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If you find the information TechByter Worldwide provides useful or interesting, please consider a contribution.
If you find the information TechByter Worldwide provides useful or interesting, please consider a contribution.
All remaining 2022 podcasts were cancelled because of back surgery, a lengthy period of recovery, and extended physical therapy. TechByter Worldwide returns on 6 January 2023.
Don't Let Your Computer Lose Its Cool: You're careful not to drop your notebook computer into the ocean or down a flight of stairs, but heat is the insidious destroyer of computers.
Short Circuits: Ordering Groceries Online For Pickup Or Delivery Is Here To Stay: Ordering groceries online with curbside pickup or home delivery made big advances during the worst months of the Covid pandemic. Growth has slowed, but not stopped. Big chains have gone all in, and smaller stores are struggling to stay in the game.
Beware The Urge To Skip Updates: Windows updates interrupt us. Sometimes they annoy us. But if you're tempted to skip the updates, think again.
Twenty Years Ago: Having a device that could hold 64MB of data and yet was about the size of a pack of gum seemed amazing in 2002, and it was. Floppy disks were still around and you'd need a huge pocket to carry 64MB of data on floppies. That wouldn't be a big deal today, but then it was impressive.
The End Of Perpetual Software Licenses Is Near: Maybe you love software as a service, but probably you don't. Regardless of your opinion or mine, it's the future and other industries are taking note.
Short CircuitsL Microsoft Flip Flops On OneNote (YAY!): Microsoft is in the process of executing a nearly flawless flip-flop to correct problems created by attempting to force OneNote for Windows 10 on OneNote users. They relented following an outcry from fans of the standalone application and have now improved the standalone version and made it the primary OneNote application.
Do You Qualify For An Internet Discount? Low income households can receive a discount from the Federal Communications Commission for basic high-speed internet access.
Twenty Years Ago: In 2002, Corel released what would become the final version of Ventura Publisher, a star-crossed desktop typesetting application that was better than competing products but never quite caught on. Users had been waiting a long time for version 10.
Protecting Your Pocket-Size Computer: Smart phones are ideal companions, but they're easy to lose and easy to steal. Taking preventive measures before something bad happens and preparing to deal with a missing device is well worth the relatively small amount of time required.
Short Circuits: Beware The Oh-No Second: We can't eliminate errors and stupidity, but we can ensure that we can recover from stupid events. What we need is something that will save our data when undo doesn't work or isn't available.
Excel Isn't Just For Numbers: Say "Excel" and just about everyone will think "spreadsheet", "analysis", or "math". Certainly Excel is the right tool for calculations, budgets, and accounting, and even for creating a perpetual calendar. But Excel has some powerful text capabilities, too.
Twenty Years Ago: Windows updates were often installed using a CD, but users had to pay for shipping. Some updates could be downloaded for free. Service Pack 1 weighed in at 40MB and Microsoft said that it corrected about 300 bugs.
How To Fix Your PC's Sound System: Now that more people connect their computers to external sound systems, Windows needs a better way to modify its audio outputs. Fortunately, a couple of open-source applications are just what's needed.
Short Circuits: Okular Sometimes Beats Even Adobe Acrobat DC: Adobe Acrobat is the clear winner for anyone who needs to perform complex tasks on a PDF document, but sometimes the free, open-source Okular is a better choice.
It's Difficult To Stuff The Djini Back Into The Bottle: Apple has ordered its employees to return to the office at least three days per week and, after enjoying two years of not commuting, many are pushing back.
Twenty Years Ago: In 2002, Walmart was offering astoundingly cheap computers, just $200. It wasn't exactly a powerhouse and it didn't exactly run Windows.
Thunderbird 102 Comes With Major Improvements: Mozilla's Thunderbird email client version 102 has been released with important user interface updates, security measures, and improved features. If you haven't looked at Thunderbird in the past few years, now would be an excellent time to do so.
Short Circuits: Is Facebook Now Just For Old People? Teen usage of Facebook has dropped substantially in the past five years and even Meta recognizes that this is just the beginning of a precipitous decline.
Kindle, Meet EPUB: Since the very beginning, Kindle devices have been unable to read EPUB files. Later this year, the Kindle Documents Service will be able to convert EPUB files to AZW3 so that users can load those books onto their Kindle.
