On Computers

A reader writes: “I was hacked by someone claiming to be AVG (the antivirus people). I had to close 20-25 accounts. My bank said I was the third person to come in that day.” The state attorney general’s office told him to close all bank and payroll accounts. They’d seen the fake AVG ruse many times before. Best Buy’s “Geek Squad” took a virus off his computer and put new antivirus software in. But it took 12 days before he got his computer back. He felt like writing the hackers to tell them to bug off. “I want a SAFE way to tell them I’m not using them ever but I’m horrified to contact them at all,” he said. “I […]

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Filed under: apps, computers, health, Internuts, security | Comments Off on HACKED!

A reader says he’s used the “Dogpile” search engine instead of Google for many years, but now it’s not working. We say drop it. Our research shows there’s a Dogpile hijacker that looks like the real thing. So what should you use instead, if you don’t want to Google everything? We’ve been trying out Yippy, which is powered by IBM Watson, the computer that beat Ken Jennings on Jeopardy. Yippy was developed by Vivisimo, which we’ve written about many times. Much of Vivisimo’s and Yippy’s artificial intelligence was incorporated by IBM Watson which “reads” all the scientific journal articles to make better decisions in some cases than doctors can. In our tests, Yippy’s results look good. Joy looked up “cotton […]

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Filed under: business, photos, search, web | Comments Off on DOWNWARD-FACING DOGPILE

“Locast” brings TV over the Internet. Locast is low-cost. How low? How about free?  The TV people, namely CBS, ABC, Fox and NBC, are upset and are suing. They want to keep collecting the fees they get from cable companies. This follows an old business practice: If things aren’t going your way, sue somebody. It reassures the shareholders that you’re on the job and who knows, it might even work. The fees collected by the big networks amounted to $10.1 billion last year.   Locast brings you TV through an internet connection. So far, it’s available in 13 markets, such as Boston, Chicago and New York,  but it will be coming your way. It worked great on our TV, and we […]

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Filed under: art, graphics, how-to, Internuts, iPad, security, tablet | Comments Off on FREE TV

We thought it would be fun to have Alexa, the voice coming out of Amazon’s smart speaker, in our car. We have a 20 year-old car but bought an “Auto Echo.” Turns out our car can handle it. All we needed was the Nulaxy “Bluetooth Car FM Transmitter Audio Adapter” for $17 from Amazon. We plugged it into what us old-timers call the cigarette lighter, and then plugged our new Auto Echo into the adapter. If you have a newer car, skip the adapter. Plug in the Auto Echo with the included micro-USB cable and power adapter. Enable Bluetooth on your phone, and then turn on the ignition. For us, Alexa’s voice came on immediately. After a few taps on […]

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Filed under: Amazon, Internuts, printer, TV | Comments Off on GETTING IN THE CAR WITH ALEXA