Tech Help and Discussions

If you’ve been shopping online a lot this holiday season or just in general, you probably have a lot of cardboard boxes in your house that you don’t need. You could break them down and recycle them, or you could fill them with crap around the house that you don’t need and make someone else recycle them. Give Back Box has been around for a few years, but a recent holiday-related burst of publicity about Amazon’s participation in the program brought it to our attention. The idea is simple: you take a cardboard box and fill it with clothing, household items, and anything that you’d normally donate to your favorite thrift store other than electronics. You print out a US…

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DSTM replied December 26, 20168 yr

What is everyone having for Christmas Dinner? We are having Roast Leg of Lamb with roast vegs this year.

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N3 replied December 24, 20168 yr

How many days have you lived so far? Just some Trivia.:) I am 26,403 days old. http://jalu.ch/coding/days/en

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N3 replied December 22, 20168 yr

Remember how, just three months ago, Yahoo had to admit that data for more than 500 million of its users had been compromised in 2014? It seems ridiculous to refer to something that hit 500 million people as the smaller of anything, but it turns out that was only the second overwhelmingly huge data breach Yahoo suffered in recent years. This week, it's admitting a previous, even larger intrusion that hit more than a billion — yes, with a B — user accounts. This breach happened in 2013, Yahoo writes, and is likely distinct from the other breach they disclosed in September. The stolen data, however, comprises the same categories, including: Names E-mail address…

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plodr replied December 16, 20168 yr

Microsoft is planning to allow fridges, toasters, thermostats, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices to access Cortana. The software giant is bringing Cortana to IoT devices with its Windows 10 Creators Update, due in March next year. ZDNet spotted a presentation about the plans at Microsoft’s WinHEC conference in China recently, and the company is outlining its software requirements to hardware makers in preparation of devices coming to the market. “This will enable you to build devices with displays, so you get that immersive Cortana experience,” explains Microsoft program manager Carla Forester. “Any kind of smart device with a screen can now take advantage of …

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Rachel replied December 16, 20168 yr

uBlock Origin, the popular "wide-spectrum blocker" that stops ads and more is now available for Microsoft Edge. There aren’t a ton of extensions available for Windows 10's Edge browser yet as Microsoft's maintained tight control over the ecosystem, making it something of an event when a new big name add-on shows up. Over the weekend, New Zealand-based developer Nik Rolls announced his port of uBlock Origin (Preview) was now available as a preview in the Windows Store. If you’re not familiar with uBlock Origin it is a self-styled “wide-spectrum blocker.” It doesn’t just block ads but also tracking mechanisms and known malware sites. While this version of u…

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AWS replied December 13, 20168 yr

It’s that time of year again, when we’re happy to hear about shoppers performing good deeds and random acts of kindness. Some of those warm-hearted folks we know better than others, including Pennsylvania’s “Santa B” layaway angel, who has now covered the cost of Walmart shoppers’ layaway items for the third year in a row. A total of 194 shoppers had their layaway accounts paid off to the tune of $46,265.59, CNBC reports, after a woman walked into the store and handed over a check from “Santa B.” The story was originally reported by a Facebook page called the Bedford County Free Press. Though this year a woman dropped off Santa B’s check and last year it was a man, …

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Tony D replied December 12, 20168 yr

If I want to upgrade my BIOS + got this PC as Win 7 yet am running 10 ,can I do it by reinstalling 7, upgrading the bios at dell then reinstalling 10? Dell does not recognize my machine as 10 - it needs to be seven. It is not hard doing the upgrade at Dell but I don't know the best way to get back to 10. I don't think I can image because although the motherboard was upgraded, I think an image would negate the upgrade. Could I upgrade at seven then use one of my Win 10 discs to reinstall and still keep the upgraded BIOS? So, if I reinstall 7 which it was when I bought it, upgraded the BIOS etc,how is the best way to keep the upgrades to get back to 10?

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DSTM replied December 8, 20168 yr

I haven't been able to access my Hotmail (outlook.com) account for several hours. I keep getting "This page cannot be displayed" error. Is anyone else having an issue with outlook.com?

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allheart55 Cindy E replied December 7, 20168 yr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6TfhWY6WoI Microsoft is building a Windows 10 version of its famous Paint tool. While the software maker has barely updated Paint in recent releases of Windows, the new Paint app will be completely overhauled. Twitter user WalkingCat has discovered video demonstrations of the new app, and it's clearly designed with Windows 10 in mind. A launch video notes that the new "Paint Preview" app includes all the familiar features of the regular version of Paint, but Microsoft is adding in 3D object support — an ideal addition for HoloLens. Paint Preview users will be able to create 3D objects, and annotate them freely. Microsoft has a range …

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starbuck replied December 6, 20168 yr

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right forum section but there seems to be no obvious alternative. I've become increasingly frustrated with Yahoo. The reliability of the service has been poor recently and I have had long periods of being unable to send or receive email including a period of about 48 hours fairly recently. On top of this the company has made a policy change so that now, when account users, for whatever reason, need to send an email using a non-Yahoo server, they will find the email gets returned unsent. With my Yahoo address previously being my default email address when visiting websites, it became increasingly annoying to find that, when I used a w…

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allheart55 Cindy E replied December 3, 20168 yr

A hacker group has stolen a variety of corporate and personal information from the United States glue and adhesive company Gorilla Glue. The group, which calls itself The Dark Overlord, claims to have made off with 500 GB of company data including R&D materials and access to personal email accounts of those who work at Gorilla Glue. To prove it, the hackers sent 200 GB worth of files to Motherboard. The cache appears to contain financial documents, invoices, and presentations. A screenshot of an internal presentation the hackers obtained with content redacted. (Source: Motherboard) Also included in the haul were personal photos apparently of Gorilla …