Twenty Years Ago: In 2002, Apple released the first major upgrade for OSX, Jaguar. Version 10.0 was barely functional. Version 10.1 helped, but it wasn't until version 10.2 that the operating system began to show its capabilities.
Selecting The Right File Format For Your Digital Camera: Opinions: Always shoot in raw mode! Never shoot in raw mode! JPEG is just as good as raw! JPEG severely degrades photos! Both modes exist for a reason and it's not an always-or-never decision. Let's consider the advantages of each format.
Short Circuits: Finding Or Sharing Your Location With What Three Words: If you've ever tried to tell someone where you are when no street address is available, you'll immediately see the advantages of using the What Three Words app on your mobile phone.
Finding A Replacement For Ccleaner: When you've grown tired of Ccleaner's constant requests for a $30 annual upgrade, you could pay up or you could choose to use an open-source program. Let's consider that second option.
Twenty Years Ago: In 2002, home and small office computer users were beginning to learn about green screen technology that's commonly used in broadcast television and motion pictures. Serious Magic had an application designed for business users with a reasonable price tag of $100 to $150.
Excire Foto Helps Users Manage Huge Photo Collections: One of the best things about digital photography is that individual images cost nothing, so even amateur photographers routinely amass tens of thousands of images. Excire Foto can help when you're looking for one specific image.
Short Circuits: When Something Goes Sideways, Don't Panic: Until you're sure what's happening, the best action is often no action at all. As first responders say, "Be part of the solution, not part of the problem." Let's see how that applies with computers.
Still Running A Third-Party Antivirus Application On Windows? There are reasons for using third-party protective applications on Windows-based computers, but the built-in Windows Security along with protections that are included with most web browsers are sufficient for most users.
Twenty Years Ago: In 2002, we were beginning to contemplate not only editing video on our computers, but also the ability to make DVDs that could be played on standard TV disc players. The SCM Microsystems Dazzle DVD Creation Station was one of the players.
Smart Watches Are Showing Up On More Wrists: Smart watches have been around in one form or another since 2004. Apple's introduction of a smart watch in 2015 gave the market a kick start, but only one fifth of US adults currently own one. Women are more likely to have a smart watch than men.
Short Circuits: Crypto Creeps Want What's Left Of Your Bitcoin: Many crypto-currencies have lost significant value in the past several months, but they still have worth. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation says that 244 investors lost nearly $43 million worth of crypto-currency in the past six month. It's been traced back to a fraudulent app.
Selecting The Right Wi-Fi Channel Is As Easy As 1- 6-11: Most Wi-Fi routers can transmit signals in the 2.4GHz range and 5GHz range. Some of the newer devices also can communicate in the 60GHz range. Although channel selection is largely automatic in the higher-frequency bands, it's fully manual in the 2.4GHz range. Selecting the wrong channel can reduce your link speeds and those of your neighbors.
Twenty Years Ago: In August 2002, I was excited about bargain prices for CompactFlash memory cards that were used by some camera manufacturers, but have virtually disappeared now in favor of memory cards that are physically smaller. Twenty years ago, CF cards were the primary choice and 2002's "bargain" prices are laughable now.
Linux Is Probably Not In Your Future But You're Using It Now: Last week I mentioned COBOL and how many people use COBOL frequently even if they're not aware of it. That led me to think about Linux. Although Linux probably isn't installed on your desktop or notebook computer, you might find it in your television, your car, and maybe in your smart phone.
Short Circuits: Ports Of Call: When it's time to buy a new notebook computer, we usually think about the processor, memory, and screen. Maybe the keyboard and the video output options. But there's one more important consideration: Ports.
Adobe Max Will Be In-Person Again This Year: Adobe Max is back as an in-person event for 2022, but there are still options to attend some of the events online and for free.
Twenty Years Ago: Setting up a home network wasn't as easy in 2002 as it is today and one listener asked for help with her frustrating system.
Camtasia 2022 Means Never Having To Say "Cursors! Foiled Again!" Although the cursor may seem unimportant when creating a video to illustrate a computer-based procedure, Camtasia 2022 clearly shows that to be false and includes ways to improve your videos by enhancing the cursor.
