2025 January eBytes
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The Best Tech We Bought This Year
The Best Online Photo Editing Software
The Best Live TV Streaming Services
What to Do When Your Computer Won't Start
How to Set Up Multi-Factor Authentication and Safeguard Your Online Accounts
5 Simple Steps to Purge Digital Clutter
4 top personal finance apps for Linux that run on MacOS and Windows, too
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The Best Tech We Bought This Year
We test a lot of top-tier tech gear here at PCMag, but these products are so good that our editors and writers actually went out and bought them outright.
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-tech-we-bought-in-2024
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The Best Online Photo Editing Software
Instead of installing a big, expensive photo editing application to spruce up your pics, use one of the best web-based photo editors we've tested. Bonus: Many of them are free.
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/best-online-photo-editors
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The Best Live TV Streaming Services
YouTube TV getting too pricey? Watch prime-time network shows, sports, breaking news, and more with these top, tested live television streaming services.
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-live-tv-streaming-services
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What to Do When Your Computer Won't Start
If your Windows PC won't start, don't panic (yet). Here are some troubleshooting steps to take when your computer fails to boot correctly.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-to-do-when-computer-wont-start
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How to Set Up Multi-Factor Authentication and Safeguard Your Online Accounts
Forget passwords. If you want strong online security, you need to be using multi-factor authentication wherever you can. Here's how to get started.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/multi-factor-authentication-2fa-who-has-it-and-how-to-set-it-up
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5 Simple Steps to Purge Digital Clutter
Cleaning up emails, documents, photos, and other digital junk can reduce stress and simplify your life. Here's how to streamline and declutter your devices.
https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/get-organized-how-to-start-purging-your-digital-life
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4 top personal finance apps for Linux that run on MacOS and Windows, too
Looking for a money app to get your finances in order for 2025? Here's why I recommend these open-source options.
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Links - News, Tips, & Downloads
Take a Look: The Best Smart Glasses - Upgrade your eyewear with glasses that can function as cameras, headphones, and AR displays. We've tested all the major models and have everything you need to know to pick the best smart glasses for you.
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-smart-glasses
Is this the end of Google? This new AI tool isn't just competing, it's winning - I have 75 million reasons why the future of search isn't who you think it is.
Don't Use AirTags on Pets. Try These Expert-Recommended Alternatives Instead - There are safer and more effective ways to track your pet than using AirTags, experts say.
Drowning in spam? Stop giving out your email address - do this instead - Don't take all that spam with you into 2025. Experience the life-changing magic of decluttering your inbox with these simple tips.
Google Wallet Adds Support for US Passports, But There's a Catch - For now, this feature can only be used for US domestic flights. It's not valid for entering or exiting the country yet, so it'll initially function more as a backup form of ID.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/you-can-now-pass-through-airport-security-using-your-google-wallet
Amazon's Echo Devices Compared: Which One Is Best for Your Smart Home? - Shopping for an Amazon Echo for Cyber Monday? We've reviewed the current lineup, so before you spring for an Echo Show smart display or Echo smart speaker, check out the key differences between each device.
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/amazons-echo-lineup-whats-the-difference
How to Turn Off Live Photos On Your iPhone (and Save Storage Space) - Live Photos turns iPhone pictures into looping mini movies. But they take up a lot of space. Here's how to turn it off in the Camera app and on existing images in Apple Photos.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-turn-off-apple-live-photos
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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 - I have a laptop that is old and I have replaced. How do I erase the disc contents. I have performed a factory reset. I want to be sure the data on the disc is erased before I recycle the laptop. I know there is an app called killdisc but is there a no cost way to do this?
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. A factory reset makes it about 99% safe. A professional hacker might be able to restore files that were deleted and not written over. Very Very unlikely anyone would be able to recover.
Not sure what your plans are for the laptop. If you take it to a recycle place like Best Buy they will destroy the drive. Some people I know will destroy the drive themself by using a drill on the drive or putting the drive into a fire to burn it. There are free programs to delete files so they can not be recovered, but you already reset the PC so they can not identify the files and locations. These program do multiple writes over the file so there is no trace of the old data.
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Q. From a PCC Member Mike Griffin - This is a good historical overview from IEEE.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/from-punch-cards-to-python
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. I attended a presentation she did at 3M back in the early 1980s. She gave every person who attended the meetings a physical nanosecond which was an 11.8" piece of wire. This is the distance that electricity travels in one nanosecond. Not sure where my nanosecond went. At the time at 3M we had no terminals and did everything on punch cards.
From PCC Member Chuck Scott - Yup, I heard the same presentation and talked with Grace afterwards. I recall that she had the dirtiest dress white navy uniform that I had ever seen. She was a Rear Admiral. I remember Hollerith cards very well. In the early days of my IT career I used them extensively and even punched up program cards which made using a punch card machine easier and faster. I spent a considerable amount of time on sorters and collators. All of this was well before my days at 3M.
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Q. From a PCC Member - We have a little trailer in a park at Square Lake in Stillwater. it’s a very low area and Verizon has the only towers that get service to the park. The park does not offer wifi.
we have Xfinity for our two cell phones and have their 3gig data plan, which works fine for us when we have wifi access…xfinity uses the Verizon towers. But, at the park we go over 3gig very quickly, because of no wifi. So, the monthly bill goes from around $38 to $140. Would this portable wifi “thing” allow us to get wifi at the park?
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. Sounds like it might have been a Verizon Home Internet "WiFi" device? You could get wifi in your trailer with a Home Internet device, but the cost would be more than getting an unlimited cell phone data plan if that is all you need and use? You can see what apps on your phone are using data in the phone settings and maybe adjust what you are doing to limit cell data usage. https://www.theverge.com/24067924/iphone-ios-data-usage-apps-how-to
There are other ways to get home internet depending on the location maybe from Xfinity, Centrylink, StarLink, and others, but cost would be $50-$200 month.
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Q. From a PCC Member - Just wondering if you think this source is trustworthy and the discount too good to be true? https://www.droid-life.com/2024/11/26/verizon-10-per-line-loyalty-discount-returns-with-old-trick/
A. From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. The source and info does not look like a scam. The links in the site point to the real Verizon site and the process to get the discount is repeated on several other sites like Reddit. Discounts or coupon codes like this are common from many companies and can expire at any time.
The real question is, is your current plan with a $10 discount the best deal for you? There are 100s of plans from the major three vendors AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile along with 100s of 3rd party plans like Consumer Cellular. Which plan is best for YOU varies depending on factors like number of people, cell data used, coverage, how you buy your phone, other devices (watches, tablets,,...), and many other factors.
Example: I have a T-Mobile plan with unlimited talk & text and 3.5GB of mobile data and pay $15 a month. This is the best plan for me.
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