2022 April eBytes
Best free tax software 2022: Free online tax filing
Make Sure Your Emergency Info Is on Your Phone's Lock Screen
How to KonMari Your Way to a Happier Digital Life
From Michael Griffin PCC Mac Sig Leader
9 Venmo Settings You Should Change Right Now to Protect Your Privacy
Chromebook vs. Laptop: What Can and Can't I Do With a Chromebook?
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Best free tax software 2022: Free online tax filing
Professional tax preparation services are great programs for those with complex tax filings. But many online programs offer free tax software for those with simple returns.
https://www.zdnet.com/finance/taxes/best-free-tax-software
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Make Sure Your Emergency Info Is on Your Phone's Lock Screen
This simple tip could save your life: Put your medical information and emergency contact numbers on your phone's locked screen so that they're accessible to first responders and anyone else who needs to help you. Check and update not only your own phone, but also your family member's phones.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-add-emergency-info-to-your-phones-lock-screen
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How to KonMari Your Way to a Happier Digital Life
Whether or not you've read Marie Kondo's books or seen her Netflix series, we've distilled how to apply her life-changing magic to your devices, apps, and social media.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-konmari-happier-digital-life
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From Michael Griffin PCC Mac Sig Leader
Here is a good article from PC Mag on the range of malware. Written for mere mortals and good examples. The Many Faces of Malware: A Tour of Real-World Samples
Most people never come face-to-face with malware, but having tested security software at PCMag for decades, I'm not most people. Let's take a deep dive into the dark web to see what malware actually looks like.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-many-faces-of-malware-a-tour-of-real-world-samples
Systems on a Chip are becoming common. Interconnecting multiple “chiplets” on the same substrate has been a hot and non-trivial topic. With some bus width reaching 256 bits or more (i.e. - M1 chip), things will only get worse as multiple chiplets need to be interconnected in the same chip Major players are getting together to find common ground here. Check out this overview on UCIe from “Tom’s Hardware”.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/new-ucie-chiplet-standard-supported-by-intel-amd-and-arm
Here is another interesting compilation from PC Mag with a good historical range. You can decide if the choices were truly flops:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/biggest-software-flops-of-all-time?
PC Magazine did a nice summary explaining USB-C and its capabilities. In case you were curious
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-is-usb-c-an-explainer
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9 Venmo Settings You Should Change Right Now to Protect Your Privacy
Payment apps like Venmo and CashApp are convenient, but the privacy risks can be scary.
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Chromebook vs. Laptop: What Can and Can't I Do With a Chromebook?
Sure, a laptop has more functionality, but maybe you don't need all that.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/chromebook-vs-laptop-whats-the-difference
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Links - News, Tips, & Downloads
How to Free Up Space in Google Drive - Is your Google Drive always on the verge of being full? Learn how to track down and delete files shared with you, large videos, PDFs, and stuff you no longer need.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-free-up-space-in-google-drive
Beloved creator of the GIF dies following complications from COVID - Steve Wilhite, the creator of the GIF, died at age 74 due to complications from COVID-19. Read in NPR.
https://apple.news/A-T5A3ULDSjW9EGuLBc-RdA
How to Properly Prep Your PC for Disposal - Before you recycle or resell your old PC, there are several steps to take to preserve your data and privacy, from transferring software to wiping your machine.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-properly-prep-your-pc-for-disposal
How to Find a Lost Windows Device - Can’t find your Windows laptop or tablet? No need to worry, if you’ve enabled a helpful option called 'Find My Device.'
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-find-a-lost-windows-10-device
Best Webcam Deals: Save $100 on Razer Kiyo Pro, $20 on Logitech StreamCam Plus and More
It's time to stop using your old webcam and upgrade to something better. Here's how to do it without going broke.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/best-webcam-deals
Best Wireless Range Extenders in 2022 - Does your home Wi-Fi network need an extra room's worth of coverage? A range extender might be just what you need.
