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TECH TALK

MORE TECH TALK WITH JOHN RUDY: Another Scam…

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DEFENDER SCAM

by John Rudy

Scams continue to be a major problem, and all of us need be very careful about them.  Some are fairly obvious as they contain poor English, but others seem almost reasonable.  Let me address one that I recently received.

Before showing it to you, let me mention that Windows Defender is important software from Microsoft that is part of your operating system.  It protects you from viruses and is the Microsoft default product for this service.  Many purchase other products from Norton and other companies because, until recently, Defender and its predecessors were deemed insufficient.  In general, though, that is not the case today.  And, as I said, it is FREE.

So this is what I received as an email (I’ve compressed it a bit). If this is sent to enough people who actually respond, they will receive a lot of money.  Two weeks ago, I received a very similar scam, but that one was only asking $299.

DO NOT call the “toll-free number” provided.  Just delete the message and move on!

===================================================

Thank you for your order.

Your order number: #5327271724162153

This is your receipt make sure to print or save a copy for your records.

Your order has been shipped through online delivery.

If you want to cancel this order, Give us call on our toll-free number:-  (704) 764-1190

Your Order Information:

Order Number: #5327271724162153

Customer Number: 0008547896 

Order date: 05/18/2020

Items Ordered: 1

 Your Billing Information:

Total Amount: $499.99

Payment Method: Visa Credit/Debit Card/Net 500
Your Shipping Details:
Shipping Method: Online
Product Detail: Download File

Thank you for your recent order with us. If you have any questions or want a refund for this order, Please call on our Toll-Free Number: (704) 764-1190

We all need to be particularly careful these days as there are predators out there trying to take advantage of our fears.

BOLLI “Matters” feature writer John Rudy

A long-time technology expert and guide, John provides his helpful hints in this regular BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, be sure to provide John with questions,  comments, or suggestions future tech items to cover. 

TECH TALK

TECH TALK WITH JOHN RUDY: MALWARE

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Malware

By John Rudy

Unfortunately, this is a subject that must be discussed with some frequency, and no matter how conscientious you are, there are still risks.  So, my objective here is merely to provide a bit of education.

  1. Can I get infections on both PCs and Macs? Some years ago my son, who had a Mac, said that there were no viruses on Macs.  He was partially correct.  The bad folks who were writing malware (and that is a VERY BROAD WORD and I will not discuss the subtle differences between different kinds) concentrated on PCs.  Why? Because there were more of them, and they were densest in government and large businesses.  If ones objective is to cause problems, go after the folks with lots of computers.  In recent years, there have been some changes; Apple now holds about 13% of the PC market.
  2. It is very important that you have anti-malware software on your computer.  Most computers come with decent packages.  With Windows 10, you now have DEFENDER which, when it first came out, was fairly weak.  Now it considered to be quite strong.  So you might think you’re OK.
  3. In general (there are a few exceptions), you cannot run multiple anti-virus packages simultaneously. They conflict.  That means that, if you purchase Norton and install it, Defender will be de-activated.  Every year, several organizations rate the packages that are available, and the popular ones are generally quite good.  Some vendors provide a free version as well as one you can buy.  The free one always has less capability.  Stick to the one you purchase.
  4. When a new virus appears, all the vendors work very hard to upgrade their products to address it. But there will always be a lag.  One source says “More than 317 million new pieces of malware — computer viruses or other malicious software — were created last year.”  Many are very similar and can be addressed in bulk, but take my word for it that there are a lot out there.  You want to deal with a large company with sufficient staff to address this.
  5. Some bad actors address bugs in software. When vendors are made aware of such a problem, they fix it and put out a new release.  This can take some time. My rule of thumb is to keep all my software, not just the operating system, as up-to-date as possible.  Many products, when they are installed, give you the option to automatically download new releases when they become available.  Some pros disagree with this because sometimes new releases have new holes.  But unless you plan to keep up with all this, just keep your software  up to date.  Think of this as closing your door each time you are told it is open.
  6. There are a number of other products that are useful to run periodically because they provide some other protections. I’ll address them another time.
  7. When you get an email from an unknown source beware. Every email system is different, but usually on the top line it will show the email address from which it was sent.  Today, I received one from events@mg.goldstar.com.  I happen to know that Goldstar is a company from which I buy discount tickets, so I opened the URLs that were referenced.  But if it had come from “goldstam.com” I hopefully would have noticed the typo and just deleted the message.  Recently, I got an email that looked like it came from Fidelity.  The address was something like fidelityadvisor@comcast.net.  I know that if Fidelity is sending me an email that the name after the “@” sign will be Fidelity, and it would not be coming from Comcast.  Thus, I deduced that this message was bogus.  The message said that I had an account problem and it wanted me to click on a url to verify some data.  I didn’t.  I just discarded the email.  Occasionally, I have gotten a note that looked suspicious, and I called up the company at a number I knew was good (not the one they supplied on their message) to find out if the note (paper or email) was legit.  Recently, I received something from one of my credit card companies that looked funny.  I called the number on the back of my credit card and to my surprise found that the document I received was legitimate. But I’m glad I did the extra checking.

