Practical Help Library

iOS “Masque Attack” – much ado about pretty much nothing

November 13, 2014

A reader asks… Hi Chris, I’ve been reading a warning about a new “Masque Attack” on iPhones and iPads, is there anything I need to do to protect myself? This is another great example of an otherwise-insignificant issue that the media (and government!) blows all out of proportion. Why? To sell eyeballs – to advertisers. Since the Apple iPhone/iPad duo is such a security hot button, anything that potentially knocks these products is given a lot of attention. Too much […]
Home Depot says only Emails were compromised

November 11, 2014

A reader asks… I just got an email from the Home Depot telling me that they’ve been hacked (took them long enough), and their note says only my email was compromised. But I’ve read that the hackers stole payment information including credit card numbers and other identity information. So who do I believe? I find it sadly kind of funny that you just received this when the breach was broadcast all over the place months ago! Thanks for sending me […]
Why can’t my Mac screen show on my Apple TV?

November 10, 2014

A reader asks… Hi Chris, I have vision problems, and want to get my Macbook Pro’s screen to show up on my big-screen TV. I have an Apple TV hooked up, but can’t get the Mac to display up there – there’s no Airplay icon showing on my Mac’s screen. Can you help? Here’s a picture of my menu bar: I’m sorry to hear that you’re having problems seeing the Mac screen, are you already using Accessibility options? I’d suggest […]
How Road Warriors Can Make Using the Internet in Hotels Easier

November 6, 2014

Frequent travelers, road warriors and people who spend a lot of time staying in hotels have a continuing beef with the way hotels serve up internet access. The problem is that some hotels do things one way, some do things another way. Some make it easy to use the internet, some make it hard. Some charge extra for internet access, and some include that in their room rates. Some give you a lousy login screen you have to go through each time you want […]
Beware the Monstrous Fox!

November 5, 2014

We are starting to see a more efficient (for the bad guys) method of phishing appear: huyao which means Monstrous Fox in Chinese. In typical phishing attacks, the bad guys create a near-exact duplicate of an existing website (usually an online shopping, credit card or banking site) and entice people to accidentally log into that site instead of the real one. This gives the bad guys your login username and password, which they can then use on the real website […]
Get me out of iCloud T&C Hell!

November 2, 2014

A reader asks… Hi Chris, I’m in hell! I upgraded my iPhone 5 to iOS 8.1, and all was fine till today. I started getting this popup on my screen saying that I had to accept the new terms and conditions for iCloud. I did it the first time, and a few minutes later got a new popup – almost the same except that I only get two choices – Not Now and View Terms. Tapping the Not Now option […]
Use iCloud Safely – (semi) Quick Tips Part II

October 31, 2014

In Part 1 we covered the basics of securing your iCloud account against hackers. But if you’ve got sensitive and private photos or information on your computer or iOS devices, the next thing to consider is protecting against government snooping. Apple is just as subject to court orders as you are, so you have to expect that your information might be snooped by someone. You’ll be considering whether keeping anything ‘in the cloud’ is for you. Not just iCloud, but any other cloud-based storage […]
Use iCloud Safely – (semi) Quick Tips Part I

October 31, 2014

There’s been a lot of angst about Apple’s iCloud service lately, with a lot of incomplete or misleading information. So I thought I’d try to clear the air after researching the salient facts from authoritative sources. The tips below should certainly be considered ‘my opinion’, but I hope my readers will trust my intent to be objective. In the interests of keeping this missive short enough to keep your attention, I’m not going to cite sources or give a lot […]
How to trade photos without using your data plan (iOS)

October 30, 2014

A couple is sitting at a restaurant having dinner. The waiter offers to take their picture so one gives her iPhone to take the picture. The other wants a copy of the picture for his iPhone too. What do they do? have the waiter take another picture with his iPhone use iMessage to send the picture from her iPhone to his (which uses the data plan allowance for both) use AirDrop to send the picture between iPhones A lot of […]
Sea change coming for how we pay for most anything

October 29, 2014

A member asks… Hey Chris, I’ve got a new iPhone 6 and am just loving Apple Pay! But I’ve been hearing rumors that there’s something else coming out soon that’s better. Can you tell me what’s going on and what I need to do? Thanks! A sea change is coming to our purchasing world. Here in the USA, by the end of next year we all get new credit cards to replace what we have now. That’s because Visa, MasterCard, American […]
Making the font size in Outlook bigger or smaller – on purpose or by accident!