https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/best-wifi-extender
Best encryption software 2022: Protect your data - From home officers to on-premise, hybrid environments, and cloud solutions, we have you covered.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-encryption-software
10 Easy Ways to Make Your Android Phone Less Annoying - If constant notifications, shifting screen brightness, or hard-to-find apps on your Android phone are a source of frustration, tweak these settings to get the most out of your device.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/easy-ways-to-make-your-android-phone-less-annoying
12 Simple Tips to Speed Up Windows - Learn how to make your Windows 10 and 11 PCs run faster without compromising their appearance or functionality.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/12-tips-to-speed-up-windows-10-windows-11
Turn a Slow, Old Laptop Into a Speedier Chromebook for Free - Don't send your PC or Mac to the landfill just yet.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/turn-a-slow-old-laptop-into-a-speedier-chromebook-for-free
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Ask a Question - Send any Tips & Downloads, Ask a Question, For Sale, or articles to: TheMiningPCC@gmail.com
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Q. From a PCC Member – When I turn on the Hotspot on my phone and then connect to it with my laptop it says Connected but No Internet? I am in Mexico on vacation is that the problem?
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. Being in Mexico is not the problem. When you use your phone and turn it into a Hotspot it makes your phone act like a WiFi router that you can connect other devices to. The message you see is telling you that your laptop is “Connected” to your phone so you have setup the Hotspot and logged into the phone fine. The “”No Internet” is saying that the laptop is not able to get to the Internet using this connection. Your phone must not be able to connect to the Internet due to no cell data service, weak signal, or the cell phone tower connection to the Internet is down. There is no setting in the Hotspot to turn Internet on or off. Try to use a browser on the phone to see if the phone can connect to the Internet. Place your phone in a location to get the strongest signal which is usually near a window and up as high as possible.
The member sent an email that if they tried it out on their deck it was working fine, so inside the room they were not getting a good connection from the phone to the cell tower.
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Q. From a PCC Member - How to remove "Shared With Me" files (someone else's) from Google Drive; e.g. 3M PC Club files. Won't let me delete. I have tried to research but not able to figure it out. Also I have received lots of images from family that I want to remove the Shared With Me Folder too.
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. If someone shares a file with you it will show in your “Shared With Me”. Go to Google Drive and On the left, click “Shared with me”, Right click the file you want to remove, Click Remove. This works great if the person who “Shared” only gave you “View” permission, if you have “Edit”, the remove can delete the file on the person who shared drive. Also, shared files are not using space on your Google Drive, they are only links on your drive. The member was a touchscreen Chromebook and had to figure how to bring up the right click memu.
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Q. From a PCC Member - Is it difficult to sync a single folder with MS OneDrive? How about a couple of folders? How does OneDrive compare to Google Drive for syncing folders?
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. OneDrive works almost exactly like Google Drive, so I would use them based on the tools you use like Google Docs/Sheets or Microsoft Word/Excel. Both provide the option to Sync files both up and down by. OneDive sync will create a …Documents\OnDrive folder on you PC. You can create and put files and folders in the directory. You can also setup photos or other directories. I personally use both OneDrive and Google Drive, but do not turn on Syncing due to the sync software always running and slowing down your PC. All my edits and views of the data on my multiple devices does not require any sync. I do backup the files about twice a year by manually downloading them, but those files are just used as a backup.
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Q. From a PCC Member – At the Q&A meeting we talked about replacing your Xfinity or CentryLink Internet with the new 5G WiFi that can be had for $50 month. A member had converted and his comments are in the March eBytes. I wonder if you could take that T-mobile cell modem on the road for vacations?
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. The T-mobile cell modem is only for use in your house to a cell tower near you and will not work on vacation. I also talked about the issue that Airlines were trying to stop/delay 5G because some old planes had landing radar that used a frequency that is close to what 5G uses.
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Q. From a PCC Member – Was having trouble answering a phone call on her new Samsung phone.
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. Suggest you practice by calling from another phone. Most phones you need to swipe and can take some practice.
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Q. From a PCC Member - Any recommendations on a home security camera (outdoor and/or indoor as well)? We are looking to install at several points (garage, back yard, front yard, front door).
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. First you need to figure out exactly what you want for the entire system.
* Indoor (do you need to zoom or move 360 degrees)
* Outdoor (wired or battery). No light or with lights.
* Cloud storage, local storage, or none. Only events or constant for X days?
* Notifications – Normal movement or AI (people & pets)
* Wireless or wired
* Hub system or each camera requires it’s own WiFi connection
* Integrates with other smart devices (Alexa, lights, etc.)
