Tag: Tech Tuesday

Tech Tuesday – Google Photos

Posted on by Mr John

By John Carter

Hi Net Neighbors! Welcome to Tech Tuesday, where we do deep dives on the issues you are having with technology. Today we are going to take a look at Google Photos, a popular online photo service.

First, a little background. For the longest time any picture you took with your cell phone, if you had Google Drive on your phone, would automatically back up to the Drive. While pictures would be seen in Google Photos and Drive, they really were in the latter while the former was just a convenient interface. Then, in 2019, Google decoupled the two platforms and now all your pictures are solely in Google Photos.

Why are things different?

Believe it or not, Google thought this would be an improvement. According to them, they had complaints that things were too complicated. Therefore, in their mind, disconnecting Photos from the standard Google Drive experience is their way of ‘Making things easier’. The issue with this change is that all your new pictures are going to Google Photos while the others are in Drive.

Wait, you’re telling me I’ve got Photos in two places?!

Yes, yes you do. If you were using Google Photos before the changeover you will have all your old pictures in Google Drive and all the post-change items in Photos exclusively. You can, if you want, merge the old with the new but that is the direction it will go, Old to New. Everything is in Photos now, not Drive.

Although, you could, I guess, move all the pictures manually into Google Drive. I wouldn’t though because of the hit to your storage you’ll take.

How much storage do I have?

Good question. Well according to their site, if you store your pictures at their original quality then you have whatever storage is in your Google Drive. This means, unless you are paying, you will max out at 15 GB. As with most things in life though, the storage number comes with a caveat. If you choose to lower the quality of your pictures from Max Quality to High Quality your storage cap rises from 15 GB to Infinity. Meaning that you can store as many pictures as you want forever. So long as you keep them in Google Photos.

What does it mean by High-Quality?

If you choose the High-Quality option that means your pictures will be reduced in file size to 16 MB per picture. Now that may not seem like a lot, but a picture taken on my iPhone 8 Plus, with its 12 mega pixel camera, clocks in at 3.2 MB. With these numbers I would never hit the max size limit and my pictures would never be reduced. Even in pictures whose quality has been reduced, most of the compression is hard to impossible to detect with the naked eye unless you zoom in to 500% or more. So even under the new system you shouldn’t run into any problems with storage limits.

But I like how it used to be! What do I do?

You have a couple of options. One, you live with the changes and merge the Drive pictures with Photos. Not ideal but it is an option. If you continue this way, if you just look at your pictures while they are in Albums and ignore the master list it will seem as if things were somewhat normal. Two, you can stop using Photos and move to another system such as OneDrive, where you can absolutely use the most complicated folder system you can devise. With OneDrive you will have, by default, 5GB worth of storage with the option of upgrading to more expensive solutions. If you pay yearly or monthly for Office 365 you have 1TB of storage; that’s 1000 gigabytes! Just download the OneDrive app, set it to your account and to backup photos, and sit back.

There is another option out there if you don’t mind dealing with Albums of a sort, and that is Amazon Photos. If you have an Amazon Prime account, you have unlimited picture storage as one of the million other hidden benefits. The real restriction here is that you cannot use the service to store pictures you are using for a business, as that is a separate account. If you want to go this route, just download the Amazon Photos app, set it to your account and to backup photos, and sit back.

So now what?

Really? Just take your photos. If you have decided to use another of the apps then use those. If you are staying with Google Photos, then keep taking pictures. Either way, don’t let the varying machinations of a distant corporate machine keep you from enjoying your day.

And remember, have fun, find adventure, and stay safe.

Tech Tuesday – Emailing vs Texting

Posted on by Mr John

By John Carter

Hi Net Neighbors! Welcome to another installment of Tech Tuesday, where we do deep dives into the issues that concern you. This week we are going to look at an issue that can often mess people up, the difference between Email and Texting.

What is Email?

We spent a long time in a previous episode discussing the finer points of Email, so we shall not rehash them all there. Suffice it to say, Email is a similar form of communication to physically writing out a letter, on paper, with a pen. Because of this deep similarity it is common, and expected, to use similar rules when writing an Email. Emails tend to be long form, with proper punctuation and grammar.

What is Texting then?

If Email is the digital equivalent of hand-writing a letter then Texting, at least among the younger generations, is more akin to a verbal conversation. Also different is how Texting is accessed. Normally, meaning without any workarounds, Texts are tied to a phone number not a set email domain. What this means is that, if you want to Text someone you are not going to use USERNAME@DOMAIN.COM but instead, 9045555555. Though if someone gives you that phone number, they probably do not want to talk to you.

