Things you should know is a unit of my in-person seminars. I've been doing this section for the last three seminars. It struck me that this might be useful information to pass on to you, my blog reader. That being the case, let's dig into a few of them! Capitalization Doesn't Count There are some …
Category: Training
Bad Computing Habits I See Every Day
In this post, I'm going to talk about bad computing habits I see every day. Because I'm a nice guy, I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand if you are guilty of any of them but I hope you'll change your ways! Always Searching For A Website That You Constantly Use This …
A.I. in Microsoft Edge
A.I. in Microsoft Edge! It's only the beginning! Soon, Google Chrome will have Bard. (I'm testing it now.) Welcome to the new world of computing! Remember What I Did? If you're a 4KCC Blog dedicated reader, you may recall my post from February 13, 2023: "The History of Artificial Intelligence: A Timeless Journey." You might …
The Old Devices And Printers
The old devices and printers - if you've been a Windows Control Panel user over the years, you're familiar with the picture above. I've always found it useful for troubleshooting, especially printer issues. Microsoft Makes A Devices and Printers Change Since Windows 11 first appeared, Microsoft has tried to move away from the Control Panel …
Even More Browser Features You May Not Be Using – Firefox
Today, we're going to look at even more browser features you may not be using. This post is a continuation of the series called "Browser Features You May Not Be Using." This is the third post. You'll find the first one which was all about Microsoft Edge HERE. The second one was about Google Chrome …
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A Different Kind Of Update
Today, I want to share a different kind of update. Yes, if you're a regular reader of my blog or if you watch my YouTube videos, you know I'm constantly preaching about updates. I always suggest that you update operating systems and other important apps on all of your computing devices. Even today, I'm posting …
Five Important Videos You Need To Watch
I want to share five important videos from our YouTube Channel. I realize this post will sound self-promoting but I promise you, it's based on what we are seeing in Remote and hearing over the phone. Why Do I Have A YouTube Channel? There are a number of reasons I have a YouTube Channel. At …
Filters, Filters, Filters
No, I haven't suddenly switched this blog from computing posts to air conditioning information. While the picture above shows airflow through a series of air conditioner filters, we're going to look at a different kind of filter. This filter IS computing related. Filter Definition In my post from October 8, 2020 (Crop Away), I talked …
Gmail Settings – Part 2
This is the second in a series in which we cover Gmail settings. As I said in Gmail Settings - Part 1, I know everyone doesn't use Gmail so you might be skipping this post. But, for those of you who do use it, I hope you'll learn some new things. Getting To Gmail Settings …
More Browser Features You May Not Be Using – Google Chrome
Today, I continue the series called "Browser Features You May Not Be Using." This is the second post in the series. You'll find the first one which was all about Microsoft Edge HERE. Reader Unlike Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome's Reader is (strangely) not turned on by default. Here's how to turn it on: Open Google …
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Browser Features You May Not Be Using – Microsoft Edge
Today, I start a series called "Browser Features You May Not Be Using." In each of these posts, I will select a particular browser and show you some features of which you may be unaware. We'll start with Microsoft Edge. Immersive Reader This feature doesn't show up when you're searching or on a page with …
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QR Codes
QR Codes are everywhere! Let's learn what they are, why and where we use them and how to use them. QR Codes - What Are They? QR is an abbrevation for "quick response." Basically, the QR Code is a two-dimentional bar code. The code was developed in 1994 by Masahiro Hara and his team of …
Three Common Computing Mistakes
We often see three common computing mistakes and I want to share them with you. We sometimes see them in Remote Technical Support, in a customer's home or business or over the phone. Take a look at these and see if you might be making one or more of them yourself. Failing To Update Account …
Fifteen Computing-Related Rules You Should Follow
I want to review fifteen computing-related rules you should follow. If you've been a customer of ours for a long time, most of these should sound familiar. The same is true if you've been a blog subscriber for a while. Unfortunately, we see people all the time in Remote Technical Support who aren't following some …
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Spammer Tricks
Today, I want to talk about a number of spammer tricks we are seeing all the time. Have you read my post entitled "Fighting Spam" or watched my YouTube video named "How To Eliminate Spam/Junk Emails?" If you have, you probably know that I recommend marking spam emails "Spam" or "Junk" rather than just deleting …
5 Questions And Their Answers From August 2021
I want to share 5 questions and their answers from August 2021 which have been brought up by our customers. As you probably know, after 15 years, I stopped writing the Question of the Week email. (See my blog post "2020 Finale.") Still, we are asked questions that others might be wondering about. With that …
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Computing Devices During Bad Weather – Part 2
As I mentioned in part one of this post, "Computing Devices During Bad Weather," every year around this time, I like to talk about our computing devices during bad weather. Why now? We're located in Florida and it's hurricane season, that's why! Even if you're not affected by hurricanes, all of us can be hit …
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Computing Devices During Bad Weather
Every year around this time, I like to talk about our computing devices during bad weather. Why now? We're located in Florida and it's hurricane season, that's why! Even if you're not affected by hurricanes, all of us can be hit by bad weather. With that in mind, let's explore what we should do with …
5 Important Blog Posts
Today, I want to share 5 important blog posts from the 579 I've published thus far. You might wonder why I would do this. Simple. A new reader of my blog asked me, "John, I don't have time to read all the posts I've missed. Which posts would you say are most important?" We have …
Always On? Off? Asleep?
