Why I Switched From Ubuntu to Manjaro Linux

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Presbycusis—from the Greek presbys (old) and akousis (hearing)—is the medical term for age-related hearing degeneration. One out of two people experience it by the age of 75.

August 2, 2019 Did You Know? Presbycusis—from the Greek presbys (old) and akousis (hearing)—is the medical term for age-related hearing degeneration. One out of two people experience it by the age of 75.   Why I Switched From Ubuntu to Manjaro Linux For more than a decade, Ubuntu was my Linux distribution of choice. But, for the first time in a long while, I distro-hopped. I now run Manjaro and couldn’t be happier. It’s just that good! Read More »   How to Work with Trendlines in Microsoft Excel Charts You can add a trendline to a chart in Excel to show the general pattern of data over time. You can also extend trendlines to forecast future data. Excel makes it easy to do all of this. Read More »   What Does “TLDR” Mean, and How Do You Use It? Unlike most internet acronyms, TLDR (or TL;DR) has found its way into news articles, professional emails, and even Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. But what does TLDR mean, how do you use it, and where did it come from? Read More »   Chrome Now Hides WWW and HTTPS:// in Addresses. Do You Care? Google Chrome 76, released a few days ago, has a surprising change: It hides the www. and https:// for website addresses in the omnibox, or address bar. This comes after an outcry when Google tried this back in Chrome 69. Read More »   Advertisement Get an all-inclusive business phone system with online meetings, fax and more! For as low as $19.99 a month, RingCentral can get you an all-in-one Business Phone System with unlimited phone calls w/ HD Voice, Conferencing, and Toll Free numbers to name a few. Access more functionality such as Business SMS, Online meetings and even Facing without changing systems. Have your whole office up and running in a day or less. Get a free quote now!   Some Windows 10 Users Are Trapped in S Mode Windows 10’s S Mode won’t let you install software from outside the Store or even change Edge’s default search engine. If you purchased a Surface Go this week, you’ve likely been trapped in S Mode. Read More »   Daily News Roundup: Amazon Dashed Your Dash Button Amazon stopped selling Dash buttons, saying Alexa shopping killed any need for them. But if you already owned a Dash button, it still worked. But that’s changing as Amazon will stop fulfilling Dash orders after August. When Amazon discontinued Dash button sales earlier this year, the company promised to continue supporting existing buttons so long as customers used them. It may come as a surprise then to hear that Amazon has changed course and will stop taking Dash orders after August 31st. An Amazon spokesperson told CNET that Dash orders have “significantly slowed” which led to the decision to shut down the service. That’s no surprise in some ways; Dash buttons proved to be inconvenient since you couldn’t be sure of the price of an order, and the company stopped pushing the service. In the meantime, Alexa shopping took over as Amazon’s face of instant shopping. You benefit because Alexa can confirm the price of an item before you order and can add a variety of different items to your cart, unlike Dash buttons. Amazon also benefits because Alexa gives the company a better foothold in your home. [CNET] In Other News: StockX resets user passwords after suspicious activity: StockX, a site for buying and selling sneaker apparel, sent out password-reset emails after it received notification of suspicious activity on its systems. The cautious move wouldn’t be so unusual if it hadn’t initially told users the password reset was due to “system upgrades.” Upfront transparency is always better. [TechCrunch] Pixel Phones will talk to 911 for you: One of the main issues with 911 is the system relies on your ability to talk. If you are too injured to speak, problems ensue. Pixel and other select Android phones will soon be able to contact 911 and speak simple messages for you (such as fire, medical, etc.). Additionally, it can share more information about your location. [Geek.com] Apple will stop sending Siri audio to contractors for grading: Like Amazon and Google, Apple had been sending audio recorded by Siri to human contractors. The humans would listen and submit feedback on whether Siri understood correctly or corrections if Siri failed to understand. Sometimes that included audio recordings when no one spoke to Siri. Apple says it is suspending the program, will reexamine the process, and introduce a feature to opt-out later. [9to5Mac] Some Windows 10 users are stuck in S Mode: If you buy a Surface Go or some other laptops, your device will initially start on Windows 10 S. That OS can’t install programs outside the Microsoft Store. Switching to Windows 10 is supposed to be easy, but users have been unable to change for several days now. Microsoft says it is investigating. [How-To Geek] RELATED: Alexa, Why Are Employees Looking at My Data? Once they’ve grown in, children typically have 20 teeth while adults usually have 32. The use of the words “typically” and “usually” is apt here because, in India, a young boy’s dental x-rays revealed he had 526 teeth. That’s not a typo; he had over 500 teeth. A sac buried in his jaw contained the vast majority of the teeth. The extra teeth were also tiny, ranging in size between 0.1 mm and 0.3 mm. Shockingly, the boy wasn’t in much pain, only complaining of the occasional toothache. Surgeons removed the sac, and now the boy has just 21 teeth. All of this really gives you something to chew on the next time you visit the dentist, doesn’t it? [The Guardian]   How To Enable Add-ins and Connectors in Outlook There are a lot of third-party add-ins and connectors available for Outlook. What’s the difference between add-ins and connectors, how do you use them, and are they safe to use? We’ve got the answers for you. Read More »   How to Unlock Detailed Streaming Statistics on the Apple TV Things might not look amazing even with an Apple TV 4K and a great television. Instead of counting pixels to make sure you’re receiving the best quality stream, you can find streaming statistics behind the developer menu. Read More »   LIFESAVVY 8 Common Myths About Working from Home, Debunked If you think working from home is the purview of underpaid Millennials, think again. The typical remote worker, according to Global Workplace Analytics, is actually 45 or older and making $58,000 a year. Read More »   REVIEW GEEK Are Instant Pots Really That Great? Instant Pots are commonly touted as the kitchen appliance to end others. But is that really the truth? Should you believe the hype, or should you skip the Instant Pot? Read More »   GEEK TRIVIA Which Of These Elements Was Discovered In Space Before It Was Found On Earth? Beryllium » Iridium » Helium » Plutonium »     Follow Us on Social Media   Advertisement Get a business phone system with online meetings, fax and more! For as low as $19.99 a month, RingCentral can get you an all-in-one Business Phone System with unlimited phone calls w/ HD Voice, Conferencing, and Toll Free numbers to name a few. Access more functionality such as Business SMS, Online meetings and even Facing without changing systems. Have your whole office up and running in a day or less. Get a free quote now!