Bottom line: be wary.

?Tech Talk” feature writer John Rudy

A long-time technology expert and guide, John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, provide John with questions,  comments, or suggestions future tech items to cover. 

TECH TALK

SEPTEMBER TECH TALK: Saving Money on Gas

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SAVING MONEY ON GAS

by John Rudy

Gas is expensive, and it is easy to locate at least two stations near your house where the price difference is as much as $0.25 per gallon.  Of course, the least expensive one may not be so a month later.  What to do?  Examine www.gasbuddy.com

A 20 cent/gal difference (for regular) is about $3 for a fill-up which might result in $100 over the year.  And this is just as useful on a trip where you might think about pulling off (and away from) the highway.  The map below is for places near my house.  See the huge variation.

BOLLI Matters “Tech Talk” feature writer John Rudy

A long-time technology expert and guide, John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, provide John with questions,  comments, or suggestions future tech items to cover.  

TECH TALK

AUGUST TECH TALK: TSA Pre-Check

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TSA PRE-CHECK

by John Rudy

For the last decade the process of getting through an airport has become increasingly onerous.  For some time, TSA has been providing a short-cut if you are willing to shell out $85 for 5 years, meet certain conditions (not being a convict or mentally impaired), and go for a 20-minute interview.  I live in Lexington, and the closest places for me to go for the interview were in Billerica and Waltham, each only about 20 minutes away from my house.  When I went to enroll, each had over 1,000 openings which was quite a surprise.

Go to the enrollment site https://www.tsa.gov/precheck, click on “apply now,” and just follow a series of screens which are well annotated.  Ten minutes later, you have the opportunity to pick your appointment.  They will then send you a text or an email (your choice) confirming the appointment.

An easy process to follow in order to avoid those long, long airport lines.

BOLLI Matters “Tech Talk” feature writer John Rudy

A long-time computer expert and guide,  John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, provide questions or comments for John on any computer/tech topic .

TECH TALK

JULY TECH TALK: WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET?

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WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET?

by John Rudy

Summer tends to be peak travel time, so here’s a tip about safeguarding your wallet–at home or abroad.

I suspect that few of you know exactly what is in your wallet, so if it is stolen or lost, you might have a problem.  But even if you know what cards you have there, do you know the card numbers and you how to contact the organizations so that they can be frozen?

The solution is a small spreadsheet:

Card Description Card Number Contact email Contact Phone
       
       

Then, put it in a place so that, if the wallet is stolen (even in Europe), you can get to the data.  I will leave that part up to you!

BOLLI Matters “Tech Talk” feature writer John Rudy

A long-time technology expert and guide, John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, provide John with questions, comments, or suggestions for future items on any computer/tech topic .