* Use as security or for monitoring
* 2 way talk and alarm
* Quality 720, 1080, or 4K
* Is your home network and Internet able to support the connections and bandwidth. More cameras and higher quality require a faster network.
You can spend as little as $30 for each camera or as much as $600. You can spend nothing for cloud notification and storage to $100+ a month depending on the number of cameras and what is stored.
Example of low cost monitor: I monitor my 95 year old dad with a $35 Wyze camera that has no other charges and includes limited notifications stored in the cloud for free.
There are many cameras and plans because each person or house has different requirements.
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Q. From a PCC Member – Several members said they had not seen PCC emails to renew their membership.
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. They could have ended up in the Spam folter. Gmail like all email services is trying to figure what is spam and move it there. In the past Gmail used simple rules checking for certain emails addresses, subjects, or words. About three years ago Gmail added "AI" learning. By default Gmail looks at how you interact with your email using "AI" learning. Example: If you delete two or more emails from a sender without reading them it thinks that you want all future emails to go directly to spam and not in your inbox. That is why it is important to check your your spam/junk "False Negatives" for emails you do not want blocked. Check out the Oct 2021 PCC Meeting, I talked about this and recommend that people turn off a number of settings including the ""AI". For most people the "AI" causes more problems than it fixes. I am not a fan of this "Feature".If they did end up in the Spam folder they are deleted after 30 days so only the last two could be in Spam. The other place they could be is Gmail automatically "AI" attempts to organize your eMails into Folders like Important, Social, Updates, Forums, and Promotions as part of the "AI" so those do not show in your Inbox folder.
People can select the "All Mail" folder and do a search on "paulebert" to find any emails from you in any folder.
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Q. From a PCC Member - We are now in need of a printer and looking for any recommendations (you or the group). I have googled but sure get a mix of answers. We would use the printer to print Word docs, Excel docs and photos. I did google pros and cons of ink jets versus laser jet printers and I think we are leaning toward ink jet printers. I know there are now eco tank ink jets and they sound promising. I am looking for any thoughts / suggestions you might have.
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. Check out the PCC meeting in Jan 2019 for info on Printers. The links from PCMag have the Best Printers for 2022:
https://sites.google.com/site/theminingpcc/future-meetings/past-meeting-files
Personally I have a B&W Cannon Laser printer. I send my photos to a Walgreens near me and usually have them in about an hour. The color is better and the cost is less.
If you must have color photos at home, go with an ink jet tank.
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Q. From a PCC Member - I keep getting a message from OneDrive that “You’ll need more storage to keep syncing files”. I think we talked about OneDrive but I did not know that files were being synced. Do you think I actually need more storage or should I just forget about it?
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. At some point you installed OneDrive which is the Microsoft Cloud Storage. Depending on when you started, you get 5-15 GB of free cloud storage and then can pay a monthly fee for more space. By default it backs up any files or directories in your ...Documents\Ondrive directory and your photos. You should uninstall OneDrive if you do not use it and delete the files out in the OneDrive cloud: https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/signin/
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Q. From a PCC Member – Comment on PCC Survey with 18% of members list “unknown” for computer memory. I’m always in that camp. If someone made me, I suppose I could look up my memory, but I really don’t know. I do know (barely) what it is for my smartphone. Once I buy it or start using it, it is what it is!! You’re probably thinking “how can you not know”, whereas I’m thinking “how do all these people (besides Tom) know?” HA HA!!?
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. Your computer memory and other info like CPU and OS version can be found in Windows "Settings\About". This is important if you are running more software than you have memory and the OS then need to swap software in and out of memory. Your PC would appear to be slow or locked up. Windows 10 by itself uses almost 6 GB. Games, Video editing, and having 10 Browser tabs open take lots of RAM.
I would guess that 95% of the members do not know the RAM on their phone or tablet. You failed. RAM is memory used by the CPU to run your OS and software. You are thinking of the Storage\Memory that is used as a hard drive to store your photos, video, software, and OS. Most new phones have 4 GB RAM and 128+ GB Storage. The Storage memory when it is not a physical hard drive is also called SSD "Solid State Drive" memory because it is on chips with no moving parts.
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