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8 Common Myths About Working from Home, Debunked

Tip of the Day:

Enjoying a mobile game but the ads are really obtrusive? Put your phone in airplane mode while you’re playing and the ads won’t load.

August 2, 2019 Tip of the Day Enjoying a mobile game but the ads are really obtrusive? Put your phone in airplane mode while you’re playing and the ads won’t load.   8 Common Myths About Working from Home, Debunked If you think working from home is the purview of underpaid Millennials, think again. The typical remote worker, according to Global Workplace Analytics, is actually 45 or older and making $58,000 a year. Read More »   Follow Us on Social Media   5 Things to Know Before Buying a DSLR Camera So, you're thinking of buying a DSLR or mirrorless camera? Here are five things you should know before you do. Read More »   Speak in a Deeper Voice to Help Elderly People Hear You Clearly If you’re having trouble communicating clearly with an older person in your life, it might be that your regular speaking voice is in a range they can’t hear clearly. Read More »

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How to Secure Your Synology NAS from Ransomware

Did You Know?:

An English act dating back to the 14th century, the Statute Forbidding Bearing of Armour, forbids anyone from entering the British Parliament wearing a suit of armor. It has, as you would expect, not been enforced in recent memory.

August 1, 2019 Did You Know? An English act dating back to the 14th century, the Statute Forbidding Bearing of Armour, forbids anyone from entering the British Parliament wearing a suit of armor. It has, as you would expect, not been enforced in recent memory.   Should You Pay Up If You Get Hit by Ransomware? It might be your worst nightmare. You turn on your PC only to discover it's been hijacked by ransomware that won't decrypt your files unless you pay up. Should you? What are the pros and cons of paying off cyber-criminals? Read More »   How to Use the xargs Command on Linux Need to string some Linux commands together, but one of them doesn’t accept piped input? xargs can take the output from one command and send it to another command as parameters. Read More »   How to Secure Your Synology NAS from Ransomware Recently, some Synology owners discovered that all the files on their NAS system were encrypted. Unfortunately, some ransomware infected the NAS demanded payment to restore the data. Here’s what you can do to secure your NAS. Read More »   How to Enter Zero Before a Number in Excel When entering numbers into Excel, zeros at the beginning of the number are removed. This can be an issue when entering phone numbers and IDs. In this article, we will cover ways to solve this problem and keep the leading zeros. Read More »   Advertisement Get an all-inclusive business phone system with online meetings, fax and more! For as low as $19.99 a month, RingCentral can get you an all-in-one Business Phone System with unlimited phone calls w/ HD Voice, Conferencing, and Toll Free numbers to name a few. Access more functionality such as Business SMS, Online meetings and even Facing without changing systems. Have your whole office up and running in a day or less. Get a free quote now!   How to Reset Your Apple AirPods Apple AirPods can sometimes start acting up after a year of use. Whether you’re running into this problem or you bought AirPods used, the best solution is to reset the earbuds. Here’s how to make your AirPods perform like new. Read More »   Daily News Roundup: 32 Million Patient Records Breached in Just Six Months Protenus, a healthcare analytics firm, says hackers and other bad actors breached 32 million patient records in the first six months of 2019. That’s double the total breaches for all of 2018. 2019 is shaping up to be a bad year for personal information. With 32 million patient records stolen in just six months and no signs of slowing down, it seems like everybody is receiving notice to lock down their credit. And that’s to say nothing of breaches in other institutions. According to Protenus, hackers were responsible for 60 percent of the breaches in those six months and hospital insiders were responsible for a total of three million patient records stolen. In the single most significant breach, hackers targetted a medical collections agency and stole the patient records for 20 million people. That stolen data ended up for sale on the dark web. Unfortunately, there’s no way to prevent someone from stealing your data from a hospital or doctor’s office. Ultimately, it’s up to the institutions to implement better security.  