Tech Talk #57 – Aug. 5, 2017 Backing up your online accounts offline The internet is a weird and wonderful place and has become something way beyond what anyone thought it could be and something no one could have predicted. From email to videos, to messaging, to images, most people have a lot of their life posted on the internet. All of your internet content is stored on servers, and mostly everything is
Tech Talk #56 – July 22, 2017 Let’s talk about cookies Mmmm, cookies. Unfortunately, I’m not talking about the delicious cookies you make in the kitchen. I’m talking about the cookies stored on your computer. Wait, what? How do these cookies get on my computer? What are they for? Should I be worried? Whoa there, pardner. We’ll get to all your questions. Technically, when we talk about cookies on
Tech Talk #55 – July 8, 2017 Ransomware – what is it and how do you protect yourself against it? We’ve heard and read the word ransomware a lot lately, but what is it and how can you protect yourself against it? Ransomware is a form of malware or malicious software. Malware is software designed to damage or do not-so-nice things to your computer. Computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, and spyware
Tech Talk #54 – June 24, 2017 Passwords and security questions Again with the passwords? Yes, because passwords are important and how we reset passwords has changed. In the old days (a couple of years ago), if you forgot your password for your email or social media account, you could prove you were you by answering some security questions. Then you could reset your password. But there were problems with that
Tech Talk #53 – June 10, 2017 Do you hate websites that autoplay audio and videos? Here’s how to stop them: • For Chrome: Get the Disable HTML5 Autoplay plugin • For Firefox: Use the FlashStopper add-on • For Safari: there isn’t a plugin, but you can do it using Terminal. Quit Safari, go to /Applications/Utilities and open Terminal. Type this command into the window: • defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu 1 • Press Return and
Tech Talk #52 – May 27, 2017 Making your online life more secure Your digital ‘you’ is all over the internet. From those websites you had to create an account for to buy that one thing that one time, to web forums you don’t go to anymore, to ghost-filled social media sites, you’re all over the place. Here are some tips to make your online life more secure. Close accounts you don’t use
Tech Talk #51 – May 13, 2017 Delete an autocomplete entry from Outlook Outlook “remembers” every email address you type into the address fields To: cc: and bcc: even you accidentally type in a wrong email address. If one of your contacts gets a new email address and you update their contact record, the new address and the old address will still show up as you type in any of the address fields. Don’t
Tech Talk #50 – April 29, 2017 ISPs and online privacy – what’s everyone talking about? For the past few weeks, you may have seen stories about ISPs being able to sell your browsing history to advertisers. Let’s clear up a few things. First off, ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. ISPs are companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Spectrum, and others, that, well, provide internet service to their customers. To connect your computer
Tech Talk #49 – April 15, 2017 A new computer comes with everything you need to do the basics, like checking your email, doing some web browsing, binge-watching something on Netflix, or enjoying a little shopping on Amazon. But what if you need to write a letter, do some 3D animation, design a logo, record a multitrack tune, edit a video, or remove the tourists from your photo of the Eiffel tower? To
Tech Talk #48 – April 1, 2017 Switching from Windows to Mac or Mac to Windows You’re finally ready. After years of hearing from your friends about all the ways MacOS and Apple hardware is better than Windows or PC hardware, you’re ready to make the switch from PC to Mac. Or, maybe after watching as Apple focused on iPads and iPhones while letting their entire iMac and MacBook Pro lines miss