March Meetings 2019
Mar 7, 2019 - Save Image As, Passwords, Have Your Browser Save Your Passwords,
Start with Spam of the Week - Say Nope to Unknown Links.
Club Questions
Start with Spam of the Week - Say Nope to Unknown Links.
Club Questions
If you have ever discovered an image online that you just have to use as your new wallpaper, or whatever, but you don't know how to do it, read on. How To capture an image off the Internet, follow these steps:
Here's a link to more info on taking images from the internet
Or if you're just more of a visual person and would prefer to watch a video talk you through, how to capture an image from the internet, there's this one.
- Click and hold (Mac) or right mouse click (PC) on on of the images below until a dialog box appears.
- If you are using Internet Explorer, select "Download image to disk." If you are using Netscape, select "Save this image as."
- A box pops up asking you where you want to save the image to. Navigate to the folder in which you want to keep your images.
- Usually you'll want to rename the image, giving it a name that will make sense to you a few months down the line. In the "Save image as" box, change the name of the picture to the name you have chosen. If you intend to use the image on a web page, make sure there are no spaces in the name you choose.
- If you are working on a Mac, also make sure that the name you choose ends in .jpg (if you are using a PC it will automatically insert this extension for you).
- Click on the "save" button. You now have an identical copy!
Here's a link to more info on taking images from the internet
Or if you're just more of a visual person and would prefer to watch a video talk you through, how to capture an image from the internet, there's this one.
More on Passwords
So, how do you create a “strong” password that is easy to remember? While it may seem tough to do this, there are a few simple tips that can make it easy.Note: the examples below illustrate just the concepts being discussed. No single technique should be used on its own, but rather should be used with other techniques. The combination of several will produce a strong password.
So, how do you create a “strong” password that is easy to remember? While it may seem tough to do this, there are a few simple tips that can make it easy.Note: the examples below illustrate just the concepts being discussed. No single technique should be used on its own, but rather should be used with other techniques. The combination of several will produce a strong password.
- Use a mix of alphabetical and numeric characters.
- Use a mixture of upper- and lowercase; passwords are case sensitive.
- Use symbols if the system allows (spaces shouldn’t be used as some applications may trim them away)
- Use a combination of letters and numbers, or a phrase like “many colors” using only the consonants, e.g., mnYc0l0rz or a misspelled phrase, e.g., 2HotPeetzas or ItzAGurl .
- Pick something obscure:
- an odd character in an otherwise familiar term, such as phnybon instead of funnybone;
- a combination of two unrelated words like cementhat
- An acronym for an easy to remember quote or phrase (see below)
- a deliberately misspelled term, e.g., Wdn-G8 (Wooden Gate) or HersL00kn@U (Here’s looking at you).
- Replace a letter with another letter, symbol or combination, but don’t be too obvious about it. Replacing o with 0 or a with 2 or i with 1 is something that hackers just expect. It is definitely better than nothing, but replacing 0 with () would be stronger as it makes your password longer and is not as obvious
- An easily phonetically pronounceable nonsense word, e.g., RooB-Red or good-eits .
- Two words separated by a non-alphabetic, non-numeric, or punctuation character, e.g., PC%Kat or dog,~1#
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what not to doDo Not Choose…
If you only use words from a dictionary or a purely numeric password, a hacker only has to try a limited list of possibilities. A hacking program can try the full set in under one minute. If you use the full set of characters and the techniques above, you force a hacker to continue trying every possible combination to find yours. |
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Browser Saves Passwords
Your browser can be your friend (frenemy?) and one of its best features, and every browser does this, is to save your logins and passwords for sites that you choose to have it remember. Pretty handy for logging in and out of online accounts. But there may be some sites, like your banking sites, that you don't want your browser to remember for security concerns. Every Browser has a slightly different way of remembering password/logins, so it you use Safari, take a look at this article. If you use Firefox or Google Chrome, take a look at this article. And if you use Microsoft Edge, take a look at this article.
Mar 14, 2019 - Pop Quiz, email etiquette & anti-virus
Spam of the Week - Please, y'all DON'T CLICK on Unknown Links.
Club Questions - But first...
Pop Quiz - 10 basic questions on computers for beginners. See if you've got what it takes to answer the all multiple choice quiz' on this somewhat clunky old school website. After you take the quiz, poke around in the right side menu, there's several other quizzes that might be fun.
Spam of the Week - Please, y'all DON'T CLICK on Unknown Links.