Short Circuits: Clever Cable From Rolling Square Solves Connection Problems: A heavy-duty cable with two types of USB connectors on each end can replace a lot of standard cables. One version is less than 6 inches long, the other nearly 5 feet.
Do You Use COBOL? Do you use COBOL? Although many people consider it to be an antique, outmoded programming language that's no longer needed, it is still being used by airlines, banks, government agencies, and a lot of big businesses.
Twenty Years Ago: Even with "huge" 40GB drives in our 2002 computers, there was a need for more storage.
One Monitor Just Isn't Enough Any More: One monitor was sufficient around the turn of the century, but that's no longer the case for enterprise users, and probably not for home users, either.
Short Circuits: DuckDuckGo Is About More Than Just Security: DuckDuckGo is all about privacy and security, but there's more. Is it enough to justify dropping Google's search engine? If so, would you want to?
WhatRuns, A Developer Tool For Everyone: A clever utility called WhatRuns is for website developers, but it might be something any web user could benefit from.
Twenty Years Ago: A proposed high-performance, low-power CPU dubbed "Crusoe" from Transmeta was running into headwinds in 2002.
Social Fixer Reduces Facebook Frustrations: Facebook gives users a way to keep in contact with friends and relatives, but it also can be intensely frustrating. An add-on application for browsers can tame the beast.
Short Circuits: There's Magic In Those Cameras That Make Phone Calls: Cameras in mobile phones have capabilities that often go well beyond what even an expensive camera can do, and applications give mobile users the ability to perform tasks that were once limited to computer-based digital photography programs.
The Department Of Justice Has A New Policy On Hackers: Nearly 10 years after researcher Aaron Swartz committed suicide after being charged, many say unfairly, with computer espionage, the Department of Justice has made changes in how it will handle future cases.
Twenty Years Ago: Corel was preparing to release what would become the program's final version in 2002. Twenty years later, it still has some tricks that the industry leaders have never matched.
Microsoft OneNote Is The Essential Organizer For Everyone: Microsoft OneNote improves every year and continues to be an indispensable tool for keeping track of varied and disparate bits of information. Even better, it's free for anyone to use on Windows, MacOS, Android, or IOS devices -- as well as on the web.
Short Circuits: ShareX Looks Like The Best Free Screen Capture Utility: Although SnagIt is what I consider the best screen capture application, there's ShareX for those who can't justify SnagIt's cost. The open-source application is surprisingly robust, but it runs only on Windows.
Applications & Services That Have Received Five-Cat Ratings: A listener asked if I had a list of applications and services that have received five-cat ratings. I didn't, but now I do -- even though the list goes back only to the start of 2017.
Twenty Years Ago: Burning DVDs was new, time consuming, expensive, and prone to failure in 2002. Now it's none of those.
Why GoodSync Is Indispensable At My House: Not losing computer files is important to me because replacing lost files would be difficult and, in many cases, impossible. That's why having a solid backup system is crucial.
Short Circuits: Foil Scammers Who Want To Steal Your Instagram & Facebook Accounts: Scammers are nothing, if not inventive. Some of them could probably make an honest living as authors, but that would be too much work. They want your social media credentials. Modifying a few settings will help, but the best way to keep accounts safe involves a bit of suspicion and lot of common sense.
The Advent Of The Multi-Computer Mouse: If you have more than one computer on your desk, you might find a mult-computer mouse to be a good investment.
Twenty Years Ago: Being able to use an office computer from home was still a relatively new concept in 2002, but it caught on fast.
Maybe These Tools Belong In Your Graphics Toolbox: Those who must create flyers, web graphics, and posters despite having no training in graphic design can use free and low-cost online services to avoid creating laughable, poorly executed results.
Short Circuits: VLC Is The Clear Media Player Winner, And It's Free: Anyone who watches videos on a computer should have the VideoLAN Client. It's a strong competitor, even for players that cost $50 or $100, and it can perform some actions that even expensive players can't.
Want A Faster Internet Connection? Talk To Your ISP. It's a good idea to check your internet speed occasionally to confirm that you're receiving the quality of service you paid for. Internet service providers (ISPs) rarely (possibly never) check connection speeds for individual customers unless they're asked to. But don't overlook possible problems that are closer to home.
