What Facebook targets, clean up Windows upgrades

Wading through the smartphone choices every few years while not wanting to fall to the latest hype or teaser pricing from your carrier might be easier if you compare specs at https://GSMArena.com. You will find their comparison “Phone Finder” in the upper left of their website with many more choices than I usually think of.

Apple is another company that is letting users download a copy of all the data they have on you. Log into https://privacy.apple.com/ with your Apple ID and password to get to where you can select which bits of all the data Apple has on you. This is also a way to download documents, photos and videos in their original format, and contacts, calendars, and bookmarks in VCF, ICS, and HTML format.

If you want to poke around more in what Facebook advertisers have targeted you, Facebook makes it possible but a little hidden. This won’t tell you why particular advertisers are targeting you, just that they have some bit(s) of information about you from some other source and they are matching things like your phone number, email address, street address, etc. Log into Facebook and go to your Settings within Facebook, close to the bottom of that drop-down (on the left side if you are using a desktop web browser) there should be Ad Preferences. Click or tap into there and select “Advertisers you’ve interacted with” and then “Who use a contact list added to Facebook” (slightly different wording on the Facebook app) but here you will see all the advertisers that might be reaching out to you.

Windows updates, especially the semi-annual major upgrades they are delivering in Windows 10, can leave around many temporary files. If Windows fails to clean up after itself, then you can by opening up Windows 10’s Settings app, then the system section, and then the storage section. Scroll down to where you see an option that says “Free Up Space Now” and click. Here you can clear out many things, read carefully and proceed slowly. The “Previous Windows installations” choice is what will help with reclaiming major amounts of space. Check that box and click the “Remove Files” button. Wait and probably reboot the computer.

Time to remind you about how to see and adjust the information that Google keeps about your searches. Log into your Google account at https://myaccount.google.com/. Look for and click into “Manage your Google activity” and click through “Go To Activity Control” and also check the “Go To My Activity” sections to adjust and/or erase search histories kept by Google. If you sign out of your Google account on the web, then your Google-based searches aren’t tracked by Google.

To convert eBooks between the top common formats, you should look at the free program Calibre. Available for Mac, and PC you can get the installer at https://calibre-ebook.com/. It is also a rather good eBook library manager.

Wading through the smartphone choices every few years while not wanting to fall to the latest hype or teaser pricing from your carrier might be easier if you compare specs at https://GSMArena.com. You will find their comparison “Phone Finder” in the upper left of their website with many more choices than I usually think of.

Apple is another company that is letting users download a copy of all the data they have on you. Log into https://privacy.apple.com/ with your Apple ID and password to get to where you can select which bits of all the data Apple has on you. This is also a way to download documents, photos and videos in their original format, and contacts, calendars, and bookmarks in VCF, ICS, and HTML format.

If you want to poke around more in what Facebook advertisers have targeted you, Facebook makes it possible but a little hidden. This won’t tell you why particular advertisers are targeting you, just that they have some bit(s) of information about you from some other source and they are matching things like your phone number, email address, street address, etc. Log into Facebook and go to your Settings within Facebook, close to the bottom of that drop-down (on the left side if you are using a desktop web browser) there should be Ad Preferences. Click or tap into there and select “Advertisers you’ve interacted with” and then “Who use a contact list added to Facebook” (slightly different wording on the Facebook app) but here you will see all the advertisers that might be reaching out to you.

Windows updates, especially the semi-annual major upgrades they are delivering in Windows 10, can leave around many temporary files. If Windows fails to clean up after itself, then you can by opening up Windows 10’s Settings app, then the system section, and then the storage section. Scroll down to where you see an option that says “Free Up Space Now” and click. Here you can clear out many things, read carefully and proceed slowly. The “Previous Windows installations” choice is what will help with reclaiming major amounts of space. Check that box and click the “Remove Files” button. Wait and probably reboot the computer.

Time to remind you about how to see and adjust the information that Google keeps about your searches. Log into your Google account at https://myaccount.google.com/. Look for and click into “Manage your Google activity” and click through “Go To Activity Control” and also check the “Go To My Activity” sections to adjust and/or erase search histories kept by Google. If you sign out of your Google account on the web, then your Google-based searches aren’t tracked by Google.

To convert eBooks between the top common formats, you should look at the free program Calibre. Available for Mac, and PC you can get the installer at https://calibre-ebook.com/. It is also a rather good eBook library manager.

Check if your ISP is throttling Netflix by using Netflix’s FAST website (https://fast.com/) to test your internet speed specific to Netflix movie content.