Club Questions - But first...
Pop Quiz - 10 basic questions on computers for beginners. See if you've got what it takes to answer the all multiple choice quiz' on this somewhat clunky old school website. After you take the quiz, poke around in the right side menu, there's several other quizzes that might be fun.
Keep your antivirus up to date
If you don’t already have anti-virus software installed on your computer, consider downloading it. There are many free options. available that can protect your device from hackers or malicious viruses and software. These tools run in the background on your computer, so you don’t have to do anything more than occasionally update them. You will then be able to browse the internet while feeling a little more secure.
For those of you not wanting to spend a lot of money on an anti-virus program for your computer, here are some free options as recommended by online tech website, Mashable.
If you don’t already have anti-virus software installed on your computer, consider downloading it. There are many free options. available that can protect your device from hackers or malicious viruses and software. These tools run in the background on your computer, so you don’t have to do anything more than occasionally update them. You will then be able to browse the internet while feeling a little more secure.
For those of you not wanting to spend a lot of money on an anti-virus program for your computer, here are some free options as recommended by online tech website, Mashable.
What about Macs, do they need an anti-virus program? If you want to learn more about what Apple does in the way of on-board security and what the actual chances of a Mac being targeted with a virus are, then browse thru this very complete update on Mac computer security.
Email Etiquette can often be a confusing problem especially if you're new to computers and email. This article goes over 10 basic tips for keeping your email style at a professional level. And for you visual learners, here's a short video of email etiquette that goes over all the most important rules in animated form.
Mar 21, 2019 - Pop Quiz, Spam in Gmail, Keystrokes
Start with Spam of the Week - You Can NOT CLICK on Unknown Links.
Club Questions
This is another of the very few pop quizzes the members ever saw and somehow within only 10 questions, this video quiz manages to ask very easy and very hard questions. Some of the questions definitely go beyond beginner. Watch at your own risk.
Start with Spam of the Week - You Can NOT CLICK on Unknown Links.
Club Questions
This is another of the very few pop quizzes the members ever saw and somehow within only 10 questions, this video quiz manages to ask very easy and very hard questions. Some of the questions definitely go beyond beginner. Watch at your own risk.
How to Change Spam filter settings in Gmail
- Open Gmail.
- At the top right, click Settings .
- Click Settings.
- Click Filters and Blocked Addresses.
- Find the filter you'd like to change.
- Click Edit or Delete to remove the filter. If you're editing the filter, click Continue when you're done editing.
- Click Update filter or OK.
What are Keystrokes?
Keystrokes are a shortcut from using your mouse or trackpad for everything, keystrokes use combinations of keys on your keyboard to do tasks that are otherwise done with a cursor through a menu. The following chart is for Windows based computers, Apple computers use slightly different keys to create the same effect (IE replace the "CTRL" key with the "CMND" key on the Apple and you get the same function).
Keystrokes are a shortcut from using your mouse or trackpad for everything, keystrokes use combinations of keys on your keyboard to do tasks that are otherwise done with a cursor through a menu. The following chart is for Windows based computers, Apple computers use slightly different keys to create the same effect (IE replace the "CTRL" key with the "CMND" key on the Apple and you get the same function).
Key or Keystroke Combination Effect
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Ctrl+X = Cuts the selected text or object
Ctrl+C = Copies the selected text or object Ctrl+V = Pastes copied or cut text or object Ctrl+Z = Undoes the previous action Alt+Tab = Switches between currently open app Windows Key = Displays the Start menu Win+S = Opens Cortana Win+C = Opens Cortana in Listening mode Win+I = Displays the Settings window Win+L = Displays the Lock screen Win+X = Display the Desktop menu Win+A = Displays the Action Center Win+E = Displays File Explorer Win+Tab = Displays Task View |
Mar 28, 2019 - Search engines, Windows Defender, Mbps
Start with Spam of the Week - Don’t Click on Links in Unknown Emails!
Search Engine Comparison - Google, DuckDuckGo and StartPage.
Start with Spam of the Week - Don’t Click on Links in Unknown Emails!
Search Engine Comparison - Google, DuckDuckGo and StartPage.
Google.com is arguably the number one search engine in the world, returning the most accurate responses to your questions. Google tracks you when you use it, DuckDuckGo does not track you, but will get different, often not as accurate search results, and StartPage does not track you and uses Google’s search engine so it comes back with similar search results as you would get from Google. Try for yourself, choose a search phrase and test the same phrase in each of the three search engines. Not all search engines are created equal.