The best thing you can do currently is to freeze your credit. You may want to consider the freeze even if you’re the last person on Earth who hasn’t had their data stolen. [Engadget] RELATED: Credit Freezes Will Be Free Soon, Helping You Stop Identity Thieves In Other News: Lyft pulled 1,000 electric bikes from service after two fires: Two Lyft e-bikes caught fire while in its docks in San Francisco. Given the nightmare scenario of riding a bike that catches on fire, Lyft has wisely chosen to take its e-bikes out of service while it investigates what happened. [Gizmodo] Google is actively testing a new Play Pass subscription service: Subscriptions for app stores are on the way. Apple is working on an Arcade subscription service and Google is testing the waters with a Play Pass subscription. According to screenshots, $5 a month gives you access to hundreds of apps and games. [Android Police] Alexa may answer more complicated questions in the future: Amazon is working on making Alexa more intelligent. That includes complicated questions such as, “Which Nolan films won an Oscar but missed a Golden Globe?” The process is complicated because Alexa needs to figure out you mean Christopher Nolan, find his awards for Oscars and Golden Globes, and then compare and contrast that information. But Amazon says it has the process figured out. Neat! [TechCrunch] Apple is joining the Data Transfer Project: Last year, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter launched the Data Transfer Project. The goal is to make it easy for you to transfer data from one service to another. Eventually, that would entail direct transfers with no download on your part. Apple joining adds another strong voice to the plan to give you greater control of your data. [The Verge] NanoLeaf’s smart lights will double as smart buttons for Homekit: If you have (or are interested in) NanoLeaf’s beautiful modular smart light squares, the devices are picking up a new feature—touch controls. You’ll soon be able to touch the lights to control your smart home, at least if you have Homekit powered home. Hopefully, they expand to other ecosystems in the future. [MacRumors] The Solar Light Sail 2, currently cruising above the Earth, is raising its orbit. That may not seem impressive at first, but the spacecraft is using light for propulsion. The craft has a boxing ring sized sail designed to catch light particles. While light particles don’t have mass, they do have carry momentum. In this case, enough to give the spacecraft a push. The Solar Light Sail 2 is in an elliptical orbit, so eventually, it will come crashing down to Earth. Raising it’s orbit right now will only speed up that process. But the project proves that solar sails are viable means of propulsion for satellites too small to depend on traditional fuel engines. [Space.com]   LIFESAVVY Want a Quick Summary of a Complex Topic? Use Simple English Wikipedia There’s a time and a place for in-depth, sustained reading. But sometimes, you just want to know what a term in the news means. And you want to know now. If you’re curious but short on time, Simple English Wikipedia is the answer. Read More »   REVIEW GEEK On the Switch, Android Does What Nintendon’t Nintendo and Android fans got a fun bit of convergence last week when Android ROM developers released a build of the mobile operating system running on the Switch console. It’s weird, awkward, and lots of nerdy fun. Read More »   GEEK TRIVIA A Clever 1960s Prank Convinced Swedes They Could Watch TV In Color With? Bacon Grease » Pantyhose » Wax Paper » Film Negatives »     Follow Us on Social Media   Advertisement Get a business phone system with online meetings, fax and more! For as low as $19.99 a month, RingCentral can get you an all-in-one Business Phone System with unlimited phone calls w/ HD Voice, Conferencing, and Toll Free numbers to name a few. Access more functionality such as Business SMS, Online meetings and even Facing without changing systems. Have your whole office up and running in a day or less. Get a free quote now!

