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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.
Cloudy Confusion
Let's see if we can clarify some things about backup. Apple's iCloud, Microsoft's OneDrive, Google's Drive and other similar services like DropBox are cloud-based file-sharing services. What these companies offer is the ability to share files between computing devices. In reality, though, they aren't really what we would call back up companies. What's the difference? …
It’s Word Of Mouth
Do you own a small business or administer an organization? If you do, one place to advertise is Facebook because of the large number of users on this Social Media platform. (In the fourth quarter of 2018, 1.52 billion active users visited the social network on a daily basis.) We advertise there all the time …
3 Most Important Things
You know the old saying in real estate which tells the 3 most important things, right? When asked what are the three most important things when it comes to selling a home, business or property, the successful realtor always gives the same three answers: location, location, location! Bringing that same thinking to the computer world, …
A Different Kind Of Fishing
On January 29, 2019, I posted about phishing. (https://www.4kcc.com/blog/?p=774) Today, I'm posting about another kind of fishing - catfishing. No, not fishing for the "freshwater or marine fish with barbels resembling whiskers around the mouth, typically bottom-dwelling." Rather, pretending to be someone else online in an attempt to deceive others. There are some real horror …
If It’s On, It’s Updated
A few months ago, one of our customers logged into Remote Technical Support (www.4kcc.com/rts) for a Quarterly Checkup. His total time in Remote was about 15 minutes. Since there were no Windows Updates needed, most other updates each took just a minute or two. However, there was an update needed for Apple's iTunes. This was …
Grrrrrr
I love helping people with their computer problems. There's a sense of accomplishment when I can get a computer working again or steer my customer in the right direction. The feeling I get after I've solved a person's computer issue outweighs the stress of being an entrepreneur. Still, there are times during Remote Technical Support …
What’s Up?
Okay...it's not What's Up, it's WhatsApp. This app is one of the two I featured at our seminar this past Saturday. If you do any traveling outside of the US or if you need to be in touch with friends or relatives who are outside our borders, this is the app to have. Actually, it …
Morning, Noon & Night
At this past Saturday's seminar, I mentioned an app that can notify emergency help if you are in a car crash. A number of people have asked me for more information about the app so, here it is! The app is called Noonlight and it's more than just a car crash app. It's an emergency …
Deleting Might Not Help
At yesterday's live seminar, I talked about slow computers. One of the things people often say to me is that they removed a lot of pictures and documents in an effort to speed up their computer. Unfortunately, deleting data only speeds up a computer when there is less than 10% of free space. Using the …
Social Engineering: The Weakest Link In The Chain
When it comes to security online, the weakest link in the chain is, unfortunately, the computer user. That's you, that's me. Oh, there are other security issues - hence, updates to our software, etc. But, it's the person in front of the computing device's screen who makes up the most vulnerable aspect of the virtual …
Continue reading Social Engineering: The Weakest Link In The Chain
No-No, Don’t Do It!
Here's the problem: we all want our computers to run faster. It really doesn't matter that today's computers run like speed demons compared to the early years of personal computers. We simply want them to run faster. All computers tend to slow down over a period of time. This can happen because we add programs …
Let’s Go Phishing!
Take a look at this screenshot of an email I received yesterday: I've underlined and circled some things so I can point them out to you. The first thing of interest is the "From:" name and email address. Notice, it reads that it's from "[email protected]" but the real email address is showing and that address …
Secure Messages?