I'm often asked this question: "Should I leave my computer on all the time or should I turn it off when I'm done using it?" While I'm also asked variants of this question, the purpose is the same: customers want to know about turning off their computers. My answer always starts with a negative. What …
Ignore Microsoft and Google
In my recent post, "Delete Now!," I explained through verbiage and a video the importance of NOT saving passwords in your browsers. I based my narrative on my own experiences; those opinions of well-known hackers and cybersecurity analysists; and the NZ Bankers Association which said in a post: "A common mistake that users make is …
Pic Stitch II
On October 27, 2020, I posted "Pic Stitch." I mentioned that if enough people showed interest, I'd create a YouTube video on our Channel covering the various aspects of the app. Well, here it is, enjoy: https://youtu.be/J5UG51L7Uj0
Better Late Than Never?
Yep, I pretty much missed it. Here it is, October 30, 2020, and I'm just now telling you that October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. I guess it slipped my mind since I pretty much think every day is a cyber security awareness day. This year, many websites - including the FBI - dedicated …
Speak The Language
Like many fields - think medical, legal, real estate - the computing world has lots of terminology which can be foreign to our normal thinking and even have double meanings. When we don't understand the terms being used, it causes loss of time, frustration and, sometimes, complete confusion. We see this all the time in …
Crop Away
No, not that kind of cropping! In this post, we'll talk about cropping a photo. Instead of the dangerous tool pictured above, we'll use the nice, safe crop tool found in photo software. Why Crop A Photo? Why would you want to crop a photo? There are a number of reasons including wanting to remove …
It’s Alive! It’s Alive!
https://youtu.be/0VkrUG3OrPc No, I'm not talking about Frankenstein and the monster! I'm actually talking about live tiles on the Windows 10 Start Menu. With apologies to my Mac and Linux readers, this post is strictly related to Windows 10. "What are live tiles?" I hear you ask. Great question! Live tiles are start menu tiles which …
Make Emails Stand Out
In my post of September 25, 2020 - Color Code Labels in Gmail - I explained how you can color code labels in Gmail. I made this statement: "Although Gmail doesn’t have the same robust color abilities we find in Microsoft Outlook..." Of course, I received several messages asking me what I meant by that. …
IMHO?
In my post, Third-Party, I used the acronym "IMHO." In the computer world, we use a ton of acronyms. Some of them are pretty easy to figure out, most are not. IMHO is a chat-related acronym and the fact that some readers didn't know what it means, led me to the idea of sharing some …
Third-Party?
Lately, we've been getting a lot of inquiries about email providers making customers use special passwords for third-party apps. To many people, this is verbiage they simply don't understand. I'm going to try to clear that up for you. Let's say you have a Comcast email address. If you open a browser and navigate to …
Fact-Checking Is Important!
Recently, a Facebook friend of mine posted a message she had copied from someone else. Here is the message: "I understand that some of us differ in our beliefs regarding COVID19. I also understand that many people will be downloading the COVID19 app. However, if I am one of your "contacts" and you intend on …