BOLLI Monthly Features, TECH TALK

APRIL TECH TALK WITH JOHN RUDY: FACEBOOK

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Remove Third Party Apps from Facebook 

by John Rudy

Unless you live under a rock, you know that Facebook interfaces with many apps that use your Facebook ID as their login.  You know when you sometimes try to log into a site and see something like, “would you like to log in through Facebook?”  This can be helpful.  As with many of my articles, I was triggered to write this by reading Kim Komando’s blog, something I recommend to all.   (https://www.komando.com/)

Facebook is now saying that they will automatically delete apps you have not used in 3 months (we’ll see if that happens), but they are  also giving you a mechanism to delete many app links in bulk.  I did this and found that there were linkages to almost two dozen apps, many of which I knew nothing about.  Here is the process I followed:

  1. Log into Facebook and at the top you will see a triangle .  Click on the triangle
  2. This will give you a pull-down menu (I’m showing a piece of it) and one of the options is “settings”. Click on it.

3.That will bring up a new screen which includes the word “apps”. Click on Apps.  This will bring up a screen with A LOT OF APPS.  There may only be room to show you a portion of them so you can go through the next step multiple times.

To the right of each app is a small box, very hard to see.  Click on those apps you do not need/want and then at the top of the page there is a box called REMOVE.  Click on it, and the app links will be removed.  I removed 23 app links this morning.

  1. On the same screen where you clicked on APPS there is a place to click on PRIVACY. There are eight options you might want to look at to determine whether you want to limit who can see what you have.  Of course this restriction didn’t seem to hold when Facebook provided user data to a third party.

There is a lesson here for all of this:  anything you put on the computer, and that includes all emails you send or receive, texts and pictures you send or receive, should be assumed to be in the public record.  This is why I have recommended that you put a freeze on your credit bureau accounts, and that you use credit cards NOT debit cards.  The credit card companies will protect you if someone steals your card.  When I use a credit card in a restaurant, I ensure that it stays where I can see it, and is not taken to a back room for processing.  Same at gas stations.  Today, we all need to exercise caution.

BOLLI MATTERS Tech Talk feature writer, John Rudy

A long-time computer expert and guide, John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, provide questions or comments for John on any computer/tech topic.

john.rudy@alum.mit.edu (781-861-0402

TECH TALK

MARCH TECH TALK WITH JOHN RUDY: EMAIL

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Email Issues

Some Advice from John Rudy

I have said before that you need to be careful when dealing with emails.  I’ll go through a number of issues here, of widely varying importance, but you should take each seriously.

  • Reread your email before you send it. Some email systems have spell or grammar checkers (and other associated products can be acquired).  If they don’t, it is still amazing how many stupid errors you discover by rereading what you have written.
  • Make sure you know who you are sending something to. This may sound obvious, but if you get an email from, say, a Yahoo group, the default might be “reply all.”  Maybe you would prefer that your response only go to the sender or to another individual.  Many years ago, I remember saying something like “what a stupid email” and sending it before I realized it went to about 400 people.  Once an email is sent it cannot be stopped.
  • When you receive an email, you think you know from whom it came. In many cases, if you hover your cursor over the TO name and press the right key on your mouse, you can see the sender’s address.  Other times, it will be posted at the top of your message.  Here is one that I received from Goldstar that looks legitimate:

On the other hand, here is a message that I purportedly got fromWells Fargo You should be very careful before clicking on a URLyou are unsure of.  If I thought that maybe it was legit, I would have called my Wells Fargo broker to inquire.                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Look at the sending address.  Just a Comcast address, and the person who sent it has an odd name.  I was positive that this message was NOT legitimate.   The message then went on to sa:

And it wanted me to click on the URL it provided.  That would be a really bad thing to do!  (Note that clicking on the address above will not connect.)