Why do people write Texts so poorly?

That is a good question. A lot of parents look at their children’s Texts and wonder what the heck happened. These are kids and adults whose prose is spectacular, yet their Texts read like a third grader’s failed report. The grammar is wrong. There is no punctuation. Heck, they don’t even use whole words! If you had a hand in shaping this young mind your frustration makes complete sense. But instead of despairing, try rethinking the kind of communication the person is engaging in. Remember, Texting is writing, it’s a stand-in for verbal communication. Think of how the person talks then read the Texts from that perspective.

Now, do me a favor, look at your Texts and read them as if you were speaking. Do they sound like a conversation between two people in a coffee shop or do they sound like a speech?

This Texting = Speaking dynamic also explains something else that many people find irritating, shorthand. If you have ever seen something like 4u and found your teeth grinding, try reading it out loud. If Texting is just Speaking then it does not matter what the information looks like, it is how the communication is being processed that is important.

At the same time, while you may be pulling your hair out at their poor grammar or syntax, they may be worried about you. Some conventions that the written world takes for granted, such as the ellipses aka …, sound very different to those speakreading the Text. Instead of a pause like you probably mean it, the person speakreading it ‘hears’ something far more sarcastic or angry than was intended. Formalized writing in a Texting environment also comes across as angry. Ever hear someone get so angry they start talking slowly and enunciating every word? That is what it can sound like when you bring Email style writing into the texting field.

So I should starting Texting like younger people?

No…just, no. Nothing says I am completely out of touch like someone older than you trying to use the same slang and verbiage as you. But what you CAN do is shake your shoulders a little, break out of the writing mode and move into a more speakerly style. Leave a comma off. Instead of long paragraphs sent as one block, send shorter messages that are easier to digest. And always be aware of how what you are ‘saying’ is going to ‘sound’ to the person speakreading it. Other than that, you be you.

Oh, and this is really important, just because someone is sending you a text doesn’t mean they are expecting an immediate response.

Wait, what?

Yes. When someone you know texts you at 3am they are not expecting you to send a response right then. They know you are asleep. Heck, they may have been asleep too and suddenly was woken up by something and they needed to tell you. What they don’t want though is for you to wake up and text back. Leave that stuff for the morning when you can deal with it appropriately. Usually the only time someone wants you to respond right that second is when they say, “Txt me now! Something’s up.” Unless it is something like that, it can probably wait. Most people who Text are doing so between other things in their life. They can’t get into a sustained conversation right now and they are not expecting you to drop everything either.

If you have someone in your life who is Texting you during times when you are asleep or unable to answer, you can always turn on your phone’s Do Not Disturb function. When this is on you should not receive notifications of the Texts you are getting.

Well that makes me feel better. Now what?

At this point? Just go out and start Texting your loved ones. And if you have something you want to say a tad longer than a quick sentence or two then send it via an email.

And while you’re doing that remember, have fun, find adventure, and stay safe.

Tech Tuesday– Viruses and Malware

Posted on by Mr John

By John Carter

Hi Net Neighbors! Welcome to another Tech Tuesday, where we do deep dives into the technology issues plaguing you. Today we are going to look at something many of you probably live in fear of, Viruses and Malware. Depending on who you are talking to, they have the potential to ruin your life and steal your cat. Now they aren’t out to do the latter and the former…well that is less about your life and more about knowing information about you allows the ‘bad guys’ more access to the world.

What is a Virus?

Okay, now hold onto your hats because I am about to blow your mind. A Virus is a form of Malware. Boom! More specifically, a Virus is a computer program designed to spread from program to program in your computer. Once it has infected a host machine, the Virus will then seek ways of jumping to other systems to infect them as well. Viruses are made by people with varying goals in mind. Some do it for benign reasons such as creating tools to break into computers to better figure out ways to protect those same computers. Others use Viruses as a way of making a political statement, such as programming a computer so that, every time you press CTRL and ALT at the same time a screen opens and types whatever statement they had in mind.

Those are good to somewhat annoying actors on the stage though. What about the really bad guys? Well Viruses made by these people are out to steal information or deny you access to services until an amount of money is paid.

Then what is Malware?

Malware, or malicious software, is a catch all term for all sorts of nasty computer bugs. Bugs such as Trojan Horses, Ransomware, Adware, Keyloggers, Browser Hijackers, and yes, Viruses. We’ll go through all these but know that they all are problematic and can really be a pain to remove. They are usually created to cause pain in others and extract information and funds from people/institutions.