Twenty Years Ago: Although I had long favored Ventura Publisher, it was clear by 2002 that it had lost the race. Quark Xpress had a big following, as did Pagemaker. Adobe had InDesign 1.0, which was more of a proof of concept that a fully functional application. Version 2.0 was about to change everything.
Some Scammers Depend On The Appearance of Legitimacy: Some scammers are smart enough to create legitimate looking ploys, but even well made scams are usually apparent following only a brief inspection.
Short Circuits: SageThumbs Fixes A File Explorer Annoyance: The Windows File Explorer can display thumbnail images of some file types, but not Photoshop files. This is an absurd shortcoming and there's an easy fix.
Do Digital Cameras Have A Future? Is there a digital camera gathering dust around your house? The ubiquitous single-lens reflex camera seems to be nearing the end of its almost 100-year run.
Twenty Years Ago: TechX NY Was About To Open: We didn't know it then, but the 2002 TechX NY was to be the final gasp of PC Expo. The number of participants dropped, the Javits Center wasn't close to being full, and some companies pulled out at the last minute. I was still hopeful prior to the event.
Two Thumb Drives That Should Always Be Nearby: When something goes wrong with your computer, you might wish you had quick access to some utility applications. But because something has gone wrong with your computer, you might not be able to get to them. That's just one reason for having a thumb drive with a selection of portable applications.
Short Circuits: Expanding Your PortableApps Thumb Drive: After creating a PortableApps drive, you may think of some additional utilities that you'd like to have constant access to. Presuming the thumb drive has sufficient free space, just copy those applications to the thumb drive.
Belarc Advisor Put Your Computer Under A Microscope: Continuing the theme of utility programs, let's take a closer look at the Belarc advisor. It's designed for IT professionals in enterprise settings, but it's a gem for use at home, too.
Twenty Years Ago: Remnants Of The Internet Implosion Remained: The economy was in bad shape 20 years ago, and that was being felt in the electronics sector because of a reduced demand for computers and other devices.
Ditching Cable Television, One Year Later: Last August, I described our cord-cutting procedure that began in June. My wife and I were a bit late to the party, but a huge increase in the cable TV fee had pushed our monthly bill to $216. We've been without cable television for a year now. Maybe you're wondering how it's going.
Short Cirtuits: Firefox Is 100 (Versions Old): Web browser Firefox has been around since 2004 and it was almost immediately a hit. By 2011, Firefox had about one third of the browser market and appeared to be on the path to beat Internet Explorer. Since then, it's been all down hill, but it still belongs on your computer even if it's not the default browser.
Thumb Drives Are Dirt Cheap, But Does Anyone Care? Just about everybody has at least one USB thumb drive, but they were both astonishing and expensive only 20 years ago. Now they're cheap and plentiful.
Twenty Years Ago: Beware The Stolen Website: In 2002, I wrote about a friend who had her website defaced. This was yet another warning about the importance of strong passwords, but the danger was even more complicated.
Lightroom Classic Has Become The Go-To Application For Photographers: If some company other than Adobe had created Lightroom Classic, Adobe would have to worry about the future of Photoshop. As it is, Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and some mobile apps from Adobe play exceedingly well together.
Short Circuits: Easy Fixes For Windows 11 Annoyances: Whether you love or loathe Windows 11, there are probably some annoyances you'd like to fix. Windows 11 Fixer 2.0 is a brilliant solution to many of the annoyances.
Be Careful Out There: As handy as public Wi-Fi hotspots are, they can be dangerous. A few easy techniques can tilt the odds in our favor.
Twenty Years Ago: Stupid Is As Stupid Does: "Stupid.com" had launched in 2002 and was offering for sale gifts that were decidedly unusual.
Everybody Seems To Hate Facebook, But Few Walk Away: It's easy to hate Facebook and some days it seems that every Facebook user does. And yet they stick around. If you're looking for a viable option to Facebook, it's going to be difficult to find one.
Short Circuits: Device Drivers, Essential And Often Problematic: When something seems odd about your computer, what do you think of first? A lot of people suspect malware, but there's often another cause. Device drives are one of the most common cause of problems.
