In high school, History class was one of the two subjects that I just got so bored studying. Our study books were old editions and not up-to-date. Other teaching materials weren't too great, either. Nothing about History came alive for me. If only I had a computer and the Internet in those days. My historical …
Author: John Grubb
I've been working on computers since 1983! I love helping people resolve their computing issues and sharing preventative measures, as well.
What Would Steve Think?
In my post of June 26, 2020 - Bob Dylan Said It Best - I told you about some features of the new iPhone Operating System coming this fall - iOS 14. If you watched the video above of Steve Jobs introducing the first iPhone in 2007, you might get a hint of just how …
So, You Own A Mac And You’ve Copped An Attitude!
Throughout the computer age, many Mac users have taken on a superiority complex regarding their computer versus those who own Windows PCs. After all, there have only been about 100 known Mac viruses. Compare that to the known number of Windows viruses (way over 100,000) and you can see why a Mac owner might cop …
Continue reading So, You Own A Mac And You’ve Copped An Attitude!
Get “Linked” With Us
When you visit www.4kcc.com or www.4kcc.com/blog or any of our post pages, are you noticing the links at the top of the page? This menu at the top is really the place to go when you need to connect with us or find information, etc. Let me list the top-of-the-page links: 4KCC Home Page This …
Hacked & Attached!
Two days ago, Joyce and I separately received an email from one of our customers. It didn't look important to me so I didn't do anything with it when it arrived. Joyce, however, looked at the email and something told her it wasn't on the up and up. Yes, it was from our customer's legitimate …
Download Location?
For most of us, when we use a browser and download something, our download goes to the default location. (You may recall that "default" means how something performs when it comes from the manufacturer or the software creator without the user making any changes.) Usually, there is a folder labeled "Downloads" which resides under the …
End Of The Internet
You've been stuck at home to ward off the evil spirits known collectively as Covid-19. Some of you haven't stepped outside your home since early March. As a means of surviving, you've been glued to your TV and/or your computer. We're a computer company so we can't speak to your TV watching but we know …
Encrypted But Not Legit?
Those nasty scammers. They will do just about anything to try to steal your money. One of the things they've started to do is purchase security certificates for their bogus websites. They realize that most computer users have come to understand that the "s" in https:// stands for "secure." A website is secure when everything …
Banging My Head Against The Wall
There are times in the computing business when it does seem like I should just use the Stress Reduction technique outlined in the picture above. Earlier this week, in our Question of the Week email, I answered a question about my number one computing-related pet peeve. (If you haven't read the email, click HERE to …
Bob Dylan Said It Best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7qQ6_RV4VQ Are you an iPhone user? Are you an Android user thinking of moving to an iPhone? Well, brace yourself! There's a new iPhone operating system coming in a few months and there are some major changes. iOS 14 was just announced and "The Times They Are A Changin'." For some of you, you're going …
We Should Be Serving Breakfast Casseroles
It's June. Normally, here on the Treasure Coast, we'd be conducting our final seminar before our summer vacation break. For this seminar, Joyce always bakes two different breakfast casseroles, including my favorite - hash brown potato. Anne always whips up some breakfast dish, too. That means plenty of good eating for those who make it …
Can’t Sleep?
In the old days, if we told someone we couldn't sleep at night, we were often told "just count sheep!" I don't know about you, but that never really worked for me. Luckily, technology has provided a number of better ways for us to fall asleep when our brain doesn't want that to happen. If …
Fake BLM Email
As I've stated many times over the years and as I pointed out in the form of a warning in my recent YouTube video ("Using Technology To Fight Racism"), scammers will take every negative opportunity to try to steal your money. Whether it's a hurricane, a tornado, a flood or civil unrest, these thieves will …
Why Clear Browsing Data?
