CHROMEBOOK”S HIDDEN POWERS
A Google Chromebook is far more powerful than you’d think. Let’s start with GIFs.
GIFS are five second animations you can add to text messages, email, Facebook or wherever you like to post. To start, click the launcher in the bottom left corner of your screen. Type “camera.” Click the “GIF” button. That’s it! A friend just sent me a fun GIF in an email. Unfortunately, I had to read his lips because GIFs don’t have sound unless you turn them into video files first, but it was still fun. It’s best for something visual, like dancing or puppetry. If you don’t have a Chromebook, try the free “Giphy” app, which offers a library of free GIFs. At giphy.com, you can upload your own videos. For sound, search on “how to add audio to a GIF.”
Did you know that your Chromebook can also make training videos? I remember when these required $500 software. What you get is a video with your own face as a picture-in-picture, while you point to stuff on the screen to teach your audience something. They will see you and the cursor as you click on stuff. Or you might want to create a vacation slideshow and point to things as you talk about them.
The latest Chromebook update brought the ability to correct dictation with voice commands. To start speaking to your built-in note-taker, hold down the “Alt” key, the “Shift” key and the letter “r.” You’ll see a microphone come up. Click it and start talking. I found it to be highly accurate. If you run into problems, do a web search on “how to dictate to Chromebook.” For a list of voice commands in Chromebook dictation, search on those words. Or try it in Windows or on a Mac.
To check for Chromebook updates, click on the time in the lower right, then click the gear icon, choose “about ChromeOS,” and “Check for updates.” After the update, reboot. You’ll get a handy guide to what’s new.
Doorbell for Pets
After I wrote about the “Cat Flap” for keeping critters out of your house, a friend told me about “Petvation.” It uses facial recognition to let Kitty or Fido in, keeping raccoons out. It comes with a sensor to prevent their tails from getting pinched. According to Amazon reviews, that can be a problem with doors that use microchips in collars or implanted in pets.
Petvation will cost $299 when it comes out in October, but you can preorder it for $169 on Kickstarter, the crowd-funding site. There’s always some risk in preordering, but this one looks promising. The company blew past their $10,000 funding goal to reach over $90,000.
Speeding Up a Slow PC
I love how Ccleaner keeps my computer running fast. But when I got charged $77 for an automatic renewal, I went back to the free version. Fortunately, I got a refund. The $77 version adds a lot of programs that Windows already has. If you renew yourself, it’s $25.
Unfortunately, the free version will prompt you to buy the pro version if you go beyond the basics. I was prompted to buy Ccleaner Pro when I tried “Performance Optimizer” to get rid of programs running in the background. Instead, you can right-click your Windows taskbar and choose “Task Manager.” From there you can disable any processes you don’t need at the moment. Likewise, run Windows “Disk Cleanup” by typing those words into the Windows search box instead of paying for Ccleaner Pro to do it.
The free version has a lot of extras. For example, you can stop pesky programs from starting when you turn on your machine by clicking “Tools” then “Startup.” Other tools include “Drive Wiper” for giving your computer away, and “Duplicate Finder,” which is great for photos and videos.
I turned off cookie removal. Cookies are bits of software that keep you logged in to websites. With cookies gone, my tally of how many times I’d won the famous Wordle game disappeared. Disaster! What was worse, every time I closed and reopened Chrome and went to a site that required two-factor identification, I had to get a new code from my phone to verify that I’m me. The solution was to uncheck the box next to cookie deletion under “Custom Clean.” Click the “applications” tab to see all the places where cookies are automatically deleted. For more info, do a web search on “the pros and cons of disabling cookies.” Cookie cleaning does improve privacy.
With the free version, I have to remember to run the program at the end of every day. Nothing happens automatically like it does in Ccleaner Pro. After opening the program, I click “Health Check” and “Custom Clean.” Running those modules takes care of everything.
Rogue Apps
When the popular apps TikTok and Solitaire landed on a friend’s Android phone without his knowledge, he wondered if he’d gotten a virus. But his Avast antivirus said he was OK, so he merely had to uninstall those apps.
Many people say that it’s your phone service provider’s fault if you get apps you didn’t install. Maybe so, but according to Kapersky, the Russian anti-virus software company, some self-installing apps are dangerous. One called “Loapi” mines for cryptocurrency and delivers an avalanche of ads.
On your Android phone, go to “Settings” and type in the word “unknown.” When you see “install unknown apps,” tap it. Toggle off anything on the list that’s switched on.