How to Block Spam Calls and Texts in Android, Manually and Automatically

Source: Cameron Summerson, HowToGeek.com, October 25, 2017  It’s dinner time. You’re just sitting down when you get a call. On the other line, a robotic voice says: “We have important information regarding your credit accounts. Please hold to speak to a representative.” *click* How many times has that scenario happened to you or someone you… Continue reading How to Block Spam Calls and Texts in Android, Manually and Automatically

How to Protect Your Files From Ransomware With Windows Defender’s New “Controlled Folder Access”

Source: Chris Hoffman, HowToGeek.com, October 18, 2017  Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update includes a new Windows Defender feature designed to protect your files from ransomware. It’s named “Controlled Folder Access”, and it’s disabled by default. You’ll need to enable it yourself if you want to try it out. This feature is no substitute for good backups, which can… Continue reading How to Protect Your Files From Ransomware With Windows Defender’s New “Controlled Folder Access”

GOOGLE’S ‘ADVANCED PROTECTION’ LOCKS DOWN ACCOUNTS LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Source: Andy Greenberg, Wired.com, October 17, 2017  WHEN IT COMES to the eternal tradeoff between digital security and convenience, most tech firms focus their efforts on the vast majority of people who choose a painless user experience over a paranoid one. But Google is adding a set of features specifically targeted at those who prefer the… Continue reading GOOGLE’S ‘ADVANCED PROTECTION’ LOCKS DOWN ACCOUNTS LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Google Photos now recognizes your pets

Source: Dani Deahl, theVerge.com, October 16, 2017  Breaking mews from Google Google Photos has announced that it can now detect photos of your pet, automatically grouping them together the way it does with people. This means you will no longer have to type in words like “dog” or “cat,” as the algorithm will sort them for… Continue reading Google Photos now recognizes your pets

41 percent of Android phones are vulnerable to ‘devastating’ Wi-Fi attack

Source: Tom Warren, TheVerge.com, October 16, 2017  Every Wi-Fi device affected by some variant of attack A new exploit can allow attackers to read Wi-Fi traffic between devices and wireless access points, and even modify it to inject malware into websites. Researchers have started disclosing security vulnerabilities today, and it looks like Android and Linux-based devices are the worst… Continue reading 41 percent of Android phones are vulnerable to ‘devastating’ Wi-Fi attack

How to Enable a “Night Mode” in Android to Reduce Eyestrain

Source: Cameron Summerson, HowToGeek.com, October 12, 2017  They say that blue spectrums of light are bad for your eyes, especially at night when you’re more likely to be looking at your phone in a dark environment. This also supposedly leads to poor sleep, which leads to poor health. Here’s how to combat that on your Android phone.… Continue reading How to Enable a “Night Mode” in Android to Reduce Eyestrain

How to Block Spammy Text Messages on an iPhone

Source: Chris Hoffman, HowToGeek.com, October 9, 2017  How It Works (and What You Need to Know About Privacy) iOS 11 adds a new SMS filtering feature that allows you to automatically filter spam text messages in the Messages app. It works similarly to the call-blocking feature added in iOS 10. Once activated, you’ll have two tabs in… Continue reading How to Block Spammy Text Messages on an iPhone

GO UPDATE YOUR MAC ASAP TO FIX SOME SERIOUS VULNERABILITIES

Source: Wired.com, October 7, 2017  Apple Update Fixes Some Serious Security Flaws in macOS High Sierra On Thursday, Apple released the first update to High Sierra, the new macOS operating system that debuted at the end of September. And it’s an important one. High Sierra 10.13 had two disappointing credential security bugs at launch, but… Continue reading GO UPDATE YOUR MAC ASAP TO FIX SOME SERIOUS VULNERABILITIES

How to Regain Control of a Hijacked Twitter Account

Source: Michael Crider, HowToGeek.ca, October 4, 2017  Someone logged into your Twitter account, and that someone isn’t you. They’re probably a spammer hoping to inundate your followers with junk, or maybe a “hacker” (in a very loose sense) being paid to follow other accounts. It’s just possible that they’re intentionally targeting you and hoping to… Continue reading How to Regain Control of a Hijacked Twitter Account

Not All Ethernet Cables Are Equal: You Can Get Faster LAN Speeds By Upgrading

Source: Chris Hoffman, HowToGeek.com, October 3, 2017  Not All Ethernet Cables Are Equal Wired connections, which use Ethernet cables, are generally faster and have lower latency than Wi-Fi connections. But, just as modern Wi-Fi hardware has advanced, modern Ethernet cables are capable of communicating at faster speeds. For a typical home network, this isn’t a really big… Continue reading Not All Ethernet Cables Are Equal: You Can Get Faster LAN Speeds By Upgrading