A Funny Password Routine…
I know y’all hate passwords, imagine trying to tell others THESE passwords…
Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
Today I’m seeing in the tech press a warning about a new “zero-day” vulnerability in Windows. “Zero-day” means that bad guys are using it before the good guys even know about it (usually).
I know some of you read tech news and as a result get a little paranoid (I know because you call me 😂).
All you have to do is the same thing I ALWAYS tell you…
DON’T click on links in email or open an attachment UNLESS….. 1) you know who it’s from and 2) you’re expecting it. Don’t forget #2! Viruses spread in computers the same way they do in people, it’s usually from someone we know.
Keep your anti-virus up-to-date (if you’re using Windows Defender as I recommend it will do that for you) and enjoy your day.
Happy Thanksgiving!
KEEP Waiting for Windows 11
6 weeks ago I said I’d keep you updated, and I know y’all are starting to see notices from Microsoft that “hey, you can upgrade to Windows 11”. Well, I’m still saying don’t do it. I still haven’t found a single thing you will like more than what you currently have and may find a few things annoying. I’ve been using it for 3+ months and am still annoyed by it. Microsoft still has some more work to do before I’ll recommend you upgrade.
Upgrade to Windows 11? I’d Wait
Starting tomorrow, Microsoft will be making Windows 11 available for computers that meet the minimum requirements.
Should you upgrade? I wouldn’t, at least not right now. I (being the benevolent and always watchful Tek Chic) have been testing it for a couple of months now, and I can tell you there are many more reasons to NOT upgrade than there are to upgrade.
It feels like Microsoft is rushing it out, maybe to help PC sales this holiday season. I find it missing some features from Windows 10 that I think they’ll probably (and eventually) put back in. You can’t pin as many apps to the start menu, the icons on the taskbar are in the middle rather than the lower left. If you use Internet Explorer, it’s completely gone (you shouldn’t be using it anyway), and there seems to be some printing issues.
And frankly, I don’t see a single reason why it’s better. It doesn’t seem faster. You’ve got at least 4 more years of support with Windows 10, so I recommend y’all just stay with Windows 10 while they take the time to “finish” it. I’ll let you know when I think they’ve got their act together. 😀
LinkedIn Scraped
I was just informed that LinkedIn, where “Connect to Opportunity” also applies to criminals, was “scraped” back in April of this year. This is different than a hack. LinkedIn wasn’t hacked. What happens when you “scrape” a site is you are taking all the public information that is available (pretty much to anyone on the site).
So some bad guys scraped LinkedIn and got the following information: Education levels, Email addresses, Genders, Geographic locations, Job titles, Names, Social media profiles. Information that its users made public (by coincidence I closed my LinkedIn account just a month ago).
Bad guys may try to send email to people, adding personal information to make it seem legit or even masquerading as a LinkedIn message, so just be aware if you have a LinkedIn account and get an email claiming to be from them, it may NOT be.
The safest way to be sure when you get an email from ANY company, bank, etc. is to simply go to their site directly in your browser and log in there—DON’T click the link in the email. If it’s legit it won’t matter, but if it’s NOT legit, clicking the link could bring all kinds of trouble to you.
Stay safe folks!
Not So Fast with Windows 11
I know some of you are curious about Windows 11, but just wait until it comes out late this year or early next year. There is a virus-ridden version of the installer going around that you certainly don’t want to mess with, and even if you do it correctly (as I have) you’re still going to be using a developer’s version that I can assure you is still buggy and not fully complete. It also has hardware requirements that need a fairly recent computer, so those of you with computers maybe 5 years old may not even be able to run it (don’t panic, Windows 10 will continue to be supported by Microsoft through at least through 2025).
Functionally it’s like Windows 10, just looks different—so patience my friends.
The Rumors are True (Probably)
The rumors are that Microsoft is going to introduce a new version of Windows on June 24th. They certainly are announcing SOMETHING on June 24th.
It might be called just Windows, it might be called Windows 11, there’s even a chance they will continue with the current Windows 10 name—no one knows for sure. And the tech media makes is sound like they are coming out with it then, and that’s not likely. More likely is that whatever the announcement, it will be months (or maybe even next year) before it’s actually released for the public to use.
So just relax, worry about Covid or a vitamin D deficiency, but don’t get worked up about a new version of Windows. I’ll give you any pertinent details later in the month when we no longer are working with rumors.
Check if Facebook Leaked Your Info
You’ve probably heard about the over 500 million Facebook accounts that have had their personal information show up on a hacker’s site.
The great site https://haveibeenpwned.com/ had added the ability to check phone numbers to see if your number is out there. If it is then at least you won’t be surprised if someone who knows some of your personal information (name, etc., whatever personal information you have in your Facebook profile) calls and tries to scam you. Just be aware.
https://haveibeenpwned.com/ is also good for entering your email address to see if companies you do business with (or who have your information) have been hacked. You should change your password of any recently hacked accounts.
Your Facebook password wasn’t hacked, just your personal information – but Facebook isn’t planning on telling folks which ones were hacked, so they are leaving it up to you – good ‘ol Facebook.
Update Your iPhone/iPad and Watch
For all you Apple lovers with iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches, there’s a critical update you need to install now. Apple isn’t giving all the details, so it must be bad. Just do the update and you’re good to go (we hope).
https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-releases-emergency-update-for-iphones-ipads-and-apple-watch/
Don’t Spend Money on 5G (not yet)
Recently Google announced their Pixel 5G phones, Samsung is pitching their 5G Galaxy phones, and now Apple is announcing their iPhone 12 with 5G.
The problem is you will probably never get 5G speeds with this phone. Verizon’s version of 5G is by far the fastest, but unless you’re in a couple of buildings in Manhattan or in certain locations of sports facilities, you won’t see it where you live or at work for quite a while. AT&T’s version of 5G is just more of an enhanced 4G (they’re famous for doing this same trick in the past) and isn’t really 5G. T-Mobile’s speed is better than AT&T, but still they are in the process of building out their network for it.
You really won’t see wide-spread availability of 5G until 2022, and since the 5G radio in the phone is going to cost you around $100 extra—save your money and stick with the 4G version for now. If you’ve got a good 4G signal, that’s way more than enough to stream hi-def movies on your phone, what do you need more speed for anyway? 😃