In this past Saturday's blog (Email - More Important Than You Think), we talked about how most people treat the security of their email too lightly. (Please read the blog if you haven't already.) One of our readers mentioned how her clients are often sending personal and financial information via Facebook Messenger or Chat. Not …
Email – More Important Than You Think
I recently read of a lady in the US who was selling her house in Australia. She made the mistake of sending some information via email and she lost a lot of money. She didn't know that scammers had intercepted her emails to the legitimate firm with which she was dealing. (Click on the button …
Let’s Come To Terms
After yesterday's post (Extensions: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly) was published, a number of people asked us about two terms we used. The first was "browser" and the second was "page redirect." Although I've tackled the definition of "browser" before (What????), I'll briefly repeat the definition here. A browser is software which interprets the …
Extensions: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
The picture above represents extensions: the good, the bad, the ugly. But, today's post isn't about hair extensions. Instead, it's all about browser extensions. "What is that?" I hear you ask! A browser extension is software which can be added to a browser to customize how the browser works. A good example is the Adobe …
A Social Media Pitfall
Social Media - it has its positive impact on people's lives everyday. There's an opportunity to interact with people from all corners of the globe without leaving your home or office. You can see sights you might never see in person, you can learn of other cultures and you can form friendships with people you …
Time Change
In yesterday's post, I talked about changing the time-frame of your search in Bing and/or Google. A number of people mentioned that they didn't know how you could do that. They asked if I could explain. So, here you go! Bing Search Go ahead and search whatever terms you want. After the results have appeared, …
It’s A Monday Cornucopia!
You'll recall that yesterday, I posted about the Super Blood Wolf Moon (http://www.4kcc.com/blog/2019/01/20/instead-of-going-to-bed-early/). The picture above was taken from our backyard at 12 Midnight. It was a little cloudy plus my iPhone X just couldn't get a closer view, so the picture's not great. If you look on Social Media, you'll see lots of people …
Instead Of Going To Bed Early…
Why not watch the Super Blood Wolf Moon lunar eclipse! Yes, there will be some excitement in the sky this evening over North and South America, as well as parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. It's a full lunar eclipse and it will be fun to see. Here are the facts according to NASA: the …
Smart Phone App Organization
Whether you own an Android phone or an iPhone, one of the biggest frustrations is the alphabetizing of apps. Both the Android and the iPhone have built-in features that will put apps in alphabetical order. Only, if you use the feature, you'll lose all your folders. Now, I don't know about you but I like …
Force Quit!
This post applies to Mac users (sorry Windows computer owners). Although it might not happen too often on a Mac, every once in a while, some program will freeze up and refuse to work. Customers will tell me that they have to shut down their Mac and restart it; otherwise, it is locked up. There …
Not Like The Old Days of Owning a Mac
New Mac OS malware samples increased by 9% in the 3rd Quarter of 2018. Total Mac OS malware grew 51% over the last four quarters. For years, Apple Mac users have bragged about the fact that they didn't need any protection on their computers. When it came to viruses, Windows won hands down. While there …
Caveat emptor
You didn't have to take four years of Latin like I did to know that "Caveat emptor" means, in English, "Let the buyer beware." It's a phrase we've heard for years and years and it's always been an important precept for making purchases. One of the many advantages of the Internet is that people are …
My Blog In Your Inbox?
I get it. It's a pain coming to my blog everyday to see if I've posted anything. I post 6 times a week but not necessarily 6 days a week. For instance, today, I'll be posting 3 times in one day. There's an easy way around this problem! At the bottom of each of my …
Windows 10 Upgrade
At yesterday's seminar, I mentioned that if you are running Windows 10 on your computer and don't have the latest edition (Version 1809), you can get it manually. In other words, if you don't want to wait for it to be pushed out to your computer, there's a place to download and install it yourself. …
Screen Time
At our live seminar yesterday, we talked about how iOS12 on Apple devices allows you to see how much time you're spending on your device. In fact, it shows you how much time in each app. Each Sunday, a notification appears informing you of your daily screen time average and adding the percentage of up …
Happy Birthday, Rod
Or... How I Used The Internet To Celebrate Rod Stewart's Birthday Today, January 10, 2019 is Rod Stewart's 74th birthday. In today's blog post, I'll explain how I used the Internet to celebrate Rod's special day. First, I had to find out that today is his birthday! I did that by visiting a site that …
One Billion People?
If you have a smartphone, you might consider installing the app WeChat. Through it, you can connect with one billion users! It offers chat (including group chat with up to 500 people), video calling (including group video calling with up to 9 people) and lots more. If you travel, it's nice because you can call …