People often ask us to explain how they can delete the data in their browser of choice. Along with their request, they often also ask, "Should I delete the data? And, why would I want to?" This post will explain some of the data you can clear and why you might want to do so. …
God Mode – Windows
God Mode...not to be confused with the TV program which just got cancelled, "God Friended Me." God Mode is the Windows 8 & 10 software which allows you to see all possible settings in one folder. If there is any "Geek" in you, you'll love God Mode. Here's how to get God Mode: On your …
Dangerous Attachments
In the past view days, I've gotten dozens of emails similar to the one pictured above. The email subject always includes the word "Receipt;" the email comes from different addresses; and the email has an Excel spreadsheet attached. While you may be curious as to what's on the Excel spreadsheet, even though you might suspect …
Queue vs Cue
When it comes to our Remote Technical Support and the reasons people log in to us, printer issues are at the top of the list. When your printer won't print, there's always a level of frustration. They're supposed to just work but that isn't always the case. Of course, printer malfunctions often happen when you …
Chromium?
You may have heard some talk about Microsoft's new version of Microsoft Edge. Originally, Microsoft Edge would only work on Windows 10. The new version, now based on Chromium, can work on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 plus on the Mac OS, iOS and Android. Is Chromium the same as Google Chrome? Not exactly. Chromium …
Zero-Day Flaws – Update Now
There are still people who don't want to install Operating System (OS) updates - whether those are Windows Updates or Apple updates. Why are people hesitant to do so? Usually, people don't want to take the time to perform the OS updates or they heard that an update crashed someone's equipment. While it is true …
iPhone Spotlight Search
If you are an Android smart phone user, my apologies. This post is about a particular iPhone feature. Have no fear, though, I'll be publishing a post later in the week about an Android-only feature! Please be on the lookout for that post! Through customers and friends, I've found that the iPhone has a great …
This Isn’t The First Time
The Covid-19 pandemic we are currently experiencing is bad. But, it's not the first time we faced this kind of event. In 1918, the Spanish flu would kill tens of millions of people worldwide, including 675,000 people in the United States. In New York City, more than 20,000 died. Even in 1918, the government took …
Pandemic Causes Additional Scams
If you've been our customer for a long time or if you've read my blog posts, you know we're always talking about scams. These scams come in the form of phone calls, pop-ups and fake web pages. They also come in emails and text messages. Under normal circumstances, these scams are bad. Unfortunately, our current …
Send Greeting Cards
Another suggestion of computing-related things to do while you're locked down was to send cards to friends, relatives, etc. Of course, you can send paper cards but electronic cards are pretty neat, too. In fact, electronic cards are one of my favorite ways to send greetings. E-cards are easy to send and the sites I …
Address Book Mayhem
In a previous Question of the Week email, I listed a number of computing-related things you could do while stuck at home during the Coronavirus pandemic. One of those items was to clean out your address book. In the "old days" we used address books like the one pictured above on the left. Today, however, …
Stay At Home Task #2 – Part 3
In the last post, I used a video to demonstrate how to use the Bookmarks Bar. I mentioned in the video that, normally, you only put bookmarks in the bar for sites you use all the time. If you want to bookmark other sites – ones you would visit less frequently – you would store them …
Stay At Home Task #2 – Part 2
In my last post, I mentioned the Bookmarks Bar. There are a number of things you should know about the bar including: how to show or hide it, how to delete bookmarks (webpages) from it, how to rename bookmarks that are on the bar and how to get webpages onto the bar. You should know that …
Stay At Home Task #2
In my Question of the Week email this past Sunday, I listed a number of computing-related activities you could do while sheltered away in your home because of the COVID-19 virus. In the first post, I covered emails. In this post, we’ll switch gears and look at browser favorites a.k.a. bookmarks. When people read an actual book, …
Stay At Home Task #1
In my Question of the Week email this past Sunday, I listed a number of computing-related activities you could do while sheltered away in your home because of the COVID-19 virus. In the next few posts, I’m going to look at each one of the items and give you some “how to” information. Sometimes, my info will …
It’s Not About Price
You may or may not know this but we sell computers…and tablets…and monitors…and printers…and other computing-related devices. We are one member of a group which the industry calls “channel partners.” All major computer companies make models that only channel partners can buy. Likewise, they make models that only big box stores have. The two variations …
From The FBI
Yesterday, the FBI released a special scam warning regarding COVID-19, Coronavirus Disease. It points out many of the warnings I have already given you here on our blog. However, I think all our blog readers should read what the FBI has to say. I’m going to paste the exact bulletin here: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, …