On Computers

When I tried the new Alexa Plus back in March, she seemed dumber than the old Alexa. But after a friend raved about her, I decided to give her another chance. Now I agree. Plus is a plus.  Alexa Plus works with the Echo Dot, Echo Show, Amazon Fire tablet and Fire TV stick or cube, version 2019 or newer. To upgrade, just ask your old Alexa for Alexa Plus. Then try asking any open-ended question, the kind Old Alexa can’t handle. I requested “music as cheery as the Music Man musical.” She gave me “Broadway Classics with a Twist.” Odd, but OK. I also asked Plus if it was true that in the American Revolutionary War, Britain moved a […]

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Filed under: AI, Internuts, Mac, text messaging, Windows | Comments Off on ALEXA GETS A BOOST

“Before he died, my philosophy professor asked me to promote his upcoming book,” a man wrote. I was intrigued. “Surviving Technology, Lessons from Theater: The New Necessities For Living a Human Life,” by University of Texas professor Paul Woodruff, explains why theater is under attack by technology, and why that matters. Woodruff’s previous book was favorably reviewed in The New York Times, and his articles have been published widely. Tech matters a lot in entertainment. In 1876, Richard Wagner used different circuits of natural gas for stage and audience, alternately plunging the audience into total darkness, to force them to pay attention to the stage. Their inattention reminded me of an audience at a magic show I saw at a […]

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Filed under: AI, anti-virus, books, Internuts, iPhone, Mac, security, Windows | Comments Off on SURVIVING TECHNOLOGY, LESSONS FROM THE THEATER

A reader’s seven year-old iMac refused to power on. Apple couldn’t fix it. “They first tried the power fix, which didn’t work, then tried replacing the logic board,” she said, “which also didn’t work.” To repair it would have cost $900. “I am extremely disgusted,” she said. “I paid more than a thousand dollars for it. I think it should last longer than that. But it is what it is. Now I need a new computer.” Unfortunately, a computer that lasts seven years is par for the course. On average, they last three to eight years. But desktops last longer than laptops because they get better airflow, which reduces heat, the enemy of electronic components. It’s also easier to swap […]

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Filed under: books, business, computers, discounts, Internuts, Mac, TV | Comments Off on REFURBISHED APPLE PRODUCTS FOR LESS

A child asked me which was better: Alexa, the voice inside the Amazon Echo Dot, or Google Assistant, the voice inside the Google Home speaker, renamed “Google Nest.” Until recently, I would have said Google Assistant. That was before I read CNET’s “9 Things Alexa Can Do that Google Can’t.” Of course, right after that, I read “9 Things Google Can Do that Alexa Can’t.” Let’s start with some Alexa differences. Alexa can play Apple Music as one of many choices;  Google makes Apple music off limits. Alexa listens for burglars, alerting you if  she hears glass breaking, an alarm going off and other sounds. (But you must turn on “Guard” in “Settings.”) Also, Alexa can hear your whispers and whisper […]

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Filed under: Amazon, art, facebook, gadgets, Google, graphics, Mac, troubleshooting, Windows | Comments Off on TOE TO TOE WITH ALEXA AND GOOGLE

Joy’s women’s club went virtual, starting with a group video chat on Facebook. It was great.  Joy felt none of the shyness she often feels at ordinary women’s club parties. She could be blunt, telling the group to stop focusing on technical aspects of the conversation. “Let’s just have fun,” she said and so they did. But sometimes the sound quality was poor, causing the group to say they’d switch to Zoom software next time. Zoom is hot right now. It’s designed for video get-togethers and works beautifully. It uses the computer’s built-in camera and microphone, or you can use a tablet or smartphone.  When you use Zoom on your phone, computer or tablet, you see the face of the […]

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Filed under: books, business, computers, Internuts, kids, Mac, social networks, tablet, virus | Comments Off on ZOOMING IN

The first time we used a Macbook Air, moving our finger on the trackpad caused the screen to jump around like mad. So-called “gestures” can whisk you away to a new place, shutting down whatever you were working on. Recently, a friend complained of this too, so we looked up the solution. These gestures are amazingly abundant on the Mac and are supposed to offer you alternative ways to interact with your computer. But if you find them as annoying as we do, here’s what to do: First, click on the Apple logo in the upper right of your screen. Then choose “System Preferences.” Click “Trackpad.” Note the three tabs, including “More Gestures.” Click a tab to see what’s under […]

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Filed under: books, Mac, photos, TV, video | Comments Off on GETTING BACK ON TRACK

An interesting thing happened: Joy was looking up recipes at VegetarianTimes.com. But as she was viewing these in the Chrome browser on her Android phone, she was inundated, distracted and annoyed by a constant barrage of pop-up ads. They were stupidly annoying: “You’ve won a new iPhone 9!” was the first one. (That’s not even the name of the new iPhone. It’s iPhone XR or XS. They skipped number nine).  The second pop-up: “You’ve won a prize on Amazon!” Really! The ads were so bad she closed the browser and started over. Pop-ups are supposed to be blocked automatically, if you want. To find out, she went to the Chrome browser, tapped the three dots in the upper right, then […]

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Filed under: Internuts, Mac, spam, troubleshooting | Comments Off on POP-UPS ON YOUR PHONE

What’s hot? Fake reality, that’s what’s hot. What’s really great about the technology business is the number of things you can do and make even if nobody wants them. Who knows? Somebody might buy it. We thought the Netflix series show, “Stranger Things,” was pretty strange. Strange enough, for us to drop out and not return. But stranger still, some of the show’s characters, like “Eleven,” can drop into whatever you’re shooting with your smartphone. Characters from Star Wars can also drop in — your shopping trip can be guarded by Imperial storm troopers — and no one but you will know that you’re nuts. They drop into the scene in 3D, like from the moon, from thin air, and […]

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Filed under: Apple, computers, Google, Mac, phones, security | Comments Off on AUGMENTED REALITY

This comes up pretty regularly. A reader writes to ask if it’s worth paying $70 a year for anti-virus protection, or should he use Windows’ own built-in support? A large surge in so-called “Ransom Ware” infections has exacerbated the problem. RansomeWare locks up your files, and the sender, naturally, demands a ransom to unlock them. Typical demand is $300. This can be blocked. Microsoft says their own free program, Windows Defender, offers enough protection for Windows 8 and Windows 10 users. Perhaps so. Research on the web found that Microsoft Defender caught 94.5 percent of threats. But the sample size was 1517 threats, which meant that 83 went through. It’s that extra 5.5 percent that gets ya. The answer, says […]

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Filed under: anti-virus, Google, Mac, security, TV, virus | Comments Off on THE WEB AND ITS DISCONTENTS

Which is the safest way to browse the web: Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox? According to the blog “How to Geek,” Edge has a slight edge. Many say Firefox has the last word on privacy and we find that’s it pretty private. In 2015, Firefox instituted “tracking protection.” It removes all tracking elements from pages you visited using the “private browsing” feature. To use private browsing in Firefox, hold down the “Cntrl” (or “Cmd” on the Mac) and the “Shift” key. Then tap the “P” (for private) key. It was news to us that advertisers and websites can track you in Google or Microsoft’s browsers even if you use the “incognito” or “InPrivate” modes. All those modes do […]

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Filed under: browsers, Internet, Internuts, Mac, troubleshooting, web | Comments Off on THE RIGHT BROWSER