Techno babel, decoded.

We have all been through this scenario (or similar one) where you are using your phone for several months or several years and then it just slips out of your hand and despite the nice case you bought, the screen shatters and you need to get it replaced.  Now people like ME, remind you CONSTANTLY to BACKUP YOUR DATA.  So before you take it into the store for repair you need to backup your phone.   A lot of stores will charge you now to backup and restore your data. But you don't need them.  As long as the phone powers on and is recognized by your computer, YOU can backup your own data. If you screen is shattered really badly and you could risk cutting yourself or swiping your finger across would pull small glass pieces out, then perhaps a temporary layer of saran wrap to hold it together until you get it fixed. Now, backing up your phone. iOS (iPhone any version.) Connect it to your computer, go into iTunes and select backup.  Android: This...

The IRS scammers are getting bolder.  They are leaving voicemail on people's phones.  I got one a couple days ago.  I wanted to call back and waste their time, but I don't have the time myself.  I may subscribe to the service that does it with a bot. But please know, the IRS will NEVER call you! They only send written notices! The only time they will initiate a call is if you have already called them and they are calling you for an appointment you made with them previously. Anyone who calls you claiming to be from the IRS is lying! If you have the inclanation mess with them.  Keep them on the phone until they are cussing and screaming at you.  That is 100% proof they are not IRS agents.  IRS representatives will not threaten or curse or demean you. On the rare occasion I manage to talk to a scammer I keep them on the phone and make up things as I go to piss them off.  One day I'll catch it on vidov for purely entertaining purposes....

This is the first follow up to this post Getting into IT. .  You want to get into IT support because it is a great field with lots of career options and good pay? Okay, I'll help you. What does IT support do? Mostly, reset passwords.  (No I'm not being facetious!) We spend a lot of time resetting passwords, fixing weird problems with user accounts or user profiles.  Adjusting permissions.  Or just letting users know that they need to update to a newer version because they have hit a bug. You will also need to be empathetic when they cry because they didn't have backups and lost their photos. (Been there, done that, but I had backups for most so I lost very little.) You need to understand the basics of what a computer is how the different components connect and the differences between hardware, operating system, and software as you may be troubleshooting in all of these areas.  You also need to be willing and able to use google and bing all the time...

Today we take a little time to remember those who are no longer with us. We honor those we lost in service to our country. To those who served in our armed forces and those who still serve, THANK YOU!

Not really cash back, but money back.  There are a myriad of sites out there to get you cash or usually points to exchange for cash back on purchases. I'm going to list a handful that I have used and come to trust over the years. Ebates - earn rebates for online purchases. Bing Rewards (microsoft) - Numerous ways to earn rewards. Swagbucks - can shop and earn through their site, print coupons, and earn from watching ads. Befrugal - Cash back, online coupons Ibotta (app)  - coupons and cash back via gift cards, codes, or paypal. receipt hog (app) -submit paper receipt photos to earn points towards gift cards or paypal deposit. You used to be able to stack multiple sites on the same purchase however the web devs have caught on and now only 1 cookie at a time works, so find the site that offers the highest rebate on the purchase.   I once got $98 back on an $800 purchase from Dell through Ebates.  Also, a bit of advice, only use these if you were pla...

Here we take a high level overview of windows parental controls. This is a follow up post to : Are your children safe on the internet? On Windows 10 and newer you will create a microsoft account for your child which also creates an email address for them.   You can then use this one account across any windows devices like PC's, tablets, Xbox, or windows mobile (are those still around?).  So for your children you will need to go into each of the above highlighted in yellow. Here you can see what your child has been doing on the activity screen, what they search, where they browse, what they play and how much screen time they have. Now the content Screen.   THIS IS CRUCIAL.   Microsoft and others work really hard to create age appropriate content and created rating systems and tools to help us limit children to age/developmental appropriate content.  The features on this page (2 images) are rich and can be explored in detail but...

So there are many ways into information technology but the primary paths are Security. Support. Development. Each have their own characteristics. At a very high level here are the considerations you want to take into account when looking at potential career paths.   This is basically me outlining the next few days of posts. Security:  - You are trying to balance availability, integrity and confidentiality.    You need to think about always providing least amount of access to a user or group of users to be able to do their job.     Ensure that data is not stolen or manipulated.    Make sure data is available for use when needed by the users who need it. Support:  Make sure things keep working or fix them when they break.    System administration - build and maintain servers that support business applications or processes.    System engineering - Designing infrastructure and hardware/software requi...

Probably, but you must be AWARE. If you are paying for something online and it says anything OTHER than "HTTPS://"  It isn't SAFE to enter your credit card information. Any trustworthy site should have https://. I recently came across a group of entrepreneurs who were in the process of starting online businesses. One of them asked for volunteers to test their payment page with the reward being their course for an extremely low cost price. So I thought I would check it out since I love to learn.  I went to the page, and was looking around and as I was pulling out my card to type in the information I paused because something wasn't right.  I noticed it did not say HTTPS  yet was asking for a credit card . (I look for those things AUTOMATICALLY.  I don't even have to think.)    I then looked at the certificate of the page and the certificate for the site did not match. On modern browsers you can view site certificates with a single or two clic...

