Borrow digital books quickly by doing a Google Search!

If you are a digital e-book reader or wannabe, today's tip shows you a quick way to locate a book and check it out for your mobile device! http://somup.com/cYnFlZhFHX
Today's tip via a screencast I made for you will lead you through the process of looking for a book and then checking it out for your device. It shows you a quick way to do a Google search to the locate the book you want to read and then check it out from the completed search.  The screencast was made on my laptop, but you can do the same search on your mobile device (phone, tablet).  The only difference is that on a phone you will not see a sidebar, you will just scroll down towards the bottom of your search once you've typed in the title.

In the last couple of years, I have begun checking out e-Books to read rather than purchasing them.  It is so easy to do and has saved me lots of money. 

At first I read on my iPad but my eyes tired easily when reading books on it using the Kindle App.  So, then I tried a Kindle device (Paperwhite) and found it to be perfect for reading anytime night or day!

I began purchasing books on Amazon, which became costly, so when a friend introduced me to the e-Libraries available through our local library and State of Kansas Library, I switched from purchasing to borrowing......saving both money and time!

If you are already borrowing digital books and using Libby, Overdrive, or Cloud Library, I think you will find this Google search method to be much quicker!

Happy reading!  If you run into problems or have questions as you start to read digitally, let me know.

Calls from Amazon?

Tuesday afternoon I received a call from a friend who said, "Hey, we're kind of worried about a possible attack on our computers.  What do we need to do?"

Why were they worried?

1. They received a call from Amazon, supposedly, telling them of a $1600 purchase that was made from their account.
2. In the process of working out the problem, login and bank card information were shared with the caller, and the caller was given control of the woman's computer for awhile.  
3. After a bit, the caller asked to talk with the husband and asked for control of his computer.  Luckily,  he questioned them about their identity and eventually hung up before sharing any more information.

Then they called me and asked what to do. What would you have told them?  
My recommendations:
Change passwords for any financial online accounts.
Change passwords for any large retail site accounts online.
Monitor financial and retail accounts periodically for awhile.

We all know better, but that sense of fear that something is wrong causes us to lose our heads sometimes.  What I want you to remember:
If ANY company calls to alert you to a problem, tell them you will contact them directly using the number on your credit card or on your monthly statement from that company.  That ASSURES you that who you are talking with is a legitimate employee.
One more alert:  Yesterday, someone told me they received a package in an Amazon box and it contained items they had not ordered.  The receipt inside gave contact information which they used to report the error.  However, quickly into the phone call they realized it was not a legitimate employee.  Questions about personal financial information raised suspicion and the call was terminated.  They were lucky.

Unfortunately, new types of scams appear every day because of the income they generate.  Sad.

Just remember - if something doesn't feel right, don't do it.  It is much better to err on the side of caution, taking no action, rather than giving away your personal information because of fear.  Private info can't be taken back once it has been given.

Happy safe computing!  
 

Turning to the Bible for social media posts

For today's tip, let's turn to the Bible. The Bible?? Pastor Adam Hamilton, Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS  recently shared some rules for how we should interact on social media, aka 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7:

Love is patient;
love is kind;
love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing,
but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.

And, from the Psalms: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, Lord."

Hmmmmm.  Pretty much covers it all. 

Phone ringing? Silence it instantly!

Have you ever been sitting in a meeting or at an event and someone's phone begins ringing?  Of course you have!  And more than likely we've all been the guilty ones at least once or twice.

Today's tip will help you learn the fastest way to silence that embarrassing ringing if it happens to you: 

Grab your phone and squeeze; squeeze any of the side buttons!

Depressing any of the side buttons (on/off, volume, etc.) will immediately silence the ringing.  Your phone will continue to ring; however, you (and those around you) will no longer hear it.

Give it a try....right now!  Call your cell from another phone. As you dig your phone out of your pocket or purse, just give any of the buttons a squeeze to immediately squelch the sound.  Don't wait until you have the whole phone totally in view.

Practice doing that several times until you are comfortable with the process without looking at your phone or fumbling. Practice makes perfect and saves embarrassment. You'll be glad you did and so will those sitting near you!

Don’t click, don’t call, and don’t send!

Online security is always a topic of interest in my computer classes for seniors and in our iPhone group. Many people are concerned that their online presence increases chances of them being scammed. Rightly so.  But, there are some things you can do to decrease your vulnerability. 

We’re halfway through January and you may have already failed to keep some of your resolutions for 2020. According to one source, only 8% of resolutions made in January are actually kept. :-/ But, below are 3 resolutions you should make and keep ALL year to improve your online safety. 

1) Don’t ever click on a link in an email or text unless you are 100% sure it is legitimate. Go directly to the website of the company and log in to your account there. Links in fraudulent emails and text messages can be created to mask the actual URL of websites.

2) Don’t ever, ever, ever call a phone number that pops up on your device offering help or computer support. Microsoft and Apple will never send you a message asking to call them. They also will NEVER call to tell you they’ve noticed there are problems with your computer. That is ALWAYS a scam. 

3) Don’t send any personal or financial information via email or text....to anyone. If you need to communicate that to a company, login to their secure website and enter the requested information or call them on the phone using a number that you are certain is legitimate. 

One last caution for Windows 7 users: If you are using Windows 7 on a computer, today is the last day you should feel ”safe” doing that. Beginning tomorrow Microsoft will no longer provide updates or tech help for that operating system on home computers. Your computer will still “work”, but the lack of security updates will make your computer vulnerable to viruses, malware, etc. Don’t risk it; install Windows 10 today.

Be smart. Be safe. Be secure. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Jeline

We have another new subscriber this week; welcome! All of my previous weekly tips can be found here:  http://tuesdaytechtidbit.blogspot.com

Snopes.com - your resource for debunking myths and rumors

We've all probably had the experience of reading something online that just doesn't sound believable.  Before sharing that information with others, please remember to verify its validity at Snopes.com

I usually highlight some of the text in the questionable Facebook post or online article and then copy/paste it into the search bar of snopes.com  Snopes' rating system has evolved over the years to include more categories, but rather quickly you should be able to skim the results to answer your query.

If you're spending any kind of time online, Snopes.com should become one of your regular go-to resources; not just for those "shares" on Facebook, but to check out stories in the news. (Snopes should also be very useful during this election year.)

Did Iran offer an $80M bounty on President Trump?  Was the picture of the Australian fires taken from the Space Station? Take a look at these "Hot 50" rumors that readers are checking out presently on Snopes.com

Hope you all have a terrific Tuesday (and week)!

The best password ever!

"How to Create Good Passwords" articles abound, but I believe strongly in the method detailed below.  Once your base password is created, it is easy to make a unique password for each of your online accounts.

1) Think of an easy phrase to remember - e.g., my car is fast and sleek

2)  Remove the spaces in the phrase:  mycarisfastandsleek

3) Capitalize the first letter of the second word:  myCarisfastandsleek

4) Replace  the letter "a" (all or some) with the @ symbol:  myC@risf@st@ndsleek

5) Replace the letter "s" with the $ symbol:  myC@ri$f@$t@nd$leek

6) Use that password as your base and then add on the first three letters of the website or account to make each password unique.  For example, if I was using the above password for Facebook, it would look like this:  myc@ri$f@$t@nd$leekfac and for Gmail it would look like this: myC@ri$f@$t@nd$leekgma

At first, you may be slow entering all of the characters, but with practice, it should become automatic and much easier.

Happy New Year!  May 2020 be your most safe, secure online year ever!!  :-)