  • Sometimes, scammers are really tricky. Here is one that Kim Komando references on her blog.  Doesn’t it look real?  It sure does, but this technique is call phishing: “Phishing is the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and money), often for malicious reasons, by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.” From Wikipedia.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
“Tech Talk” writer John Rudy

A long-time computer expert and guide,  John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, provide questions or comments for John on any computer/tech topic .

john.rudy@alum.mit.edu (781-861-0402)

 

 

TECH TALK

TECH TALK WITH JOHN RUDY: A LITTLE TECH HUMOR

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There is only so much technical advice that I can give and that you will accept.  So, for a change of pace, I’m providing material in part provided by Ron Levy and Mike Segal.  But who knows where jokes come from?  Even those which show attribution might well be taken from elsewhere.  So my apologies in advance.  And if anyone is easily insulted, this is a good place to stop.

A LITTLE TECH HUMOR

We had a power cut at our house this morning, and my PC, laptop, TV, DVD, iPad & my new-surround sound music system were all shut down.

Then I discovered that my mobile phone battery was dead, and to top it off, it was raining outside, so I couldn’t play golf.

I went into the kitchen to make coffee, and then I remembered that this also needs power, so I sat and talked with my wife for a couple of hours.

She seems like a nice person.

*

Many computer problems are rather easily resolved.  Have you ever done something and got a Microsoft error message like this?

*

An email arrives one morning:

Hi, Chris, this is Alan from next door.  I have a confession to make.I’ve been riddled with guilt these past few months and have been trying to pluck up the courage to tell you to your face, but I am at least now telling you in text as I can’t live with myself a moment longer without you knowing.

The truth is – I’ve been sharing your wife, day and night, a lot lately. In fact, probably more than you. I haven’t been getting it at home recently, but that’s no excuse, I know. The temptation was just too much. I can no longer live with the guilt, and I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies and forgive me. It won’t happen again.
Please suggest a fee for usage and I’ll pay you.

Regards, Alan


Chris, feeling insulted and betrayed, grabs his gun and shoots his neighbor dead.  He returns home, pours himself a stiff drink, and sits down on the sofa.  Taking out his phone, he sees a subsequent message from his neighbor:

Hi, Chris, this is Alan again from next door.  Sorry about that typo on my last text. But I expect you figured it out anyway and that you noticed that the darned Auto Correct changed “WiFi” to “Wife.”

Regards, Alan

*

And then, there’s the doctor…

A man walks into an optician’s office.

“Doctor,” he says, “I’m having real trouble using my computer.  Unless I’m looking right at my keyboard, mouse, or printer, I just can’t see any of them.”

“Ah”, said the optician, “I know what’s wrong. You’ve got a problem with your peripheral vision.”

*

Need a password?

I needed a password eight characters long so I picked “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”

*

And now for the final one…

Three engineers were riding in a car: a mechanical engineer, a chemical engineer, and a Microsoft software engineer. The car stalled, and they rolled it to the side of the road.

The mechanical engineer popped the hood, looked in, and said, “Look. The drive belt is loose. All we have to do is tighten it up, and the car will work just fine.”

The chemical engineer replied, “No, that’s all wrong. The problem is fuel contamination. We have to drain the fuel, filter it, and then everything will be A-OK.”

The Microsoft software engineer told the other two, “No, I’ve seen this problem before. We have to get back in the car, close all the windows, shut down the car, get out, get back in, start up the car, open all the windows, and then it will run.”

Back to important stuff next month.

BOLLI Matters “Tech Talk” writer John Rudy

A long-time computer expert and guide,  John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, provide questions or comments for John on any computer/tech topic .

john.rudy@alum.mit.edu (781-861-0402)

 

TECH TALK

DECEMBER TECH TALK WITH JOHN RUDY: SOME INTERESTING WEBSITES

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Some Interesting Websites

I always enjoy being educated and amused.  Here are a few websites that you should be aware of due to their huge amount of interesting data.  My favorite is Netflix, but that costs about $10/month, and I’ll only discuss free items here.