So slightly off topic post here. But why am I just doing a text blog? BLOG John, really, How 2005 of me.   I know I know. What I am doing is getting into the habit of doing this daily.   It is one of the things I teach people as a life coach.  Small changes make big impacts.   Make one little change at a time until it becomes a habit.  Practice what I preach is the big reason. I know a lot about technology and like helping people.  Daily is probably more often than I have time for but I don't like to half ass things. Anyway, once I changed my first habit then make another small change, like obnoxious daily selfies in instagram.  (Yes really.) And another change, like daily push ups. And another, walking daily. and another, tracking my calories in vs calories out. Pretty soon, after 5 or 6 months or a year or two, you have completely change your life by building better habits. This is another step in my journey towards m...

Well, in my last post we talk about the IOT (Internet of Things). Now we are going to briefly talk about devices designed to help you daily. Smart homes are houses that integrate technology to help you do things.  (Like save money.) There are thermostats out there (I have a NEST) that actually save you money because they learn your habits and help you conserve electricity when you can. There are lightbulbs that you can control with your phone. Home security systems which can also monitor the climate in your house and help your thermostat be even more efficient.  Even turn your AC off if the smoke detectors turn on to help suppress the spread of fire. Ceiling fans which can be controlled by your thermostat to help circulate air so you use your AC even less and keep the temperature in your house more stable. Smart locks for your doors which can be remote controlled from your phone in case your friend forgot the spare key you gave them or forgot the code you assigne...

The internet of things is really no different than the internet, but the number and types of devices we connect to the internet are expanding. We carry pocket computers (some call them cell phones) that keeps us connected to the global internet every hour of every day. We wear watches that count our steps or measure our heart rates. We have thermostats that monitor the weather and start heating or cooling depending on if you are home and learn your habits. There are refrigerators, ovens, even coffee makers that can be connected and controlled from the internet. Your phones door, or even your car can be unlocked from a device halfway around the world. We are literally surrounded and wearing technology that is internet connected 24x7.   Home surveillance, appliances, security, wearables, climate control, cars, airplanes, cameras, phones, gps devices, fitness trackers, computers, tablets, toys, game consoles, even light bulbs, alexa, siri, and more things that I am not...

The internet is full of people, places and information.  Just like life, there are good people, bad people, good places, bad places, and things you don't want to see or know.    By and large the good tends to outnumber the bad, but navigating the internet safely can be tricky.  The bad people can shout louder and more savagely on the internet because they can hide behind a level of anonymity.  This is a perfect place for cyber bullies to hide and harass people especially young children and teenagers who are dealing with all the challenges of growing and learning about life.  I'll go much deeper into cyber bullying in future posts but suffice to say it is a big concern for anyone who has a social presence online, even adults.   Top things to be aware of when your kids are using an internet connected device (phone, tablet, game console, computer.) Where do they go online for entertainment? What are they watching online? What ...

There is a lot of data being collected about you ALL the time.  When you use your phone. Where you shop. How you shop. When you shop.  What you buy, when and where.  This is tracked via numerous methods from your GPS in your phone to your credit card use, or paypal use or online cookies tracking what sites you view, your browser, your social media. Yes, we are already living in George Orwell's 1984 and Big Brother is everywhere.  It goes by various names:  Alexa, Siri, Watson, Microsoft, Equifax, Google, Cambridge Analytica, Amazon, and hundreds of others.    The thing is, most of this data collection is designed to SELL things to you that you already want .  Sometimes it makes suggestions and offers for things you need.   Some of this can even help improve improve our health.  I purchased a fitness tracker and paired it with My Fitness Pal (if you use this they had a data breach a month ago and you ...

Okay, I'm going to start by busting the mythconception. 8 Characters, with 1 number, 1 lower case, 1 capital and 1 special character IS NOT SAFE! The minimum password length you should have (system permitting) is 15 characters.  Length is better than complexity. I'm going to insert the XKCD comic from a couple years ago that explains this. Length is basically synonymous with complexity.   Using a longer pass phrase (a rhyme or sentence or something you create from random dictionary words) is much more secure than any 8 character password. The above example is still valid, although more powerful computers can throw double the number of guesses per second so 265 years, but still.  I typically use 24-30 character passwords with a number and special character thrown in.  Sometimes even sentences with the spaces.  For Example "This is a bad password!"  still has 40 bits of entropy and is about 125 years to brute force.   "This ...

What is the difference between windows firewall and network firewall? -  May 10, 2018 So what is the difference? Well, let's understand the basics of your connection to the internet. This is what communication looks like going out of your computer.  Your Computer ------Router------Modem----Provider--Internet (Sometimes the modem and router are the same unit). Your  network firewall  (in a home scenario) sits on your Router or between your mode and router if you have a separate firewall.     The purpose of the network firewall is to block anyone from randomly coming from the internet and connecting to your home network.  (Anything on your network including your network router).  The goal is to keep the bad guys out.   It does this by blocking traffic according to rules set by default or in advance, or by filtering based on what goes out and if it expects a response.  This is your first lin...