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Toddler Sleep Troubles? We're Here to Help

Tip of the Day:

Need butter for a recipe but don’t have time for it to soften? Grate it—the shredded butter will soften quickly and incorporate easily.

August 1, 2019 Tip of the Day Need butter for a recipe but don’t have time for it to soften? Grate it—the shredded butter will soften quickly and incorporate easily.   How to Help Your Toddler Sleep All Night It’s not just babies who wake up in the middle of the night. Toddlers can have trouble getting a solid night’s sleep, too. We’ve got some tried-and-true tips to help your little one sleep tight. Read More »   Follow Us on Social Media   How to Save for Your Child’s College Education The headlines paint a scary picture for parents hoping to help fund their child's college education. Between celebrities facing criminal charges for manipulating the admissions system to unprecedented student loan totals, paying for higher education may seem out of reach. Read More »   Want a Quick Summary of a Complex Topic? Use Simple English Wikipedia There’s a time and a place for in-depth, sustained reading. But sometimes, you just want to know what a term in the news means. And you want to know now. If you’re curious but short on time, Simple English Wikipedia is the answer. Read More »

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Why Are Companies Still Storing Passwords In Plain Text?

Did You Know?:

The label of Heinz Ketchup specifically calls the product “Tomato Ketchup” because when the iconic brand was introduced in 1876, there were many varieties of ketchup such as mushroom, oyster, and walnut.