Windows 11 File Explorer Crashes Can Be Fixed (Probably): The File Explorer occasionall just stops working in Windows 11. The good news is that there's an easy workaround that seems to be effective.
Twenty Years Ago: Looking Back 20 Years In 2002: In 2002, a listener sent a page from a 20-year-old copy of the Columbus Dispatch. In those days, you could buy a Commodore Vic 20 for under $200 and have a whopping 5K of memory. On the other hand, the Apple III had gone on sale for $3500. It had 128K of memory.
Eliminating The Scourge Of Scanned Negatives: Anyone who has scanned any old photo negatives has probably encountered the presence of dust and scratches. The application you use to scan the negatives probably can help remove these unwanted marks.
Short Circuits: Using The Windows Sandbox To Protect Your Computer: When you're nervous about installing a new application, the Windows Sandbox offers a way to test the new application without concern, but only with Windows Pro or Enterprise editions.
Adobe Premiere Isn't Just For The Pros: Adobe Premiere Pro is used by professionals to create full-length motion pictures such as Deadpool, Gone Girl, and Terminator: Dark Fate, but it's also a great choice when you're working with digitized home video tapes.
Twenty Years Ago: Batteries: The Bane Of Mobile Computing: Batteries have always been problems for users of mobile devices. Battery life is much better now than it was in 2002, because of work that scientists and technicians were doing back then.
Using Contents Of The Windows System32 Directory To Your Advantage: A directory inside the Windows directory contains many useful functions. System32 has been a part of Windows for many years and most of the applications in the directory aren't new, but many of them can be quite useful.
Short Circuits: Keeping A Clean Windows Desktop: Whether you like to keep the Windows Desktop clean or fill it with dozens of icons, Windows 11 offers organizational techniques that might work better than what you're doing now to find and start applications.
Taking Control Of The Android Top Shot Function: Some Android phones can take a series of photos when they sense motion. This can be helpful, but it can also be confusing.
Twenty Years Ago: The One-Time Leader In Portable Computers Was Being Consumed: Compaq, the king of portable computers, was being absorbed into Hewlett-packard in 2002.
Help! My Router Has Run Out Of Ethernet Ports! Most routers intended for home and small-office use have four ports. If that's not enough, you can add more with a hub or a switch. What's the difference and how much do these things cost? Let's look.
Short Circuits: Organize Everyone's Passwords With Last Pass For Families: Password managers are essential and LastPass offers a family plan that gives up to six family members their own separate accounts and the ability to share information between members, when desired. The most difficult part may be convincing people to use it.
Using The Vivaldi Browser To Enhance Privacy: he Vivaldi web browser, which is based on Chrome, has added some improved security features that I appreciate, and you may too. Like nearly all modern browsers, Vivaldi gives users control over cookies, trackers, and ads — but Vivaldi now also reports results.
Twenty Years Ago: Video Subsystems Have Changed Much Since 2002: Today's low-end graphics subsystems have two to four gigabytes of memory. In 2002, the top-end systems had much less.
Three Helpful Hints For Using Windows 11 (Or Windows 10): Windows seems to have an infinite number of settings and controls. We all know that the options aren't really infinite, but a lot of them exist. Sometimes making a change can eliminate an annoyance and we'll consider three examples this week.
Short Circuits: Need To Create A CD Or DVD? ImgBurn It! When you need to create a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc, you can use the Windows Explorer. There's a better choice, though — ImgBurn has been around since 2005 and was last updated in 2013, but it's still the best way to burn a disc.
Here's An Easy Way To Save Half A Second: If you're annoyed by the screen that appears before the Windows login screen, there's a easy way to make it go away permanently.
Twenty Years Ago: Beware! Storms Will Eat Your Data! Few computer users had UPS units to protect their computers in 2002, and some found out the hard way that they could lose all their data in a flash.
It's Time To Install Microsoft's Free, Useful Power Toys: The latest version of Microsoft's PowerToys is an ongoing project that receives new features regularly and adds useful functionality to Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Short Circuits: How Many Open Tasks Are Too Many? 1980s computers could run one program at a time. Then we got the ability to multitask programs and now it's easy to have so many applications running that we encounter the limit of human multitasking.