October 29, 2014

If you use Outlook, you may have accidentally encountered a situation where all the text in messages changes to larger or smaller size. This happens when you accidentally activate a “keyboard shortcut” but didn’t mean to (or even know you were doing so). Outlook in particular, and almost every program in Windows or Mac systems come programmed with a whole slew of these keyboard shortcuts, which often consist of pressing two keys simultaneously, or pressing one key and doing something with your […]
iOS8’s ringing is driving me crazy!

October 24, 2014

A member asks… Hey Chris, I updated to iOS 8.1 on my iPhone and iPad, and also upgraded to OS X Yosemite on my Mac. Everything’s great except for one problem – now my iPad and my Mac ring everytime my iPhone rings! That’s annoying, can you tell me how to shut that off? I agree, not all new features are desired with a new version of iOS, but fortunately this particular feature is easy to turn off. The multi-device ring […]
Making your small biz website mobile-friendly

October 22, 2014

A member asks… Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My weblog looks weird when browsing from my iphone 4. I’m trying to find a template or plugin that might be able too correct this issue. If you have any suggestions, please share. With thanks! Website design has come a long way, and so has web browsing. In 2013, over 17% of all worldwide web traffic came through mobile with Asia and Africa leading the way for […]
iPhone ate my auto-correct!

October 20, 2014

A member asks… Hi Chris, I updated my iPhone to iOS8, and love the new ‘predictive’ keyboard feature. This is where I see words as I’m typing appear above the keyboard and I can tap them to select (instead of typing the whole word). That’s a great improvement over the old auto-correct. Trouble is, the darn thing disappeared yesterday! Can you help me get it back? That is a nice new feature of iOS8 that both predicts what word you […]
My Old Bitdefender – how to get the new one?

October 17, 2014

A member asks… I took your advice and purchased Bitdefender Internet Security 2013 a few years ago. I’ve renewed the subscription twice now so it’s still actively protecting me, right? But it still shows as version 2013, and I think there must be a newer version out there. Can I upgrade without having to pay again, and if so, how? I’m glad you took my advice back then, Bitdefender Internet Security has been a great no-frills tool for protecting your Microsoft […]
Handycam Recommendation?

October 16, 2014

A member asks… I’m just getting ready to start doing some video for my business and saw that you’ve got a ton of videos already online. Do you have any recommendation for an entry-level video camera for a small business to get? Thanks! Congratulations! I think that integrating video to your small business marketing plan is a great idea! Here are a few thoughts on this subject, if you want, please use the comments to give me a better idea […]
Maintaining your Computer – Mac or PC

October 9, 2014

Yah, I know it’s a chore that you want to put off indefinitely, but please don’t! You need to do a set of routine maintenance tasks every month or so to keep your computer working for you, not the other way around. This is true for both Apple Macs and Microsoft Windows computers. This is a lot like maintaining your car (oil changes, etc.) to keep it running trouble-free. The maintenance list isn’t really onerous for either type of computer […]
How to Get iPhone Contacts into Gmail’s Contacts

October 5, 2014

Here’s your situation: You just upgraded from a cellphone to a smartphone-specifically the Apple iPhone. You are resisting going “all Apple” and you have a Gmail account. You want to use your shiny new iPhone with Gmail, but the geniuses at the Apple Store aren’t all that helpful – they were pushing you to setup an iCloud email account and start using that. They were helpful enough to copy all those contacts from your old cellphone to your iPhone. The […]
3 Things to Know about 2-Factor Authentication (and some advice)

October 2, 2014

Let’s face it, if you’re like most people, in your digital life you: use your email address as your username use a password that’s less than 13 characters long use a simple password (like 123456, abcdef, or some combination of letters and numbers that relate to you somehow) use the same password at more than one online place don’t use a password manager or really do much to manage your online identity Here are some simple facts: Nowadays, professional hackers […]
Automatic Backup using Cloud Storage

September 29, 2014

One of my almost-famous sayings goes like this: “97% of people don’t bother to backup. But of the people who suffer a hard drive crash, 100% of them regret not doing so.” Everybody giving advice in technology says the same thing – backup your files. Yet almost nobody bothers to do this. Why? It’s too much work, too complicated, too hard, or takes too much time. So let me propose a simpler way to take care of this chore. Google users can install Google Drive on […]
Update your Apple TV

September 24, 2014

Update your Apple TV to version 6.0 (update, as of Dec. 2014 the latest version is 6.2.1). Apple has released (2nd time’s a charm!) this version of the operating system. This update adds some nice new features like iTunes Radio and AirPlaying your iCloud content on other Apple TVs. I should note that this update was initially released last week, but Apple quickly pulled it when they realized that it was not working well for some users. If you were […]
iOS8 for your iPad or iPhone – Upgrade=YES!