July 31, 2019 Did You Know? The label of Heinz Ketchup specifically calls the product “Tomato Ketchup” because when the iconic brand was introduced in 1876, there were many varieties of ketchup such as mushroom, oyster, and walnut.   Why Are Companies Still Storing Passwords In Plain Text? Several companies have recently admitted to storing passwords in plain-text format. That’s like storing a password in Notepad and saving it as a .txt file. Passwords should be salted and hashed for security, so why isn’t that happening in 2019? Read More »   How to Disable Windows 10’s Annoying Focus Assist Notifications Windows 10’s Focus Assist feature automatically hides notifications while you’re playing games or using other full-screen applications. But Cortana loves to announce that it’s silencing notifications. Here’s how to turn off those annoying Focus Assist notifications. Read More »   How to Factory Reset a Router A factory reset wipes your router’s custom settings and returns it to a like-new state. This is an important step when troubleshooting some network problems. Factory-resetting is relatively easy, but every router is a bit different. Read More »   How to Mute Chrome’s Picture-in-Picture Videos If you’re using Google Chrome’s Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode, an experimental flag can give you the ability to mute the video quickly. Here’s how to enable and use the mute feature for Picture-in-Picture mode. Read More »   Advertisement Get an all-inclusive business phone system with online meetings, fax and more! For as low as $19.99 a month, RingCentral can get you an all-in-one Business Phone System with unlimited phone calls w/ HD Voice, Conferencing, and Toll Free numbers to name a few. Access more functionality such as Business SMS, Online meetings and even Facing without changing systems. Have your whole office up and running in a day or less. Get a free quote now!   How to View a Desktop Site on Mobile Safari Safari is fast and optimized for mobile devices. That’s usually a good thing. But there are still a few websites that refuse to adapt to mobile Safari or provide an inferior experience on their mobile site. In times like these, you can switch to the desktop version of the website. Read More »   Daily News Roundup: Google Discloses iOS “Interactionless” Vulnerabilities Google, through its Project Zero initiative, disclosed six vulnerabilities in iOS. In each case, a hacker could execute remote code on someone’s iPhone without any interaction by the user. Apple’s iOS 12.3 fixes five of the issues. Project Zero is Google’s initiative to discover zero-day vulnerabilities and disclose them to the appropriate manufacturer, followed by a public announcement of the problem. Recently, two members of the project team described six vulnerabilities in iOS. In each case, an attacker could send a malformed message through iMessage and the code would execute as soon as the victim opened and viewed the item. The announcement included proof-of-concept code and full details for five of the vulnerabilities. Apple fully patched those five issues in iOS 12.3, so if you haven’t fully updated your devices, you should. Google withheld details of the sixth vulnerability for now as Apple hasn’t fully patched that issue yet. [ZDNet] In Other News: Samsung announces Galaxy Tab S6: The Galaxy S6 is official and the tablet has impressive specs to take on competitors. Boasting a Snapdragon 855 chipset, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and 128GB or 256GB of storage, the tablet checks all the boxes to hit the high-end market. The Galaxy Tab S6 starts at $649 and includes an S-Pen. Samsung is also offering an optional keyboard and kickstand case for $179. [Samsung] Apple’s Credit Card launches in August: In March, Apple announced the Apple Card. The company said the credit card would come in both digital and physical forms, although the titanium card wouldn’t display any card numbers, CCV, or expiration date. Now, Apple says it will start accepting applications for the card in August. [The Verge] Wyze will offer smart plugs at insanely cheap prices: You could describe the entire Wyze business model as “smart things for cheaper than dirt.” The company is continuing that trend with upcoming smart plugs. The plugs will cost $14.99 for a two-pack, more than half the price of iClever plugs. Pre-orders ship in September. [Wyze] Chrome 76 released yesterday with new features in tow: Google took the wraps off Chrome 76 yesterday. Once you receive this update, Chrom will block Flash by default, prevent websites from detecting incognito mode, and more. You should get the update automatically, but you can force it in Chrome’s “About” dialog. [How-To Geek] Facebook wants to read your mind, but not in the usual creepy way. A few years ago, the company announced an effort to create technology that can read brain patterns and interpret thoughts without using invasive technology, like implanted electrodes. Technology like that could enable someone to communicate who otherwise can’t speak or move their limbs. The company has been experimenting with patients with electrodes implanted in their brains and made new progress in the ultimate goal. Research subjects were asked to answer out loud a list of simple multiple-choice questions ordered randomly. During that process, by monitoring brain patterns, Facebook’s algorithms correctly detected what question the patient heard 75 percent of the time and what answer they chose 61 percent of the time. The company is still many years away from a non-invasive method, but these are significant first steps. [IEEE Spectrum]   LIFESAVVY How to Use a Mood Board to Reach Your Goals Creative thinking isn’t just for people in traditionally “creative” industries. Here’s how you can incorporate mood board planning into your workflow and get a creative boost. Read More »   REVIEW GEEK Are Printer Ink Plans a Rip-Off? Surprisingly, Not Always Many inkjet printer vendors boast about how low their per-page print cost is, and it’s usually untrue. In response to growing customer concerns, printer vendors have come up with ink purchase plans they claim can save you money. Can they? Read More »   GEEK TRIVIA Which State Has The Highest Density Of Tornado Touch Downs? Florida » Texas » Kansas » Oklahoma »     Follow Us on Social Media   Advertisement Get a business phone system with online meetings, fax and more! For as low as $19.99 a month, RingCentral can get you an all-in-one Business Phone System with unlimited phone calls w/ HD Voice, Conferencing, and Toll Free numbers to name a few. Access more functionality such as Business SMS, Online meetings and even Facing without changing systems. Have your whole office up and running in a day or less. Get a free quote now!

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