Firewall - A device or piece of software designed to prevent unauthorized access to a computer system. Information comes in and out of your computer in tiny chunks of data called packets. Each packet has basic information like, what computer it is coming from, where it is going, and the payload (information) being sent, requested, or received. When you get on your home computer and go to log into Facebook or Google+ or any other social media or website, your computer initiates the connection. It sends a packet OUT of your computer. The Firewall (most modern hardware and software ones at least) keep track of these initiation requests so it knows you are EXPECTING a response.  If a request comes in from OUTSIDE that is unexpected because there was no corresponding request from your computer, the firewall DROPS the packet.  This is how it keeps unknown and unwanted people off your network. Firewall's also work off of Rules.   Allow or Deny based on the typ...

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of robocalls coming out to our phones in the last year.  The FTC number of complaints has doubled since 2013.  Up to 4.1 million from 2 million in 2013. The surge for me began in late November 2017.  It was bad before, and is still bad even though I have blocked every single number. Why is there such a drastic increase in robocalls?   What changed?  Two things really: First technology improvements have made auto-dialing and robocalling EXTREMELY easy.   You could set this up in a matter of minutes on your telephone. Modern computers enable telemarketers (I would use scammers but some are legitimate, just using unethical/illegal practices) to make 10,000 calls a day on a single line.  If 1 person in a million picks up the phone and buys a $20,000 time share or $600 home security system, or $800 extended car warranty, all their costs are recuperated and they make money.   That'...

AI or Artificial Intelligence is the process of machine or software learning and the ability for it to enhance itself. Merriam-Webster  defines artificial intelligence  as: "The capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior." Right now what we call AI, are for the most part, complex algorithms of if/then/else/or statements. For example IF 1+1 =2 then TRUE,    ELSE False But real current AI means that the machine or software is capable of learning. Most of you are probably familiar with this little robot. I couldn't find it online, and I don't have the time to go digging through the dvd's to figure out which one had the bonus feature but there is footage of the Pixar lamp learning to hop.   They didn't know how to make it hop, so they coded it for machine learning and it learned how to hop.  It struggled, it fell, but it eventually learned.  Then they taught it to squish the I. Now when most people think of AI ...

Let's look at a couple different scenarios to help you find the best phone.   1)  Just the basics: So, you have managed to hold onto your phone for 3.5 years and you just dropped it in a sink full of water so now you have to get a new one.  Great, get a $50 -$200 phone since you are probably not a power user that is basically the same as your old phone.    2) The basics plus I'm a little social.   I use my phone for calls, texts and instagram.  You want to spend about $200-400 and look at the forward facing camera specs.   3) I'm very social and need to be connected all the time.   I use my phone for social media, phone calls, online research, and well basically everything my computer would normally do so I don't have to pick up my computer.     This is where it gets complicated... Do you do this mostly over wireless networks, or 3g/4g networks. Higher end phones should handle both wel...

Okay, to be frank I struggle with how quantum computers really work and I try to keep blog posts like this at a really high level to make it easy to understand.   Having said that quantum computers are still difficult to understand.   Regular computers use bits 0 and 1 in the chips (on or off) and some basic math to perform calculations.   When doing things that require HUGE amounts of data like weather modeling, simulating super nova's, or modeling earth's tectonic plates, this take A LOT of computing power and a long amount of time due to the limits of 1 or 0.   Quantum computers use qubits which can be 0, 1, or 0 and 1 or any point in between.  Think of it as a 3 dimensional storage instead of 2 dimensional.   How much more information can you store in a sphere, than in 2 points?   Need a visual? Current bit:         */- This is on and off. Either or.  This is a...

Like everything in life, it really depends. I now prefer to do a lot of things on my smart phone than I do on my computer.  Photo editing (light weight) is easier on a smart phone.  In some ways video editing is more  intuitive on a smart phone. There are apps that do just about everything on smart phones where as it is more difficult to find small purpose built apps for PC/MAC like you have on smart phones.  Calling them "phones" is just out dated as that is really no longer their primary function.  They are pocket computers! When you stop thinking of it as a phone and start thinking of it as a computer, it makes more sense why we are willing to spend so much on them... Wait, it's also a Camera.  But that's not all, it is a fitness device (or can be used as one). A GPS. Don't forget video conferencing.  Now, perhaps you don't want all those features.  That's okay, you can get a basic phone, but unless you are wanting to take ...

Essentially a smart TV is a TV with internet connectivity and apps. Smart TV's have a host of applications like netflix or you tube in order to adapt to the changing way in which we are consuming video. They may even have the ability to perform updates online and add apps. Long gone are the days when we were slaves to the TV station schedule in order to catch the next episode of Star Trek. Now we consume what we want, when we want, where we want, and a lot of us still prefer the TV.... once in a while. You can even plug USB/SD cards into some TV's and watch home videos/make slideshows right on your TV. But I wouldn't trust that smart TV to much. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/02/08/shocking-smart-tv-manufacturer-vizio-spies-on-customers-using-advanced-big-data-analytics/#1d1f34ad3a4f They could (and probably are) spying on us to get information.   Information is valuable to businesses because information can be sold, brokered, and used to sell mo...