On Computers

A young friend told me that the same $12 necklace from Target is only $1 from China. How is that possible? Chinese sites like Temu rely on a loophole in US customs laws. If a product is less than $800, they can ship it directly to a shopper without being inspected or taxed. There’s a bill in Congress to stop that, but for now you can get amazing deals. Temu is the number one free shopping app in the Apple app store and the Google play store, beating out Amazon and Walmart. Here’s the catch: According to ZDNet, it takes 10 days to deliver your package and it may look different than it did on Temu. But you’re guaranteed a […]

Read more

Filed under: AI, business, computers, shopping, storage | Comments Off on GETTING CHEAP STUFF FROM CHINA

Publishing a book through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing turned out to be both easier and harder than I thought.  After tearing my hair out at first, I discovered Amazon’s template for a five-by-eight inch paperback. I also noticed a lengthy guide and a long video tutorial, but I can never sit through those. So whenever I had a question, I hit the chat button and got a live person. They didn’t always know the answer but kept me moving right along, encouraging me to skip design elements I didn’t need. Besides texting, I could have talked on the phone or emailed them. Each time, they were available within seconds. I’m working on a historical novella for a retired professor of […]

Read more

Filed under: batteries, books, business, gadgets, Internet, Internuts, kids, storage, web | Comments Off on PUBLISHING YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON

A reader wrote: “Two days ago my wife was nearly in tears after falling for a scam email that looked exactly like it was from the SAS Shoe site.” She was out $45 bucks. Others are being scammed by phony vaccine surveys. One reader said he was nearly taken in by a fake Pfizer survey, but hovered over the return email, which revealed sketchy-looking characters. If you do a Google search on “PSA post vaccine survey scam,” the US government at ICE.gov will show you exactly what the scammer’s email looks like. Don’t worry if you’ve already opened one. Just don’t click anywhere or open any attachments. There’s still time to panic. Google Pay and Mint Track Your Spending  Sometimes, […]

Read more

Filed under: business, cheap calls, search, trends, virus, web | Comments Off on AVOIDING SCAMS

I just made a will using free online tools. I didn’t need a lawyer. I did it all at LawDepot.com during their one-week free trial. LegalDepot has hundreds of templates for legal documents, including power-of-attorney forms. After the free trial, it costs $35 a month or $108 a year if paid annually. I easily finished mine within the freebie period. I was motivated by my local women’s club, which has a special “pinning ceremony” for those who name the club in their wills, even for a small amount. I’m looking forward to getting my pin. Another group I support gave me a free paperweight. When I told the ladies that I was naming the club in my will, they assumed […]

Read more

Filed under: apps, batteries, business, music | Comments Off on WHERE THERE’S A WILL, THERE’S A WAY

For Christmas, my nephew got me a year’s subscription to an app called “Brilliant.” Maybe I’ll end up being as brilliant as he is.  Brilliant.org has over 60 “STEM” courses (science, technology, engineering and math.) They include everything from pre-algebra to the paradoxes of infinity. There’s a free version, but it only gives you the first few chapters of each topic. The paid version is $150 a year or $25 a month. It’s an amazing way to learn, taking you up a gentle slope until you’re “thinking like a scientist,” or doing advanced statistics, or in my case, learning “science essentials,” which includes the history of important discoveries. I’m  tempted by the cryptocurrency course, which has comic art, but it […]

Read more

Filed under: apps, business, email, Gmail | Comments Off on BRILLIANT APP MAKES US ALL SMARTER

Windows is famous for its startling “blue screen of death.” I got a lighter shade recently. Then my hard drive died. I could have opened my PC, removed the hard drive and installed a new one. Instead, I asked the local repair shop to back up my files on an external drive and install an SSD. The SSD, or “solid state drive,” will be much faster and more reliable.  The shop charged $150 for the backup, much more than the $99 fee BestBuy charges. But that’s because the dying drive made it a slow recovery process. BestBuy’s price also varies with the ease of recovery.  The shop said that installation of the new drive would cost me $275. So before […]

Read more

Filed under: apps, business, facebook, games, Internuts, TV, Windows | Comments Off on BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH PROVES DEADLY

The Lyft app often gets my pickup point wrong. Sometimes, I have to walk to a popular restaurant in order to be found. I had an awful time at the airport recently. When I put in the name, O’Hare International, the app should have prompted me to choose a specific pickup zone. It didn’t do that, so I typed in O’Hare’s address. What a mistake. The driver never came near to where I was standing. In the cold frosty air, I twiddled my frozen thumbs. I texted him repeatedly to say I was in “Green Zone D.” I also left a voicemail. When he called me back, I shouted “Green Zone D” over and over. The connection was faulty but […]

Read more

Filed under: apps, business, drones, social networks, word processing | Comments Off on GETTING A LYFT

I never dreamt it would be possible to read the time and room temperature on my ceiling. Then a friend gave me a gadget for doing just that. The Ambient Weather “RC 84-27 Clearview Radio-Controlled Projection Clock,” $15 on Amazon, has a miniature radio receiver that gets the world’s most accurate time from the official U.S. atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado. It even turns daylight savings time off or on. The best part is the mini projector inside. That’s what beams both the time and the room temperature up high. Works great in the dark. When I’m wondering if it’s time to get up, or if it’s warm enough to get out from under the covers, I can glance […]

Read more

Filed under: Amazon, business, gadgets, health, trends, troubleshooting | Comments Off on PROJECTING TIME AND WEATHER ON THE CEILING

I’m horrible at finding a car after I’ve parked it. But one of my friends is even worse. Once, when we couldn’t find hers, we walked all the way back to my place, got in my car, and drove around in circles till we found it. Thankfully, phone apps can help. My favorite is Google Maps. After you park, open the app and tap the blue dot in the middle. You’ll see the option, “save your parking location.” After saving it, you’ll see a red marker and the words: “You parked here.”  When you’re ready to find it, tap the red marker to get directions. Apple fans might prefer the built-in Apple Maps. Just as with Google Maps, tap the […]

Read more

Filed under: apps, business, gadgets, Internuts | Comments Off on HEY DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR?

The rivalry between TurboTax and H&R Block is like Hertz and Avis. I started with one company and ended up with the other. Despite my glowing review of TurboTax a couple of months ago, I ran into a snag. I had a complicated tax situation because my husband invested in partnerships. They generated a kind of document called a “K-1.” Actually, lots of them. On the TurboTax website, I pushed the “Do my taxes for me” button and got a nice lady in Missouri. But she bailed out when she found out about my K-1 tax docs. TurboTax experts won’t handle returns with more than one of those. She suggested I do them myself and use their live chat, but […]

Read more

Filed under: apps, business, email, security, troubleshooting | Comments Off on FOR COMPLICATED TAXES, GET A HUMAN