Posted on March 19th, 2018 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
One of our frequent correspondents had a near miss. That’s a near miss from disaster when he got a phone call telling him his PayPal account had been compromised and he owed $340. The caller said they could fix the problem for $299 but they needed to take control of his computer. They said they needed his bank account number too, so he gave it to them. There was a lot of background chatter on the caller’s end of the line. The red flags went up, the rockets exploded and the bells started ringing. He turned off his computer, told the caller he just had a power outage, hung up and moved everything from his checking account to his savings […]
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Filed under: education, games, security, tech support, trends | Comments Off on HERE THERE BE TYGERS AND ALL MANNER OF STRANGE BEASTS
Posted on January 16th, 2017 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
We’re going to talk some more about the digital assistants put out by Amazon and Google. Those would be the Amazon “Echo” and Google “Home.” They are small, relatively cheap (from $50 to $129), and they answer questions and do requests. This is the future. Essentially what we have are two devices that listen to what you have to say — with sometimes less accuracy than you would expect — and then respond. They can play music, occasionally with nonsensical results, and respond to more direct questions, such as “how many calories are there in an apple?” This is all new stuff, the edge of wedge if you will. It’s potentially an encyclopedia on your end table, along with lectures, […]
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Filed under: Amazon, Google, music, robots, trends, YouTube | Comments Off on HEY BOO BOO
Posted on December 5th, 2016 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
Topics: A better way to do email, alternatives to cable TV, Internuts, trends, and kid’s coding book.
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Filed under: email, health, Internuts, kids, programming, trends, TV | Comments Off on EASILY DONE
Posted on October 3rd, 2016 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
Get info about your local hospitals and nursing homes, see what they’re good and bad at. A “411” info app for your iPhone. A new photo editing program and more.
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Filed under: Google, health, Internuts, maps, photos, trends | Comments Off on JUST THE FACTS
Posted on August 29th, 2016 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
Movies versus video games, public radio app, setting your home page and finding a professional.
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Filed under: apps, business, career, Internuts, radio, trends, Windows | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 8th, 2016 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
Topics: Texting a soldier, retro game, video trends, avoiding loud commercials, family safety settings, sketching tips, ten enigmas that defy explanation.
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Filed under: art, games, Internuts, kids, trends, Windows | Comments Off on CHAT WITH A WORLD WAR I SOLDIER
Posted on August 1st, 2016 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
Our 96-year-old friend Ida uses the free Skype service to have video-chats with her friends in Australia. One day, her account was wiped out. Could this happen to you? (Think of that question as having been asked in scary monster movie title type.) You might think this had something to do with her age, and she must have hit the wrong button or spilled something on the keyboard. But no, we found dozens of similar complaints on the web. One guy wrote: “Where has my account gone? I do business all over Europe and today you just trashed my account with the credit I had as well? You idiots. If somebody within Microsoft made the decision to do this – […]
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Filed under: Amazon, apps, backup, cheap calls, graphics, numbers, trends, VoIP | Comments Off on LOSING SKYPE
Posted on July 18th, 2016 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
If you use Facebook, but worry about it sharing your personal information with strangers, we have a fix. It’s Facebook’s “Privacy Checkup.” From your computer, go to Facebook.com and click the tiny picture of a padlock next to the tiny picture of a globe in the upper right. Follow the steps to increase your privacy. — You might not want anyone to see how often you play “Candy Crush,” or any other application, for example. In that case, change the “public” setting to “only me.” — Remove any apps you’re not using. — Change the information on your profile page and remove the year of your birth if it’s listed. (It’s easier to do identity theft if the bad […]
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Filed under: apps, cheap calls, computers, health, Internuts, photos, tech support, trends, video | Comments Off on HERE’S LOOKING AT EVERYBODY
Posted on June 13th, 2016 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
A reader asked us to find her a blood pressure app for the iPhone. There are several of these for both iPhone and Android. Unlike the kind you see at the doctor’s office, the apps do not use a compression band that temporarily cuts off your circulation. They measure the slight pulsing from placing your finger on the phone. We tried “Finger Blood Pressure! Free” on our Android phone, and compared it with the reading we got on the $35 Omron 3 Series Blood Pressure monitor with a pressure cuff. The Omron is battery operated, so you’re not tethered to the wall plug. Omron said Joy’s systolic pressure was 118, her diastolic reading was 74 and her pulse was 46. […]
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Filed under: Amazon, Apple, apps, business, environment, graphics, health, maps, Sports, trends, video, wearables | Comments Off on MEDICAL APPS
Posted on May 23rd, 2016 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
Here are some facts on children’s use of their phones. Most kids get their first phone at age 10. The most common activity is texting. Almost a third have sent text messages to their parents even though everyone involved was in the house. Seventy-six percent of kids access the Internet from the family room, down from 85 percent four years ago. A quarter of kids now have private access from their bedrooms. Fifty percent of kids begin using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat at age 12 or younger. The study was done by Influence Central, a marketing firm. Making Windows 10 Look Like Windows 7 For $5 we can finally stop moaning about the clunky look of Windows10. “Start10” is […]
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Filed under: apps, Internuts, trends, Windows | Comments Off on THE FUTURE IS PLUGGED IN
