealing to reduce how much it begs you for attention and you will have more time for activities real life. Delete as many apps as possible, always asking yourself how much you “need” it (use social site via your web browser instead), set time use limits for the remaining apps, turn…

If you have ever paid the NC DMV online you may have seen a recent email from them about the recent text or SMS scam going around. It purports to tell you that you have unpaid tolls or fees. The “NCDMV will never request payment by text.” When I got “mine” it was easy to…

Now, back to a human actually writing this column. Android phone users, don’t freak out if your phone restarts just because you didn’t use it for a few days. There is a new update to Google Play Services (their “store” service) rolling out that will reboot your phone if you leave it locked for three…

I decided to see how I could use ChatGPT, free version, to write this months column. I didn’t end up really saving time, I had to refine the prompt a few times for each topic to get something I liked. I “could” have just gone with the first result but I would not have been…

Using email to communicate with a group of people means you should think through the difference of reply and reply all, along with using the BCC (blind carbon copy) address field. Most people know of putting additional addresses in the TO field so that replies can come back to all. The key for this to…

Frequent password changes used to be all the rage, the logic being that it made logins more secure. Good passwords, long (like six random words), unique and not made from a pattern, that can’t be guessed from any publicly available information about you, only need to be changed for sites that have been breached. And,…

You really should use a VPN when you don’t trust the Wi-Fi network you are connecting to, say at an airport, hotel, public Wi-Fi at a café or restaurant. You don’t need a VPN at home, unless you also don’t trust your internet service provider to sell marketing info about what sites you are going…

Start out this New Year by reviewing your passwords. You probably have heard “make each one unique” but hate those very random suggested passwords. I find it easier to pull together six words by looking around my office and if I have to add special characters, numbers, capitals, I do so. I always write down…

Add to your disaster planning of backups and password lists, alternative Internet access. If you don’t know if or how to use your phone as a hotspot, now is the time to learn (make sure your cell plan supports hotspotting.) Also, try using just your phone for a week to find out what all you…