2024 June eBytes
How to Turn Off Political Ads on Social Media
The Best Cheap Desktop PCs for 2024
Android 15 unveiled: Here are 8 exciting (or handy) features coming to your phone
How to Connect Your Android Phone to Your Windows 11 PC
Try Passkeys, But Keep Your Password Manager
How much tech can I get from Temu for $100 (and is it any good)?
I changed these 10 iPhone settings and improved battery life dramatically
The Best Free Software for 2024
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to Turn Off Political Ads on Social Media
As the 2024 election cycle amps up, political ads are more likely to infiltrate your social media feeds. Here's how to banish them from your Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) accounts.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-turn-off-political-ads-on-facebook-and-instagram
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Best Cheap Desktop PCs for 2024
You don't need to spend four figures to get a reliable home PC. Far from it—many of our budget desktop favorites are under $600. Check out our top labs-tested picks among conventional towers, gaming rigs, mini PCs, all-in-ones, and more.
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-budget-desktop-computers
This $299 Windows laptop is my new go-to recommendation for budget shoppers - The Acer Aspire Go 15 is well-optimized for everyday tasks and is the latest addition to Acer's line of budget laptops.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Android 15 unveiled: Here are 8 exciting (or handy) features coming to your phone
At I/O 2024, Google introduced more Android 15 features to the world. Here's what Android fans have to look forward to.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to Connect Your Android Phone to Your Windows 11 PC
Connecting the two lets you send text messages, see notifications, instantly grab photos, and even run apps from your Android on your Windows 11 PC. We show you how to get started.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-connect-your-android-phone-to-your-windows-11-pc
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Try Passkeys, But Keep Your Password Manager
The IT industry’s biggest players want you to use new tech to log in, but many websites aren't ready. Don’t ditch your password manager just yet.
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/try-passkeys-but-keep-your-password-manager
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How much tech can I get from Temu for $100 (and is it any good)?
Dive into my Temu shopping experiment. I spent $100 for 18 gadgets. Did I save money compared to Amazon and/or regret my picks? Read on to find out.
https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/smart-office/how-much-tech-can-i-get-for-100-from-temu/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I changed these 10 iPhone settings and improved battery life dramatically
If you're finding it hard to get through the day on a single iPhone charge, you might need to tweak some settings. Here's what to check.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Best Free Software for 2024
The right apps make everything easier. We've got more than 50 top-notch picks to help you be more productive, more creative, and more secure on your PC. And they're all free.
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/best-free-software
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Links - News, Tips, & Downloads
How to Prevent Facebook From Sharing Your Personal Data - Here's how to limit the data Facebook (and parent company Meta) shares about you or your friends via websites, games, or apps.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/prevent-facebook-from-sharing-your-personal-data
7 Features You Need in Your New Laptop (and 4 You Should Skip) - After testing and rating more than 300 laptops, PCMag's longest-serving reviewer has some good advice about essential features in your new PC and what's not worth your money.
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/the-11-most-overrated-and-underrated-laptop-features
What Does Malware Look Like? Check Out These Real-World Examples - Most people never come face-to-face with malware, but having tested security software for decades, we're not most people. Let's take a deep dive into the dark web to show you what malware actually looks like.
https://www.pcmag.com/articles/the-many-faces-of-malware-a-tour-of-real-world-samples
Forget Email: How to Send and Receive a Fax Online - If you don't have access to a fax machine, you can send and receive faxes right from your computer or mobile device.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-send-or-receive-a-fax-online
Best Robotic Lawn Mowers - You’ve already ditched your vacuum for a robot. Is it time to ditch your push lawn mower, too?
https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/lawn-mowers/best-robotic-lawn-mowers-a2310984432/
The Best iPad Tips and Tricks: How to Conquer iPadOS - Apple's tablet may look like a super-sized iPhone, but it has unique features even the most seasoned iOS veteran should learn. Here are the top hidden iPad features.
https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/ipad-tips-and-tricks-how-to-conquer-ipados
Modem vs. Router: What's the Difference? - Modems and routers are devices that provide internet access at your address. But is it necessary to have both, and what are the differences between them?
https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/modem-vs-router/
Change These Windows 11 Defaults the Next Time You Boot Up - Don't want Microsoft sneaking ads into your Windows experience? We'll walk you through what to change.
23 Google Maps Tricks You Need to Try - Google Maps is the Swiss Army Knife of apps, chock-full of navigation, geospatial-search, and customization tools. These tips and tricks will help you unlock its full potential.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/google-maps-tips-tricks
10 Must-Know Tips for Cleaning Every Electronic Device the Right Way - Spring clean your often-used devices without damaging them. We have tips for your phone, tablet, laptop, headphones, smartwatch, fitness tracker, game controller, and more.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/disinfect-clean-electronics-viruses-germs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ask a Question - Send any Tips & Downloads, Ask a Question, For Sale, or articles to: TheMiningPCC@gmail.com
**********************************
Q. From a PCC Member - Who needs a password manager? Who are the major audience, which age groups?
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. Password Managers are a must for everyone who uses any device. The audience is anyone with a phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. All ages. Younger people get hacked more than seniors, but because younger people have less money they lose less than seniors.
The average user has over 100 accounts/passwords to manage and should be changing. Most people would say they maybe have 10 to 20, but over the years with all the different services, sites, apps we all need a password manager. The days of using paper and pencil, notebooks, Post-Its, spreadsheet, Word document, and others have proven to not work. Almost everyone I know either does not know their password, has not changed it in years, reuses password, and many other bad practices. People use common passwords, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:10,000_most_common_passwords , that a hacker like myself can write a program to try all these and more in seconds to break into an account. A hacker can buy passwords from data breaches for under $1 per email on the dark web for your accounts. Everyone must protect and manage their passwords.
Scams and Identity Theft should also be a concern to everyone and have their own tips and tools to help.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. From a PCC Member Chuck Scott - You likely recall my presentation and / or our conversation about this topic on off the grid communications.
https://queticosuperior.org/no-longer-off-the-grid-phone-satellite-coverage-coming-to-bwca/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. From a PCC Member - Saw this article on Microsoft AI with newer PC’s. Microsoft AI “Recall” feature records everything, secures far less. https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2024/05/microsoft-ai-recall-feature-records-everything-secures-far-less
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. Sounds like a hole that will be fixed soon as the new PCs get rolled out. Since the recorded data is encrypted local data, a hacker would need to gain full access to your PC which would be exposing lots of security problems besides the Recall data. A hacker would install a keystroke logger to get passwords and other info before trying to search Recall data. For most people there are far more other security problems to worry about and protect themself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------