Onsite Computer Repair in Reno. Call 775-313-1951
Reports around the internet show that google has started their gmail update. With some new features like a brand-new sidebar, snooze and Smart Reply, Confidential mode. And more obvious security warnings about suspicious emails added and redesign of the user interface. Initial impressions are overall good. But it might throw few people off when they log in and see the new look.
Windows 10 Spring Creators Update seems to have missed it’s April 10th tentative release date. Rumours indicate a bug has stopped the update from being release to the general public.
When Microsoft was asked about the delay they replied in typical CORP-SPEAK with…
“We’re excited to release the next update to Windows 10 and we’ll share more when we’re ready.”
So in other words you will get it when you get it. lol 🙂
But at least it gives end users a bit more time before the next major slowdown of their computers.
This past week the FTC has started putting manufacturers on notice that they must honor their warranties and stop interfering with their customers right to repair equipment themself or have an outside company perform repairs for them. Therefore enforcing the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975.
What this means to regular consumers is that they no longer void their warranty when they decide to try and repair an item such as a computer or they hire a outside company such as RenoGeek to do computer repairs for them.
They even took note of the Warranty Void stickers we see on most electronic devices, stating that such stickers are both misleading and illegal.
What this means for the average computer user is that they no longer need fear losing their warranty if they repair their equipment or hire somebody to do it for them.
It’s also evidence that the government will take action against the growing trend by some companies like Apple, who try and make their computers almost “repair proof”. In other words, they try and design a product that is very hard to almost impossible to repair to insure customers buy new equipment or send their equipment back to the manufacturers for repairs that in general are much more expensive than the going rates at most repair shops.
So score one for consumers this week. 🙂
While Facebook has been on the bad end of the news cycle for a time now with all their privacy issues. It might surprise some (or not) all the information Google keeps on you.
Searches, visited websites, tablet and phone access and more. A warning here if your on a shared computer (everybody using the same browser and account) you might not want to see this.
But if your curious how much google has on you click the link to your account information… You can also delete this information from this page. Which I might suggest becomes a new habit for you.
https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity?utm_source=my-activity&utm_campaign=my-act-restricted
Somebody found a flaw in the way gmail treats email addresses with “.” in the email address. To put it simply if my email address was james@gmail.com but somebody sends an email to j.ames@gmail.com. Gmail assumes it is for james@gmail.com and sends it to me. Even though the address is not mine. In other words gmail ignores periods in email addresses.
Why is this bad? Well it makes it easier to trick you into thinking you are getting a legitimate email from people and companies when in fact you might be getting setup for an attack. How would this attack work?
A hacker can sign up for common services like netflix, hulu or amazon prime and use the suspect version of your gmail address. From there when they are done signing up they can order products or services with a bogus credit card number and when it fails you (the one with a good gmail address) may get an invoice or request to update your credit card from these companies and you might assume it’s your normal bill and pay it.
This would then mean the hacker got you to pay for services because gmail assumed the bogus address was yours and you thought it was legit because it came from a service you use already.
How to protect yourself beside deleting your gmail accounts? Always check carefully where and email came from AND who it was addressed to. For any email asking for money or account information.
As of this writing Office 365 seems to be down for most people worldwide. Microsoft confirms via twitter, but no ETA about when it will come back.
Time to start looking for that Office XP install disk, lol.
In Europe a new law, the General Data Protection Regulation or (GDPR) is about to take effect. This new law will help insure that Europeans will have increased privacy protections. Preventing many companies from data mining their users personal information. In a phone interview with Reuters yesterday Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook declined to confirm that these new protections would be universally implemented. Skirting the issue. This would imply then that if you don’t live in the EU you will not be enjoying the same protections that millions of others will have by default.
When you combine this and the Cambridge Analytica / Facebook snafu, in which 50 million users privacy was ignored and their experiences on Facebook polluted via ads trying to push a certain political view, it does not look good for the privacy of the average American using Facebook.
So as has been always the case, you will have to be in charge of your own privacy while using the Internet. As these bigger companies are turning computer end users into their primary product.
So implement all the privacy changes that experts have already been talking about for a long time. Use https everywhere, privacy badger, popup blockers, VPN’s and of course go into the privacy setting on Facebook and set them to more secure settings.
Not sure how to do all this? Call your local Computer Expert, RenoGeek.
Short post today.
Seems like cloudflare wants to get into the DNS (Domain Name Server) business. They are promising faster and more secure name resolution along with not storing information for more than a week. Should give google and opendns a run for their money. If you want to try it yourself (at your own risk) change your computer or router settings to 1.1.1.1 or 1.0.0.1 and you can check them out at…
https://1.1.1.1/
US cert has issued an alert (about 5 years late) regarding Tech support fraud. Where fake antivirus companies pretend to be Microsoft or some other well known company and demand that you must “fix” your computer or be reported or even arrested if you do not immediately comply with their demands for money.
I have written about this for many years, so it is nice to see when the government catches up with the rest of us in the computer support world.
Some of the highlights from the alert are…
HOW THE FRAUD OCCURS
Initial contact with the victim typically occurs through the following methods:
Telephone: A victim receives an unsolicited telephone call from an individual claiming the victim’s device or computer is infected with a virus or is sending error messages to the caller.
Search Engines: Individuals in need of tech support may use online search engines to find technical support companies. Criminals pay to have their fraudulent tech support company’s link show higher in search results hoping victims will choose one of the top links in search results.
Pop-up message: The victim receives an on-screen pop-up message claiming a virus has been found on their computer. In order to receive assistance, the message requests the victim call a phone number associated with the fake tech support company.
Locked screen: The victim’s device displays a locked screen with instructions to contact a faketech support company. Some victims have reported being redirected to alternate Web sites before the locked screen occurs.
The report goes through a few different attack scenarios but in the end comes down to not doing anything a new popup or person cold calling you on the phone tells you to do.
If you see such a popup or get the phone call, hang up and call your normal IT support company to make sure your ok.
You can read the full report here…
https://www.ic3.gov/media/2018/180328.aspx
And as always feel free to call RenoGeek for any tech support question you may have.
Seems with the loss of 5 billion or so in wall street value Facebook has finally found a reason to start taking some of its end users privacy concerns seriously.
Starting with a simplified interface you can now go into the depths of Facebook land and change “some” of the things you are shown while on their website.
If you are a long time user you may wish to plan some “away” time to wade through the hundreds if not thousands of categories that have been connected to your account and I would definitely suggest that you expand the settings to view to find all the ways the big “F” has been tracking you.
But if you take the time and go back once in awhile to review what new things they have learned about you delete them. You can keep what they know about you to a minimum.
Of course if you don’t have a reason to share everything with everybody on the planet you can also change the settings so that only your friends can see what you post.
At any rate it might be fun to see how much Facebook as learned about you.
(or not).
You can review and change your Facebook Ad privacy settings here..
https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences