Verify the safety of a link before clicking

Clicking a link for a website you've never heard of is NEVER recommended. Period.  Although a very small percentage of websites are "bad", when you consider there are billions of websites online that translates to LOTS of questionable/bad pages.  

However, I've been helping people with technology long enough to know that the temptation to check out a new product or sensational news provides just too much temptation to resist clicking on the link.  If you are one of these people, please consider at least checking out the URL (web address) for the website before actually clicking on the link; this could save you hours of time trying to clean up a "mess" later.  

How can you check on the safety of a link before clicking? 

1. Select/highlight the URL (link)
   
2. Copy the URL (On a PC - right-click; on a Mac - Command + C)
   
3. Go to this website: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/url 
4. In the Search or Scan a URL box, paste the URL (On a PC - right-click; on a Mac - Command + V)
   
5.  Click on the Magnifying Glass on the right side of the Search box

VirusTotal will then check the link with some of the most popular virus, malware and reputation checking tools on the web.  If most of the scans come back "clean" then you can feel safe in visiting that website.  If multiple warnings appear that the website may be a phishing site or contain malware, DO NOT visit or use that website. Period.

I usually am contacted AFTER someone has clicked a questionable link and it takes time to work through the problems.  Do yourself a favor today by bookmarking the Virus Total website so you will have it when you need it.  :-)

Have a terrific Tech Tuesday and enjoy this unseasonably nice weather - at least in Emporia.  We'll try to send it to those of you living farther north or towards the East coast!

No power? External power charger to the rescue

Did you experience any power outages yesterday?  We knew our family in Texas was experiencing these, but we hadn't even thought about it for here until......around 1 PM the power went out.  Peanut butter and jelly came to the rescue for lunch, working on our puzzle answered the problem of "what can we do without internet and TV or being able to continue doing our laundry."  

As we processed what a power outage meant, we realized our only "lifelines" to the outside world were our smartphones.  Yikes!  Mine was only half-charged; would it last for the entire power outage?  I then remembered the external portable chargers we have (primarily purchased for when we are traveling....which hasn't happened in almost a year!) 

So, I dug my charger out of the bottom of the drawer aware that it had not been charged for a long time.  What a pleasant surprise!  It was still fully charged and ready to supply power to my phone, if needed.

A portable charger may not be used very often but yesterday it provided great relief knowing it would provide several full charges to my phone, if needed.  An external charger can also charge tablets and computers but with the internet down, those devices were pretty useless.

If you are unfamiliar with how external chargers work:  A portable charger is plugged into the wall to receive its charge.  Your smartphone or other device can then be plugged into it anywhere/anytime to receive a charge which will probably take a couple of hours.  

I purchased our chargers a couple of years ago but they are still very adequate for our needs - and provided a great sense of relief yesterday afternoon. If you do a lot of traveling, have an older phone that doesn't keep its charge, or just appreciate the security of knowing you can always plug in your device to charge it, then you might want to consider purchasing an external charger.  This is the one I have and I am still very satisfied with it, but there are newer (faster, more expensive) charging units available.  I strongly recommend the Anker brand; I've never been disappointed by any of their products.

What will today bring?  After an overnight low of -17, I think we are on our way to a high of 11 degrees!  We haven't had any power outages since yesterday afternoon but are ready with our flashlights and our external chargers!  If you have an external charger you may want to get it out and make sure it is charged.  If you don't have one, maybe you want to use this day to do some online shopping!  

Stay warm, stay safe, and stay inside! 

Update your browsers!

In the past week I've received two different notifications that the Google Chrome browser on my laptop computer needed to be updated.  The updates installed very quickly.  I thought I had turned on automatic updates but when I checked, this feature had not been enabled.

You want to make sure to always install browser updates when they become available because they usually contain security updates that will help protect your online activity.

How do you know if your browser software is up-to-date and if that is happening automatically?  Normally updates install in the background but if you haven't closed your browser recently there may be updates to install.  How do you do that?
Click this link to view instructions for updating Chrome on desktop/laptop computers as well as mobile devices.
If you are using Safari on a Mac, click this link for instructions.
On an iPhone/iPad the software will automatically update if Automatic Updates is turned on.  You can check in the App Store to see if the app is up-to-date.

Check this out this morning while you are staying inside where it is cozy and warm. If you have to venture out, be safe and dress warmly on his terrifically cold Tuesday morning!  We'll hope for warmer temperatures next week. :-/

Disable Off-Facebook Activity

 A little over a week ago you might have seen postings on your social media encouraging you to turn off or disable "Off-Facebook Activity".  After doing some research on this recommendation I found it to be legitimate so I cleared my Facebook history then turned off the setting.  

Facebook uses most of the information gathered to "deliver" more relevant content and ads to you.  The data gathered on you isn't presently being used in a harmful manner but when working online I believe it important to protect our personal information when we can.  This is one of those times.

I found some well-written step-by-step instructions for how to turn this off for both mobile devices as well as computers if you want to change your Facebook settings: https://www.ricksdailytips.com/disable-off-facebook-activity/ (Rick's Daily Tips are usually very good and you can subscribe for a Free daily email).  

What is Off-Facebook Activity? If you want to read more, this is From Facebook's Help section

Happy Tuesday!  The Groundhog predicts 6 more weeks of winter, BUT it is only 46 days until Spring!

More than one email address?

 Do you have more than one email address?

My recommendation is that you have at least two email addresses.  I have five.  Why? To help keep private email addresses stay private and not be "sold" for advertising purposes.

If you presently have an email address you use with all of your personal friends, that's perfect.  But I would encourage you to create a free Gmail account OR if you are an iCloud user, create an alias email address.  Use these addresses when you purchase items online OR when you have to enter an email address to create an online account.  If these email accounts become flooded with spam and/or advertising, you can then delete the Gmail account or iCloud alias from your device or from your account.  You can read more about iCloud aliases here.  Read more about adding aliases in Gmail here.

My example:
1) For my personal mail, I use jharcler@mac.com
2) I created an alias using iCloud years ago that is jdhjdh@mac.com That is what I use for all of my purchasing online.
3) I created a Gmail address - jharcler@gmail.com - to use for all of my tech stuff - classes, iPhone Users Group, Tech Tip newsletter, webinars, etc.
4) I also created a Gmail address - emailtosignupforthingsonline@gmail.com - to use as my "junk" email address.  Anytime I have to provide an email address that I don't care to get any further communication from I use this Gmail address.
5) And, I have my "professional" address that is used for all things connected with my university communication - jharcle1@emporia.edu

Confusing? Time consuming?
No, once you've created your alias and/or additional Gmail accounts, add the account(s) to whatever email program you use.  On my iPhone, Mac and iPad I use Mail.  That is the native email program on those devices. It is not the most robust of applications, but it works okay.  I added all of my email addresses to that app and ALL emails come into the same Inbox, whether I am on my phone, iPad or Mac. The program labels each email and it allows me to select a certain email account to view, if desired.

In addition, I've created Gmail accounts (free) for groups I'm responsible for - Lions Club, UMW, Sunday School, etc.  and I've added those accounts to the Mail application. So..... I only have to look in one place for any emails I may receive for all of my email accounts, and the Mail application easily lets me filter those if I want to only look at one account.

If you have questions about the specifics, let me know.  At the very least - consider creating a free email account to use when creating online accounts or signing up for things.  That should reduce the number of times your personal email address is getting sold or put "out there".

New Year's Resolutions for Tech - Part 2

 Hopefully, you have gotten started with last week's suggestions:  

*cleaning up your email Inbox
*reviewing and changing your passwords as needed
*sharing your passwords with someone else in your family
*reviewing your Facebook Privacy and Security settings

Today, let's add one more item to that beginning-of-a-new-year-to-do list.

Remove apps from your mobile devices and  applications from your computers that you no longer use.
Leaving unused apps, applications, and accounts on our devices can make us vulnerable to possible security breaches.  Take time to review the apps on your phone, tablet, etc. and delete them if you no longer use them. 
(iPhone Users - Go to Settings - App Store - Offload Unused Apps and make sure this setting is turned on.  This will automatically help keep unused apps off your phone.  Apps can also be viewed and deleted on an iPhone by going to Settings - General - iPhone Storage. You will see a total list of your apps.  Touch an app in the list and you will be given the choice of removing the app.) 
For other mobile devices or computers, if you are unsure how to remove apps simply do an internet search for "how to remove apps/applications from....(name of device)" to view instructions.

Another beautiful sunshiny day here for getting outside; a real treat for January!  Enjoy.

New Year's Resolutions for Tech - Top 5 List of To-Do's

Do  you make New Year's Resolutions? I rarely do anymore but I always do make plans for doing some things better/different/more timely at the beginning of each calendar year. This year is no exception.  

Starting right now I plan to:
1)  Clean up my email Inbox. Although it works for me, my Inbox of over 16,000 emails drives others crazy when I'm using my phone for demonstration purposes during my classes. It's just a matter of me taking the time to do some daily maintenance, and time still seems to be in short supply even during this extended time of COVID.  But, this year I pledge to do better......little by little.

2) Review and change some of my passwords.  My phone keeps reminding me that I have passwords that have been involved in a data breach or are otherwise not secure.  I'm changing a few of those each day using the same pattern I began using a few years ago (same base password made unique by adding on the first three letters of the website name).

3) Share my passwords with my family.  Once my password review is complete, I plan to share the list with my family this year.  So much of our lives is online; it is important that someone has our login and account information even though it will continually evolve. 

4)  Organize my digital photos and make sure I have them all in at least 3 unique "places" - 1) downloaded from my phone to my computer, 2) backed up in both iCloud - yes, I pay monthly for adequate storage - and Google Photos which happens automatically, and 3) backed up to an external hard drive.  Note to self:  A few minutes each day helps get this formidable task under control!

5) Review the Privacy and Security settings on my Facebook account. It is a good idea to do this every several months; keeping ourselves safe online needs to be a priority.

So, what else should I add to this list?  Do you have things you do on a regular basis to keep your digital life organized?

Maybe today's tech tip is really just for myself; a reminder to hold myself accountable.  I'll let you know this time next year how that worked!  :-)

So, do at least one thing today to get started on organizing your tech.  But, also get out and enjoy this beautiful new day no matter where you live!