Trojan Horses

Like the historical horse from which they draw their name, Trojan Horses, aka Trojans, are Malware designed to appear legitimate. They use this seemingly legitimate face to convince you to interact with it and when you do the real Malware hidden inside is free to attack. Some common places for Trojans to pop up are pictures people send you. While the image appears normal, inside Malware may be lurking. It is because of this that many email services include a scanner to check incoming mail for these sorts of attacks.

Ransomware

This kind of Malware either locks you out of your computer or threatens to distribute the contents of your computer. Either way, the chief goal of Ransomware is for you to pay the bad guys. They block access to your files by encoding them with a key that only they have. So long as you are not given the key there is no real way of accessing your information. Trojans are a common vector for getting Ransomware onto your computer

Adware

This might be the one you are most familiar with because of how it presents, pop-ups. Adware is designed to create windows filled with ads for you to click on. The most important thing to remember when it comes to Adware is to not click on any of the buttons. For one, you cannot be sure you are going to legitimate sites through these links. Also, you cannot be sure the button isn’t a trigger to release a far more dangerous Malware into your system.

Keyloggers

Again, usually, hidden within Trojans, Keyloggers are pieces of Malware designed to make a record of every key you press on your keyboard. The purpose of this is to capture important information such as usernames, passwords, and bank account numbers and then transmit that information to the one behind the Malware. Once they have this information it is much easier to break into your accounts.

Browser Hijackers

These are very sophisticated pieces of Malware designed to take over some, if not all, the functions of your browser. Common features are a changing of your browser’s search engine to a bad actor’s site. These sites are either Malware-laden traps, filled with ads designed to take you to worse sites, or both. Browser Hijackers can be some of the hardest Malware to remove though some aspects of them, such as changing default search engines and browsers, requires user permission making them less powerful on Windows 10 machines.

Okay, I’m scared now. How do I protect myself?

Well the good news is that is fairly easy to protect yourself against the kinds of threats. If you have Windows 10 then your computer comes with Windows Security which is more than up to the task of keeping your computer free of viruses. Just make sure to run regular updates and occasionally pop into the Windows Security, accessible through the Update and Security area of the Settings app.  

Malware, on the other hand, will probably require a bit more power than a simple virus scanner has at its disposal. To combat them you are going to want to download an anti-Malware program. As of 2020 one the most respected anti-Malware programs is Malwarebytes which you can download for free from Malwarebytes.com. It will give you a free 14-day trial of their Premium services but you can use the basic package with no problem.

Now what?

Between your free anti-virus and your free anti-Malware, you can use the internet in relative safety. This does not mean there are no threats out there, that’s not how life works. But for the most part you are safe, just like in life. Just remember a few things: don’t download from sites not familiar to you, if a friend sends a picture from the wrong email address don’t open it, run your anti-virus and anti-Malware at least once a month depending on your usage.

Next time we are going to talk about Texting and how it compares to Email and how to get the most out of both.

Until then, have fun, find adventure, and stay safe.

Tech Tuesday – Cookies

Posted on by Mr John

By John Carter

Hi Net Neighbors! Welcome to another installment of Tech Tuesday, where we do deep dives into the technology we have all around us. Today we are going to look at something that, if you use the internet, you’ve heard mentioned before; Cookies

Mmm, Cookies. Who doesn’t love an ooey, gooey chocolate chip cookie?

Wait, no, not those Cookies, sorry. Today we are going to talk about Cookies in your computer. If you have been anywhere on the internet these days, you have probably encountered something mentioning Cookies and asking your permission to use them. So, let’s do a deep dive into them.

What is a Cookie?

At its most simple, a Cookie is a tiny piece of information placed on your computer by someone else’s computer. Now let’s talk about that, because it sounds scary.

Let’s take a step away from the digital world and back into the real one. Imagine for a moment you have a business card. It has your name, address, phone number, and anything else you would like people to know about you. Easy enough, eh? Even if you have never had one yourself, you’ve seen them on tv and in the movies. Now the purpose of a business card is, when you meet someone or visit a place, you can leave a reminder of who you are, that way people can find you again. Sometimes those people and places that have your card will add additional information to make it easier for them to remember you. This is very similar to how Cookies work.

When you visit a website, it will often ask you if they can place a Cookie on your computer. This is their ‘business card’ so, the next time you visit, they can remember who you are. Depending on the site, this Cookie will take different forms. Most are just a long string of numbers and letters that correspond to your account on their systems.

