On Computers

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 […]

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

What a bummer. My Windows 10 PC can’t handle the free upgrade to Windows 11. To find out if yours can, type “PC Health Check,” in the Windows search bar in the lower left of your screen. When the app comes up, click it. Though my PC sailed through every other requirement on the list, its Intel Core i7 processor didn’t make it. That’s odd, because there’s a whole bunch of Intel Core i3 and i5 processors that do meet Microsoft’s criteria, though they’re much slower than my i7. The higher the number, the faster the processor. But even if your PC qualifies for the free upgrade, you’ll still have to wait until 2022 —  unless you sign up for […]

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Filed under: apps, Internuts, social networks, Windows | Comments Off on THE NEW WINDOWS 11

I had no idea that there were so many things I should have turned off in Windows 10.  CNET gave me a list. The worst one is the ability of every app to run in the background, even when you don’t have it open. An app you don’t even care about could be installing updates and sending you notifications, among other actions, hogging your bandwidth and slowing down your computer. To turn it off, type “background apps” in the Windows search bar in the lower left of your screen. When it comes up, toggle the master switch to the off position.  Next on the list: Did you know you have a Microsoft ID, tied to your account, that is given […]

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Filed under: art, facebook, social networks, troubleshooting, Windows | Comments Off on TWEAKING WINDOWS 10

I ignore Facebook friend requests from strangers unless I’m sure they’re faithful readers of this column. But some are tricky. An apparent captain of an enormous shipping line requested a connection. I thought for a minute it was a legitimate request. One of my friends, a savvy public speaker, was Facebook friends with him. I decided to investigate, in hopes of warning her if he turned out to be a fake. His Facebook photo, profile and name matched that of the captain he claimed to be, which I found on LinkedIn and on the shipping company’s website. So I accepted his request. Minutes later, I decided it was a risky experiment, so I unfriended and blocked him. That didn’t prevent […]

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Filed under: books, facebook, gadgets, photos, science, social networks, TV | Comments Off on FAUX FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK

The new Google Pixel 5, coming out in October, will have a new camera and a powerful processor. But if you’re like me, you don’t care about that. My lower-resolution camera takes more flattering pictures. As for processing speed, I never have umpteen apps going on at the same time anyway, so I don’t need that much power. Instead of spending $699 for the new Pixel 5, I’ll stick to my Pixel 2. (A used one can be had for about $120.) Pixel phones get the latest updates as soon as they’re available, unlike most Android phones. Here are some features I like: “Live Caption” allows you to see captions during phone calls. That way you can turn the volume […]

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Filed under: Google, phones, photos, social networks | Comments Off on NEW PHONE VERSUS OLD PHONE

TikTok is the hot application right now. It allows you to post 15-second videos or see what other people have posted. There’s soon to be a similar app for Instagram, called “Reels.” Both the free app and TikTok.com remind us of the show “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” When we tuned in, we saw the back half of a large car going down the highway. It was an illusion. Then we watched a girl vault a basketball over her head backwards. It knocked over a nearby jogger.  TikTok is more than just silly stuff. Our favorite podcast, PlanetMoney, (put out by National Public Radio),  is there along with many others. One of their videos describes the thuggishness of medieval knights. Another […]

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Filed under: Google, passwords, social networks, video | Comments Off on ON THE CLOCK

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

Our new Epson “FastFoto” scanner sucked in photos so fast it made us laugh. Put a stack in, and the photos jump through the scanner like they’ve been shot out of a cannon. Typical speed is one a second. Then we asked ourselves the big question: Why get a photo scanner when ScanMyPhotos.com will do it for you?  For instance, they’ll currently scan a thousand 4- by-6-inch photos for $50. No muss, no fuss. So here’s why your own scanner might be more useful: A scanned photo, sent by email or shared on Facebook, is often a spur of the moment thing. Reach your hand into an old collection, pull out a stack and put them in the FastFoto scanner. […]

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Filed under: apps, scanners, social networks, text messaging | Comments Off on ONE REAL FAST PHOTO SCANNER

A reader writes that she doesn’t hear from her son. She can send messages but she doesn’t know if he’s getting any email. She may be able to find out what’s up with that by using an email tracking program. ReadNotify.com (free to try, $24 a year for regular use) can let you know when the emails you send are opened, if they are opened. To get that response, tack “ReadNotify.com” on the end of an email address. For example, if your friend is JoeDoe@aol.com, you’d write “JoeDoe@aol.com.ReadNotify.com.”  When Joe Doe opens the email, you’ll get a message in your inbox saying when and where he opened it. It works with any email service, from Gmail to Yahoo. When Joy […]

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Filed under: apps, email, Internuts, robots, social networks | Comments Off on MISSING AND NO ACTION

We now know people who are married, or about to be, to mates they met online; it’s becoming normal. But if any of these meets make you nervous, you can make preliminary checks. A friend of ours turned down a match from an online dating service because the guy had “too many relationships.” Truthfinder.com told her. The scope of the information was amazing. TruthFinder not only knew how many online relationships the guy had, but how many business filings he’d made with the government (they were for McDonald’s franchises), what his house was worth, how much he paid for his mortgage, and so on. The service, which charges $28 for a one-time search, or $23 if you go monthly, also […]

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Filed under: gadgets, health, Internuts, Microsoft, social networks, Windows | Comments Off on TRUTH FINDER