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New Year’s Security Checkup
T he new year is a great time to look at your security and computer disaster readiness. Here are a few steps to take to make your online experience safer. • You likely know it, but it is time to make all passwords unique and not based on any personally identifiable information. If your passwords…
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Check Your Privacy Settings
After recent operating system upgrades, it’s time to check your smartphone’s privacy settings. On an iPhone, go to Settings, then Privacy; on an Android, if you are running system 11, go to Privacy (but your phone vendor may have modified this location). If you find Permission Manager, you’ll find everything bundled together there. Decide whether…
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When to Repair and When to Replace
When deciding between repairing a broken computer and buying a new one, you should consider the age of your computer, the repair cost, the cost of the replacement, and the cost of the new software that you might have to buy. Generally, if the computer is more than five years old, the repair costs may…
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Check Your Data and Dinosaurs
Were dinosaurs living near your house millions of years ago? You can find out at dinosaurpictures.org by clicking on the link to their interactive globe of ancient Earth. Be prepared for changes in water levels and locations. Internet Explorer 11 is finally going out of support next year, but it’s dropping out of Microsoft Teams…
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Move Your Music, Swap Your Window
Google Play Music is going away by the end of this year, which means you need to back up your music or transfer it to another one of Google’s products, such as YouTube Music. Backing up your music (and other Google info, if you want) is done through visiting takeout.google.com. Once logged in, select the…
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Video Chat Tips and Windows Update
I have seen some videos that help kids better handle video chat, and I would like to propose that adults follow much of the same advice. Suggestions include choosing the right time of day (when you are calmest and not hungry); having a list of ice-breaker questions to fall back on; having a short agenda;…
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Avoid COVID-19 Scams, and Tour Museums Around the World
All crises generate scams, both online and over the phone. This is true with COVID-19, so it bears repeating: don’t click on links in Facebook or Twitter posts. Go to fairviewtowncrier.com/links and click on the “Scams” link to review before trying for that free iPhone or seeking help for getting your stimulus check. And if…
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Who’s Zooming Who?
Using Zoom safely isn’t that hard. Set a password for joining (don’t make it too simple) and consider using a random meeting ID; make sure you enable the “waiting room”; learn how to turn off participants’ webcam and screen sharing; and figure out how to lock the meeting once all participants are in. When you…
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Working from Home, Ad Blockers and Making PDFs
Working from home, social distancing and adjusting to how we use the Internet all are topics of concern right now. When using video conferencing software, turn off the video to improve your audio quality or at least reduce the video quality (aka bitrate—usually some number with bps or just p after it.) Schedule who needs…
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Facebook Info and Google Tips
Facebook is revealing more information about what they track across the Internet, and they also have options available to control how they track you. Their new tool is called “Off-Facebook Activity,” and you can find it under “Settings” then “Your Facebook Information.” You can even cut down on future tracking, but all that really does…
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Virus Updates and Trackpad Hacks
Despite ending support for Windows 7 on January 14 of this year, Microsoft will continue updating the virus signatures for Microsoft Security Essentials, their anti-virus software. This doesn’t mean total protection, but Microsoft seems to be realizing that not everyone is going to jump to Windows 10 by the middle of January. Google’s Chrome browser…
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Tips for Phone and Computer Security
The iPhone has a reputation of being hard to hack, but how can you know for sure? There’s an app for that. Although Apple has strongly limited access to data that security tools would like to access to tell if the phone has been compromised, a new app called iVerify includes a series of detailed…