Wouldn't You Prefer To Know The Truth? It's getting harder to tell truth from lies, but when Russia's former KGB agent and current president is seeing a lot of success in sowing distrust among Americans, searching for truth is important.
Twenty Years Ago: Customer service is often the weak point for organizations, and I was encountering a lot of it in 2002.
Buying A New Computer Is Like ... If automobiles were sold like computers, you'd bring your new car home and discover that important parts were missing, some of the things you bought with the car won't work when installed, the seat covers would need to be replaced, and the spare tire would have no air.
Short Circuits: What To Do When Microsoft 365 Isn't The Right Answer: Microsoft would like you to believe that its office suite is the right choice and, for many people, it is. But maybe it's not right for you. What are the options?
Styling Your Words The Lazy Way: Just about everybody uses word processors, so learning time-saving ways to use word processors efficiently seems like a good use of time. Let's look at one of the best ways to improve efficiency.
Twenty Years Ago: In 2002, television was still low definition and analog, but digital was coming. It took seven years for the process to be completed.
Random Thoughts On Buying A New Computer: My wife and I both purchased new computers in March. Mine was 7 years old and ineligible for Windows 11. Hers was 5 years old, ineligible for Windows 11, and had a failing keyboard. The computers are both from the same manufacturer, but otherwise substantially different.
Short Circuits: Living Privately Isn't Easy: A computer can be secure, but your privacy may still be at risk. You may be surprised by how little information is needed to uniquely identify an individual.
Remotely Satisfying: Solving Bad Design With Violence: Usually I'm not a fan of percussive maintenance, but sometimes it gets the job done.
Twenty Years Ago: VHS players and tapes weren't yet dead in 2002, but they were fading fast.
How Fast Can Someone Crack Your Password? You may have seen articles that claim a 7-character password containing numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and symbols "could" be cracked in less than a minute. Longer passwords are better. Using upper- and lower-case letters along with numbers and symbols is also better. But less than a minute? Let's check the logic.
Short Circuits: PCmover Is Still The Easiest Way To Set Up A New Computer: When it's time to buy a new computer, you probably want it to have all of the programs and data from your old computer. The easy way to accomplish that is with LapLink's PCmover.
Diving In To Population And Economic Data: If you're the kind of person who enjoys sifting through population and demographic data, you're going to have fun on the World Population Review website.
Twenty Years Ago: If you wanted a Bluetooth enabled device, you might be able to add the technology to an existing device, but it wasn't cheap.
How To Scan Film Negatives With A Digital Camera: Today we'll revisit the process of converting film negatives to digital images, but this time the main focus (Sorry!) is medium-format film. Even if you don't have any medium-format negatives, there's information that works for 35mm negatives.
Short Circuits: Windows 11 Loses The Day, But You Can Find It: Count me as one of the people who would really like Microsoft to fix the Windows 11 Task Bar. The new Task Bar looks like it's been stolen from Apple. This isn't necessarily bad, but it's also not exactly good. If you miss having the Day in the Notification Area, there's a easy way to restore it.
SIM-Swapping Scams Are Scary, But Largely Preventable: If crooks can associate a SIM card they have access to with your phone, they can drain your bank account. This is a good problem to avoid.
Twenty Years Ago: Primitive Direction Finding Seemed Amazing: Nobody had a GPS unit in their pocket in 2002, but direction-finding applications were beginning to appear.
Forcing Microsoft Word To Work The Way You Want It To: Whether you love Microsoft Word or detest it, you probably use it. It's possible to customize Word so that it works the way you want it to, but the settings aren't always obvious or easy to find.
Short Circuits: This Double Scam Makes Your Money Disappear: Just about everyone has seen the we couldn't deliver your package email scam that's usually intended to steal your login credentials or to install malware on your computer. There's now a multi-part scam that's intended to clean out your entire bank account. If you fall for it, there's no way to get your money back.
Ready To Check Out Someone From The Human Library? A Danish organization, the Human Library, says its goal is to eliminate stereotypes by making it possible for people to interact with others they might not normally encounter.
Twenty Years Ago: Online Shopping Was Getting Started. In 2002, I was thinking about Amazon, which had been in business for seven years. It wasn't yet a retail powerhouse, but the trend was clear.