Club Questions
Some answers to questions posed last week include how to print out your email addresses from your Outlook contact list. There's a detailed video that deals with Outlook and email here.
And just because it has to do with email, another short video tutorial on how to export all your Gmail contacts.
Let's Talk Administrators
Are you an administrator on your own computer? Or are you just a guest? Here's a good way to check if you're an administrator or even create a new one on Windows 10, and here's how you check the same thing on a Mac computer.
Computer Backups
If something should go wrong with your computer, say you install some malicious app and realize it too late, and you wish you could go back in time, you can. For Windows computers it's called System Restore and this video covers the features in good detail. And for you Apple users, the back-up app on Mac is called, Time Machine and you can get a good overview from this video.
Club Questions
Some answers to questions posed last week include how to print out your email addresses from your Outlook contact list. There's a detailed video that deals with Outlook and email here.
And just because it has to do with email, another short video tutorial on how to export all your Gmail contacts.
Let's Talk Administrators
Are you an administrator on your own computer? Or are you just a guest? Here's a good way to check if you're an administrator or even create a new one on Windows 10, and here's how you check the same thing on a Mac computer.
Computer Backups
If something should go wrong with your computer, say you install some malicious app and realize it too late, and you wish you could go back in time, you can. For Windows computers it's called System Restore and this video covers the features in good detail. And for you Apple users, the back-up app on Mac is called, Time Machine and you can get a good overview from this video.
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What is Windows Defender?
Microsoft tends to name, rename, and repurpose old names for its software, which is how we end up with Outlook Express, Office Outlook, and Outlook.com, all different products targeting different users (and that's just half of it). When it comes to security software, the same holds true: the bottom line is that if you are using Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7, Microsoft Security Essentials is a free anti-virus and anti-spyware security suite that you can download for free. If you are using Windows 8 / 8.1 or Windows 10, you don't need, and in fact cannot, download MSE for your computer: that's because as of Windows 8, Microsoft has bundled it into the operating system-no download or install required on your end. The confusion? MSE, when talking about Windows 8 and later, is now called "Windows Defender" (which would have been fine, had there not been another security software made by Microsoft, called Windows Defender, which was not an anti-virus!) As often, Microsoft tends to confuse us with name changes and line extensions (like Hotmail vs. Outlook), so here's the breakdown for Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender: ◾"Windows Defender", anti spyware tool before MSE Microsoft acquired a third-party anti-spyware product in 2004, first renaming it "Microsoft AntiSpyware", and later "Windows Defender": this wasn't an anti-virus, but an anti-spyware solution. It was also available as a free download for Windows XP, and shipped included into both Windows Vista and Windows 7. ◾In 2009, Microsoft released MSE ("Microsoft Security Essentials"), which was an anti-virus software, whose functionality crossed over Windows Defender: this is why Windows Defender is disabled once you install MSE in Windows 7 and earlier versions. MSE isn't bundled with any version of Windows, but it's available as a free download from Windows XP through 7. ◾Windows Defender running in Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10 For the first time, Microsoft shipped an anti-virus package built into the operating system with Windows 8: it is called "Windows Defender", and does basically the same thing as MSE. You won't be lost using Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10 if you are familiar with MSE. So, to keep things clear, Windows Defender for Windows 8 and later is mostly the same thing as Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7 and earlier! |
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How Fast is the Internet?
Often you'll hear people talking about the "speed" of their internet, what they are actually talking about is the speed of their internet connection. Internet speeds are measured in Mega-bits per second (Mbps) and the higher the number, the faster the speed. For example, if you remember dial-up internet, that speed was about 0.75 Mbps. Keep that speed in mind as you view the chart below showing the basic speeds needed for certain activities online. When you test your internet connection, you will be concerned with three results, the "ping" or latency of the signal (how long it takes to go to and from a location) measured in milliseconds (ms). A good ping is in the low two digits, like 15 ms. The second measurement is the download speed, this is measured in Mega bits per second (Mbps) and this might be the most important number. Most of what you will be doing on the internet is 'downloading' things, movies, tv shows, videos, photos. Anything over 20 Mbps is good in this category. Finally there is the upload speed, this is often much lower than the download speed, but is only important if you are uploading things, files to websites, videos to facebook, things like that, to the internet. Anything over 10 or 15 is good for upload speed.
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