  1. Stumble Upon https://www.stumbleupon.com/

When you first go to this site, it asks if you want to become a member and then gives you a wide variety of subject areas to choose that represent your interests.  It asks for 10, but you can provide fewer, and the list of options is enormous.  Don’t worry about picking them perfectly; they are easy to change.  Once you provide some other information, like your name, you are ready to go.  A few times a week, you’ll receive email with links to about four articles that are chosen because StumbleUpon thinks you will find them interesting.  There are thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons on each article, and if you click on one, you are telling the system that, in fact, you enjoyed (or did not enjoy) what it provided.  This will further identify your interests.  I find that about 50% of what it now sends me is very interesting.  Articles are short, usually about 2 pages.

2.  IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. These two sites provide insight into movies and TV. Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/ aggregate reviews, categorizes them as positive or negative, and then averages them.  They provide two scores: one based on general viewers, and the other bsed on professional reviewers.  I have learned that my preferences frequently do not align well with the professionals.  The site also allows you to purchase tickets.

IMDB is similar though it has a lot more information on the movie and links to all the directors, cast, etc.  I always check both when considering whether to watch a movie on TV. http://www.imdb.com/  IMDb also provides, if available, show times and the ability to purchase tickets.

  1. Youtube is one of my favorite sites and I use it all the time. I decided to see if he movie Gladiator was available there for free.  Frequently movies are noyt, but in this case it was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwEWOro5o7Y.   Last year I considered buying tickets for a concert and there was a piece of modern music on the program.  I suspected that I wouldn’t like it and worried that it was going to be long.  So I did a YouTube search, found it was 7 minutes, listened to it and enjoyed it, and bought the tickets’

I love the old tap dancing movies of Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, etc.  When you search for something on youtube, it then provides a set of links to similar material so that I can watch this for hours.  See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T45iRSvxaVM .

Then if you follow the links, you can find The Nicholas Brothers who I suspect most of you are not familiar with.  Here is a spectacular number of theirs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNKRm6H-qOU&index=2&list=RDEBqSBVxUKM4 .

Or see the Clark Brothers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNVDBH_z8VA&index=5&list=RDEBqSBVxUKM4

And I’ll leave this section with my favorite Triplets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjW_yvrC0cE .  This looks impossible but how did they do it? By balancing on artificial legs strapped to their knees, Fabray reports; they fell dozens of times before getting it right and relied on pain-killers.

  1. Find the best price for something. PriceGrabber http://www.pricegrabber.com/ and Google Shopping https://www.google.com/shopping .  Both sites look at hundreds of places to purchase a particular item and tell you the best on-line or brick-and-mortar location.  Obviously do this when you have decided what you want.  Using Price Grabber I did a search for a ream of copy paper and got back a pretty good deal.

Let me finish with something a bit creepy.   https://www.deadmansswitch.net/.   You write emails and store them.  Periodically the system will send you an email asking if you are alive.  If you do not respond then the system will send the emails.  Batter be careful if you change your email address, though!

“Tech Talk” writer John Rud

A long-time computer expert and guide, John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, provide questions or comments for John on any computer/tech topic .

john.rudy@alum.mit.edu (781-861-0402)

TECH TALK

NOVEMBER TECH TALK WITH JOHN RUDY: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

by John Rudy

Artificial Intelligence has been around for 50 years and describes the environment where computers are able to do things that one normally associates with humans.  Years ago, there were computer programs that could easily beat most folks at backgammon, checkers and chess.  More recently the chess programs have become so good that they can routinely beat even the best players, and just this year, a Go master repeatedly lost to a computer.  But these are games.  Where does this technology apply to us?  And should we be worried?  There are many examples of how artificial intelligence can be beneficial to us.  Here are just four that can help to better understand the field.