Saving Facebook Posts And Conversations: Sometimes there's a post or an IM conversation on Facebook that you'd like to save on your own computer. It's not always easy, but it is always possible. Let's see how.
Short Circuits: DuckDuckGo Adds Protections To Most Browsers: The DuckDuckGo search engine doesn't collect or sell user information. Maybe you already use it instead of Google, but there's more from from the duck, including an extension that can be installed in any browser to warn about privacy issues.
Never Relax Because Crooks Don't: Using multi-factor authentication is supposed to ensure that crooks can't steal your credentials because logging in requires a user name, a password, and a code that's delivered separately. Crooks have noticed and they're developing ways to defeat the technology.
Twenty Years Ago: New media had encountered some bumpy roads. Ezines were failing and ebooks weren't as popular as many thought they should be. That has changed in the past two decades.
System Explorer Gives Users An Inside View Of Windows Computers: A free utility called System Explorer is like a combination of the Windows Task Manager and System Resource Monitor with an application uninstaller, security monitor, startup manager, and more tossed in for good measure.
Short Circuits: SendInBlue Eliminates Blocked Email Messages: If you've had problems with blocked or refused email messages, there's an easy solution to the problem and it's free unless you need to send more than 300 messages per day.
Equifax Finally Rolls Out Protection For Data Breach Victims: Several million people have probably recently received an email from Equifax offering four years of credit monitoring and other services for those involved in a data breach that's so old most people have forgotten about it.
Twenty Years Ago: Foveon Pounds Another Nail Into Film's Coffin: The just-introduced Foveon digital camera sensor was intended to change everything. The technology is still in use, but not as a major player.
Do You (Still) Need A VPN? With many people working from home, the importance of a virtual private network (VPN) is being stressed by security experts. A VPN does offer increased security, but at a cost. Convenience and speed may both suffer. Maybe this is a good time to think about whether or not you need a VPN and, if so, whether you need it to be on all the time.
Short Circuits: Finding Out What Google Knows About You: If you read last week's post, you know how to find out what Amazon knows about you. This week, let's consider what Google knows about you. There's no single form to fill out to ask for the information, but there are places you can look.
Wondering What 2022 Will Bring: What do you think we'll see in 2022 other than more variants of covid? Several technologies that aren't exactly new are bubbling toward general acceptance. Electric vehicles, chip shortages, smart homes, and even the still undefined metaverse will vie for our attention.
Twenty Years Ago: Fun On The Palm In The Palm Of Your Hand: In 2002, I wrote: If you have a Palm-OS organizer, I said, particularly one with a color screen, and you haven't yet seen Bejeweled, you should. Remember Bejeweled?
Saving And Sharing Memories With Digitized Film, Photos, Video, And Audio: The pandemic may keep us isolated for a while yet, so if you have old negatives, prints, movies, video tapes, and even audio tapes around the house, now would be a great time to start digitizing and sharing them.
Short Circuits: Finding Out What Amazon Knows About You: If you ask, Amazon will send you a bunch of files that contain "everything" the company knows about you. Chances are, though, that you'll almost regret asking when they deliver the huge package.
Liking Or Hating Microsoft 365's New Face: Changes to the user interface for Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 are minor, but there are some hidden gems. It's also easy to switch between the old interface and the new, so you won't be locked in if you object to the changes.
Twenty Years Ago: Speech recognition, which was last week's main topic, was also a topic in 2002. It was primitive by today's standards, but we were beginning to understand how a well-designed automated attendant system could handle routine issues.
Speech Recognition — Who Does It Best? There's no question that speech recognition has improved since the 1980s when Dragon Systems introduced Dragon Dictate for DOS. It's still not ready to be used indiscriminately without review, but it's becoming more reliable and much easier to use.
Short Circuits: How The Pandemic Affects Creatives: Without television programs, podcasts, and other materials that entertain and inform us, the past two years would have been even more difficult. Adobe is in a good position to observe work by creatives and says that 2022 is starting with optimism and defiance.
Liker Tries To Beat Inertia As Tribel: The former Liker social media site is back from the dead with new security and a new name. Now known as Tribel, the Facebook challenger went silent in March 2021 after being hacked.