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DSTM replied November 23, 20168 yr

You might be wrong to assume that when you buy a shiny new Android phone that there's nothing malicious on it. Researchers at Kryptowire claim that several Android smartphones sold through major retailers like BestBuy and Amazon have firmware pre-installed on them which transmits sensitive information to third-party servers in China, without the owner's knowledge or consent. Affected handsets include the BLU R1 HD, which ships with firmware developers by Shanghai Adups Technology Co. Ltd. Selling for about $60 on Amazon, the unlocked BLU R1 HD Android smartphone is unsurprisingly a big seller. However, the researchers discovered that personal information was bein…

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DSTM replied November 19, 20168 yr

More than a million users have downloaded a particularly sneaky Android trojan that's available on the official Google Play Store. The Russian security firm Doctor Web found that the malware, known as Android.MulDrop.924, likes to disguise itself as games and other apps on Google Play Store and other app marketplaces. One of its preferred masks is an app called "Multiple Accounts: 2 Accounts." It allows users to set up multiple accounts for games, email, messaging, and other software on their devices. The app hasn't received too many bad reviews, either. No doubt such a good reputation played a part in convincing at least one million users to download it. …

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allheart55 Cindy E replied November 17, 20168 yr

Before I reformat and reload, I thought I'd ask for a second, or third, or forth, etc. opinion. I'm working with a Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit HP laptop. 8 GB RAM. User complained that MS Word (Home and Student 2007) no longer works. Gets corrupted error 1719 I've also found so far PowerPoint and Excel don’t open Can’t open Power Options Control Panel Unable to remove user password. Unable to get Computer Properties. Unable to Personalize Display: Explorer.EXE Server execution failed. Can't create recovery disk: HPRDC: Unable to Initialize IDiscMaster2 – Error 0x80080154 System Restores didn't complete successfully. When I ran it under Windows, it returned a…

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Tony D replied November 17, 20168 yr

If you’ve never heard any Pentatonix performance, this is the one to start with. If you’re a fan, this will blow you away. They just released their Christmas album and their version of holiday classic Hallelujah is so good it draws tears to my eyes. There are no instruments, just the sheer power of human voices merged together into something that puts you closer to God when you listen to it. I say human voices, but they sing like a choir of angels. If something more earthly is what you prefer, check out their version of Dolly Parton’s Jolene.

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allheart55 Cindy E replied November 17, 20168 yr

For those of you who've avoided upgrading to Windows 10 so far, Microsoft has offered some scary ransomware numbers to prove it's in your interests to do so. Microsoft's data shows Windows 10 devices have fewer ransomware encounters than Windows 7 devices. If you want to escape the clutches of ransomware, the best thing you can do is install the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, according to Microsoft. Microsoft says there's been a 400 percent rise in ransomware encounters affecting Windows since 2015, but older versions of Windows are more exposed to it and more prone to actual infection after an encounter. Microsoft says it has "made Windows 10 Anniversary Upd…

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allheart55 Cindy E replied November 14, 20168 yr

An unusual bug on Facebook briefly labelled many people as dead. The error on Friday caused the social network to show a memorial banner on user profiles for people who were still alive. Users posted status updates to reassure friends and family they were not dead, despite Facebook's message. "Victims" of the Facebook death bug included founder Mark Zuckerberg himself. A Facebook spokesperson apologies for the monumental cock-up: "This was a terrible error that we have now fixed. We are very sorry that this happened." What was Facebook motto, again? Oh yeah, "move fast and break things". Hope they didn't break too much when they told folks their loved…

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starbuck replied November 14, 20168 yr

One assessment of the Internet of Things (IoT) is that 2016 has been a bad year. Its woes aren’t hard to locate from the infamous Mirai botnet that led a collection of webcams, PVRs and surveillance cameras to summon up the biggest DDoS in history to a growing unease over privacy. Now, just when you thought it was safe to turn on the light, an Israeli-Canadian study has uncovered a weakness in the design of Philips Hue smart light bulbs that it believes a hacker could use to launch an improvised wireless worm. The attack works by targeting the Atmel ZigBee wireless chip inside each bulb which should, on the face of it, be highly secure. It’s cloaked in layers of …

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allheart55 Cindy E replied November 12, 20168 yr

Google’s come up with a “naughty” tag for repeat offenders of its Safe Browsing search policy. Starting on Tuesday, it’s set about flagging such sites as “repeat offenders,” giving them a 30-day time-out that prevents webmasters from simply stopping their bad behavior, showing Google their site is clean and then immediately resuming their hi-jinks. Brooke Heinichen, from Google’s Safe Browsing Team, said in a post that the team has seen a “small number” of websites that run afoul of Google’s policies – including its Malware, Unwanted Software, and/or Phishing and Social Engineering Policies – who stop the behavior for long enough to have the warnings removed, and …

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Bill M. replied November 11, 20168 yr

We all have bad habits, like biting our nails or drinking straight from the milk carton. While they’re bad form, they won’t steal your life savings. They won’t target your children. But I cringe when people confess their hazardous digital activities and unacceptable digital etiquette. It’s time to quit the bad behavior. Here are seven things you should never do online. 1. Don’t be gullible It doesn’t take much effort to create a convincing hoax. With the right phrasing and a dab of digital wizardry, you could convince millions of people that a celebrity has committed suicide, or that drilling a hole in your iPhone 7 will reveal a hidden headphone jack. (It won’t …

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starbuck replied November 10, 20168 yr