  1. Language translation. A number of companies provide language translation, but the consensus is that the free Google software has recently become excellent.  https://translate.google.com/   I know this is a little hard to read, but on the left you can specify a language (there are about 100 available) or even let Google guess the language from the vocabulary.  On the right, you specify the language you want it translated into.  In addition to providing text as input, you can provide a URL (a web page) and it will translate that.  Try it out, you’ll be amazed.  Note that if your computer is set to receive voice input, you can do it that way too.  The translations are not perfect, but they are pretty good.

  1. Smart phone translation. There are many programs available on smart phones to provide instantaneous translation into other spoken languages.  So, you can go to a restaurant in Albania and talk onto your phone and it will speak to the waiter in Albanian.  This is truly amazing!  I’ve seen these products work but do not own this capability.  Here are some ratings of available products.

For iphones see:  http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/iphone/best-translation-apps-for-iphone-2017-3599462/

For Android phones see:  http://thedroidguy.com/2017/03/5-best-android-translation-app-for-your-next-foreign-business-or-vacation-travel-1067355

  1. Robot companions. The last few years have seen the emergence of “robots” that can be your companions, scan peak to you, answer questions, and perform tasks.  Once again, this has its plusses and minuses as revealed when one of these units placed online orders for a child and charged the costs to the adult-provided credit card.  The Amazon Echo starts as low as $50 though there are higher priced, more functional versions. Check which of these functionalities below are available on the unit you are investigating.  Google and others have competitive products, but Amazon currently has 70% of the market.
  • Plays all your music from Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, etc as requested by your voice
  • Ask Alexa to call or message anyone with an Echo, Echo Dot, or the Alexa App.
  • It can hear you from across a room with far-field voice recognition, even while music is playing
  • Answers questions, reads the news, reports traffic and weather, reads audiobooks from Audible, gives info on local businesses, provides sports scores and schedules, controls Amazon Video on Fire TV, and more using the Alexa Voice Service
  • Controls lights, fans, TVs, switches, thermostats, garage doors, sprinklers, locks, and more with compatible connected devices from WeMo, Philips Hue, Sony, Samsung SmartThings, Nest, and others
  • And whatever it doesn’t do now–just wait a year or two.
  1. Pattern Recognition. For many years, it was assumed that humans were particularly adept at pattern recognition.  Recently, though, it has been shown that this is not the case.  Let’s take the example of mammograms.  Computers were taught (“machine learning”) by being given thousands of x-rays and told which ones had tumors.  When the computer made a mistake on a new picture, the correct answer was provided which further refined the database.  https://www.sciencealert.com/ai-analyses-mammograms-30-times-faster-and-20-more-accurately-than-doctors  The machines are getting better and better.  There are many objectives: to catch more real tumors, avoid false positives (with attendant biopsies), read them faster and for less cost.
  2. Many companies are using AI to refine their marketing and help consumers. Here is one I like.  Netflix asks me to rate, on a 1-5 scale, how I like a movie.  Further, it asks how frequently I view movies of that genre (I might have loved Still Alice, but hate movies of that type).  Subsequently, it gives me a Rudy-score when I consider another movie.  This is much better than IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes which knows nothing about my personal likes and dislikes.  Other companies, like Amazon, provide a similar ability to rate what I get.

To conclude, let’s briefly discuss the Singularity.  This is the point at which computers become smarter than humans and are able to take advantage of it.  Think The Terminator.  Some very smart people like Steven Hawking and Elon Musk are worried.  See http://time.com/3614349/artificial-intelligence-singularity-stephen-hawking-elon-musk/  Musk recently called for the establishment of national or international regulations on the development of AI.  In some ways, this is like the limitations placed on cloning, yet the Chinese and others are violating those rules.  I don’t expect that advances in AI will slow down, and the implications are as great as those resulting from the Industrial Revolution.

In this blog, I’ve provided links to a number of articles on elated subjects.  Let me know if this is useful.

BOLLI Matters blogger on all things tech-related and food-centered, John Rudy

A long-time computer expert and guide, John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, please provide questions or comments for John on any computer/tech topic .