Twenty Years Ago: In 2002, the thought of a huge 1GB CompactFlash Type II was exciting. Lexar Media said the chard had a sustained write speed of 2.4MB per second. ait was offered in Lexar's Professional Series intended primarily for professional photographers. The price: Around $1200.
Vivaldi's Valiant Versatility Is Verifiably Vigorous: After experimenting with the Vivaldi browser for a few months, I wrote briefly about it in early December. Because I like the customization options, I decided to try it as my primary browser for a while. Usually I switch back to Firefox that, despite it all too common frustrations, seems to work the way I want a browser to work. Firefox may have met its match. (Sorry about the consonance in that headline.)
Short Circuits: Give Yourself Easy Access To Windows Safe Mode: It's a good idea to prepare for a problem before you have a problem. Wouldn't it be helpful if, when Windows booted, you were offered an option to boot to Safe Mode? I'll explain how this can be accomplished.
IBM Didn't Invent The Business Computer: The first business computer wasn't even placed in service in the United States. The British beat us to that with a computer that was intended to determine how much flour and other supplies a baker needed.
Twenty Years Ago: In 2002, just about every computer pundit said WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS could not be installed on Windows XP. They were wrong about that.
Why I Dumped Microsoft Outlook And How: I've never been a big fan of Outlook, but I've used it for years. Microsoft gave me an unexpected early present when Outlook failed to open on Christmas eve. The short-term solution involving Thunderbird quickly became the permanent fix.
Short Circuits: Eliminating Scam Messages And Emails Isn't Possible, But They Can Be Reduced: Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do something to eliminate scam texts sent to your phone, scam emails, and scam Facebook messages? Wishing doesn't make it so and there's no way to send all the spams and scams to trash so that we don't have to see them. There are, however, some defenses.
People Named Alexa Are Angry With Amazon: Chances are that you don't know anyone named Siri because it's not a common name in the United States. It's a virtual certainty that you don't know anyone called Google, although someone may have given some unfortunate child that name. But you may know someone called Alexa and, according to a Washington Post article, most people named Alexa seem not to be fans of Amazon.
Twenty Years Ago: Apple liked to say that the Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, was so easy to use that it needed no manual. In 2002, when I was learning to work with my first Mac, that seemed inaccurate.
If You Need To Explain Anything On A Computer, SnagIt! Every modern computer operating system has a built-in way to capture information that's on the screen, but if you need more than a basic screen shot, SnagIt is the right choice.
Short Circuits: Adobe Replaces Several Free Services With Creative Cloud Express: Effective on Monday of this week, Adobe discontinued Illustrator Draw and Photoshop Sketch. These free apps have been replaced by Creative Cloud Express, which is also free and does a lot more. Creative Cloud Express also replaces Adobe Spark on the web and Adobe Spark Post on IOS and Android devices.
How Safe Is That Facebook Fun Quiz? Facebook is full of silly quizzes. A photo of four desserts is accompanied by text that challenges you to say which one must be eliminated. A friend has responded, so you add a comment. After all, how could it hurt? Actually, it can hurt a lot.
Twenty Years Ago: TechSmith's SnagIt was the lead story in 2002, and the 12-year-old application was already improving every year. It's a tradition that continues today.
VLC — The Most Versatile Media Player Available: It's not uncommon to think of the VLC media player as a video player. It plays video files, DVDs, and Blu-ray disks, but it can also play internet audio, CDs, and network files. And if you need to convert video or audio from one format to another, it does that, too.
Short Circuits: Adobe Illustrator's 2022 Updates Might Surprise You: Applying and rendering 3D effects and substance coverings are surprising advances in Adobe Illustrator 2022's technology previews. Although the new version has a lot of other useful new or improved features, 3D options are getting the most attention.
Related To Nothing In Particular: I have a photo from 15 years ago that may amuse you. It's a desk full of objects that we no longer use.
Faster Updates For Windows 11 Users: Windows 11 users will find monthly updates are faster because downloaded files are considerably smaller.
Twenty Years Ago: I was hearing a lot of questions about whether it would be wise to upgrade to Windows 95 in 2002. I said that it depends, thus proving that some things just never change.