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 the most Internet at particular times of the day, cut out streaming music to see if that helps, and check for the latest firmware for your Wi-Fi router.

Use a case and screen protector on your smartphone to make it safer to wipe down with alcohol wipes. Double-check if your internet service provider has lifted data caps and what their late payment policy is for the next few months. Finally, be careful of the scams that are already out there playing on all our fears.

It is annoying when you are told to stay current with updates and yet companies like Microsoft sometimes mess up their updates. Luckily, if you want to stay even just a week behind the curve in Windows 10 Home, you can now do that in the Settings area for Update and Security, Advanced Options; or search for “pause” using the Windows 10 search box down by the Start button/icon. You have to be running at least the Windows 10 May 2019 update, which you can check for in the Settings, titled “About.” Windows 10 Pro will let you pause updates for up to 35 days.

If you remember SETI@home, or even were a part of it, you may have heard they are shutting down volunteer participation at the end of March. Still, there are many other ways to contribute your computer’s unused CPU time, running software that perform scientific calculations spread out over millions of PCs. If you would like to participate in this type of citizen research help, visit boinc.berkeley.edu. Another project is foldingathome.org, which focuses on disease research, specifically on protein folding. This now includes how key proteins on COVID-19 are structured. Hopefully, your computer can contribute to understanding the virus’s vulnerabilities.

Ad blockers, like uBlock Origen, provide security benefits, as well as more privacy. Many people use ad blockers to speed up website loading, as those third-party ad suppliers increase page loading time when they assemble and provide the sites’ ads. But ads can be placed that are fake security alerts, and ad blockers will help prevent those fakes from showing up. Many sites may detect your ad blocker, and you will have to decide whether you want to disable it or continue on the site where some things may no longer work.
To see how these fake security alert operations work, search for “Jim Browning Tech Support Scams” on YouTube. It is wonderful to see the tables turned and to learn how these call centers work.
To make a PDF in Windows 10, there is a “printer” you can select named “Microsoft Print to PDF.” No matter what application you are in, if you are able to print something, you can “print” and save it as a PDF.

Take a peek into the brain teasers and logic puzzles that some of the top tech companies have used during HR interviews at gpuzzles.com. Look under the “Interview” menu to find them organized by company name.

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 the most Internet at particular times of the day, cut out streaming music to see if that helps, and check for the latest firmware for your Wi-Fi router.

Use a case and screen protector on your smartphone to make it safer to wipe down with alcohol wipes. Double-check if your internet service provider has lifted data caps and what their late payment policy is for the next few months. Finally, be careful of the scams that are already out there playing on all our fears.

It is annoying when you are told to stay current with updates and yet companies like Microsoft sometimes mess up their updates. Luckily, if you want to stay even just a week behind the curve in Windows 10 Home, you can now do that in the Settings area for Update and Security, Advanced Options; or search for “pause” using the Windows 10 search box down by the Start button/icon. You have to be running at least the Windows 10 May 2019 update, which you can check for in the Settings, titled “About.” Windows 10 Pro will let you pause updates for up to 35 days.

If you remember SETI@home, or even were a part of it, you may have heard they are shutting down volunteer participation at the end of March. Still, there are many other ways to contribute your computer’s unused CPU time, running software that perform scientific calculations spread out over millions of PCs. If you would like to participate in this type of citizen research help, visit boinc.berkeley.edu. Another project is foldingathome.org, which focuses on disease research, specifically on protein folding. This now includes how key proteins on COVID-19 are structured. Hopefully, your computer can contribute to understanding the virus’s vulnerabilities.

Ad blockers, like uBlock Origen, provide security benefits, as well as more privacy. Many people use ad blockers to speed up website loading, as those third-party ad suppliers increase page loading time when they assemble and provide the sites’ ads. But ads can be placed that are fake security alerts, and ad blockers will help prevent those fakes from showing up. Many sites may detect your ad blocker, and you will have to decide whether you want to disable it or continue on the site where some things may no longer work.
To see how these fake security alert operations work, search for “Jim Browning Tech Support Scams” on YouTube. It is wonderful to see the tables turned and to learn how these call centers work.
To make a PDF in Windows 10, there is a “printer” you can select named “Microsoft Print to PDF.” No matter what application you are in, if you are able to print something, you can “print” and save it as a PDF.

Take a peek into the brain teasers and logic puzzles that some of the top tech companies have used during HR interviews at gpuzzles.com. Look under the “Interview” menu to find them organized by company name.

As it is tax-filing time again, follow the IRS’s advice to recertify your online account, if you have one with them, at sa.www4.irs.gov/ola.
Remember, we IT people are here to help. Talk with me to see how I can help without coming to your home or office. There is remote access software that lets me see your computer and work with you that way.