September 19, 2014

Apple has released the latest version of their operating system for iPads and iPhones, iOS8. While anyone buying a new iPad or iPhone will get that automatically, if you already have one, you may want to get the free upgrade. Whether you should do this or not is the first question. Here’s the answer: It depends. On which model of iPad or iPhone you have. The chart at right (click it to show full size) shows which devices are compatible […]
Easy Access for Road Warriors – Practical Help’s Tip of the Day #TOD010

September 15, 2014

Here is how road warriors can make using the internet in hotels easier. Frequent travelers, road warriors and people who spend a lot of time staying in hotels have a continuing beef with the way hotels serve up internet access. The problem is that some hotels do things one way, some do things another way. Some make it easy to use the internet, some make it hard. Some charge extra for internet access, and some include that in their room […]
Windows 8.1 Window Borders are Annoying!

June 10, 2014

A member asks… This is a rather minor issue, but I was trying to make the border (and all the various colors) on windows darker, but in Windows 8.1 I don’t see any color schemes that do that, and I can’t find any menu that gives the level of color control that came with earlier versions of Windows. I’m talking about the desktop, of course, and not the metro interface. I just find that light colors are distracting around videos, […]
Digital Egg Timer #139: Using Picasa and Google Albums

May 1, 2014

This Digital Egg Timer is a quick shot of Practical Help for Your Digital life. Pam Willenz shows you how to download Picasa, organize your pictures and set up Picasa to manage your photos better. And don’t worry about taking notes, we have a handy, printable tip sheet link below for our members. This is the Digital Minute that’s embedded in our show, ‘Post-PC Era Tips’ – PHYDL #3. In this series, Your Tech Coach gives you practical and helpful […]
Charge your iPad and Keyboard at the same time!

December 17, 2013

A member asks… Is there a dual charger for the Logitech ultrathin keyboard AND the Apple Ipad-Mini that will charge both instruments from one outlet? Short answer: Yes, see the link below for a dual charger we believe will fit your needs. Both the iPad and the Logitech keyboard use the same USB standard for charging – in terms of voltage. When you purchased them, they each came with their own charging cables. The keyboard’s cable ends in a Micro-USB […]
Change your Email Password Now! – Practical Help’s Tip of the Day #013

December 15, 2013

As you read this, bad guys are illicitly hacking into thousands of email accounts. Why? because it’s so easy. It’s my opinion (most would call this a ‘fact’) that 90% of all email accounts in the world are secured with a simple password that can be easily discovered or cracked. If you think you’re not in this group, please consider carefully: Is your password at least 13 characters long? Does it contain at least one of each of these: a capital letter, a […]
Bluetooth Woes – my dongle bugs me!

December 12, 2013

A member asks… Every time I boot I get a message about InstDev from Toshiba, which I understand has something to do with Bluetooth. I’m not on a Toshiba laptop, but I have had an external bluetooth thingie in a usb port, so that’s probably where it came from. I can remove it with some utilities that I’ve found online, but I would like it if you could recommend a utility because some of them are filled with crapware. After […]
Considering a Home Generator?

December 11, 2013

A member asks… I’m considering getting a home generator since my neighborhood is older and it seems like the power goes out all too often. I know I could get a portable emergency generator, but I need something more… Can you give me some advice on what to consider, options and all that? Thanks! Buying a home generator can be a lot like buying insurance – you can pay a little and get bare-bones coverage, or pay a ton and […]
Supercharge Your Home Wireless Network – Practical Help’s Tip of the Day #TOD005

December 10, 2013

Chances are, you are getting your internet service from one of the big providers, Verizon, Comcast, or Cox. And you likely got a wireless router from them that provides wireless access in your home. But what if you have a large home, or an older home with walls that block the signal – you’ll have ‘dead’ spots where you can’t connect to your home network. What can you do? The quick answer is to: Make sure your home router’s antenna is firmly […]