The kinds of things using Cookies though are integral to the internet. Ever go shopping online and the ‘Shopping Cart’ remembers what you put in it? That information is being stored on your machine via a Cookie. Ever go to your email and you don’t have to sign in? Well the login authentication was done via a Cookie. Ever go back to YouTube and they remember where you left off in a video? That was a Cookie too.

To then answer the question, what is a cookie? One must conclude Cookies are one of the most essential parts of the modern internet.

Cookies are okay then?

This depends. Cookies are used both to track your purchases and reduce the number of times you must sign-in to a site. There was a key word there though, track. Along with being helpful, Cookies are recording what you are doing on your computer so someone else can have access to that information. Most of the time this access is benign but not always. If you are someone who objects to the way modern companies track you and then use the data they gather to advertise to you, then Cookies are not as friendly as they might have been intended.

Okay, so why do people tell me to delete them?

Great question, glad you asked. Although not completely, this notion of deleting Cookies and clearing the cache stems from earlier generations of computers. Being a simple text file, Cookies do not occupy a huge amount of space on your computer. However, what is a small amount of real estate now was a much larger amount of space in the comparatively smaller hard drives and processors of twenty years ago. Back then, when your computer ran slow it made absolute sense to jettison every little bit of stuff clogging up storage and Cookies were an easy place to cut some metaphorical calories. These days, with as powerful and robust as modern computers are it is less necessary to remove them. Additionally, your computer’s browser automatically deletes Cookies that are too old.

So, what should I do about Cookies?

Largely you can ignore them. These days Cookies manage themselves. There are options in your browser you can activate to minimize the use of Cookies on your computer. However, if you choose to use the internet without ever using a Cookie your experience will be less robust than intended.

Then why do all these sites tell me they are using Cookies?

You can thank the European Union for these notifications. The EU Cookies Directive states that any site owned by EU citizens or directed to EU citizens must inform users of the Cookies they use and gain consent for operation. It can be annoying to be sure, but at least you are being informed.

Now what?

Have fun on the internet knowing why the browser keeps mentions Cookies. There are things other than Cookies to be worried about these days, Viruses and Malware. We’ll get to those next time.

Until then, have fun, find adventure, and stay safe.

Tech Tuesday: Incognito Mode

Posted on by Mr John

Tech Tuesday – Incognito Mode

By John Carter

Hi Net Neighbors! Welcome back to Tech Tuesday, where we do deep dives into the technology powering our lives. Today we look at something you may have never heard of but can be a powerful tool for keeping yourself safe online. Although called several different things depending on the browser, today we are going to stick with Incognito Mode. While the name may sound ominous, it really isn’t. In fact, it could save you a great deal of headaches down the road.

Also, sorry about the lateness of this.

Okay, so what is Incognito Mode?

As we discussed in a previous post, your Browser—Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari—can be thought of as a car driving down the road that is the Internet. Well as you are moving through the Internet you are seen by every site you visit and your Browser keeps records of everywhere you go, in case you want to quickly get back. Your Browser will even remember your passwords and log-in information if you let it. All of this is handy when you are talking about your own computer, most people would love to not be required to remember their password. But what about a friend’s computer? Or when you’re at the library? You probably don’t want those computers remembering you. That’s where Incognito Mode comes in

When you are using your Browser’s Incognito Mode the Browser behaves as if no one had ever used it. Sites you go to will ask for your passwords and will require any additional proof of identity you may normally bypass on your home machine. What’s great about this lack of remembrance on the Browser’s part is it also protects the normal user of that computer from you accessing their information. Even better news is that, when you are done with Incognito Mode and you close the Browser window it will forget everything you typed inside, so your accounts are not compromised.

Wow, that sounds amazing, but where do I find Incognito Mode?

Good question, humble readers. If you are using Chrome then you will find Incognito Mode by clicking on the three dots in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. When you do so it should be the third option down from the top.

That’s great for Chrome but I don’t use it, does that mean I don’t have Incognito Mode?

You probably have it, it might just be called something different. Some alternative names for Incognito Mode are Edge’s InPrivate Window, Firefox’s Private Window, and Safari’s Private Browsing. No matter the name though, you can still use this valuable feature and keep yourself safe on the internet.

Now what?

Now, it’s time to take the internet into your own hands and make the most out of this valuable tool. We did mention something important in here, Cookies, and with websites always mentioning that they are using Cookies we should probably have a discussion about them. That is for next time though.

Until then, have fun, find adventure, and stay safe.

   

Posted on by Mr John

Tech Tuesday – Search Engines

By John Carter

Hi Net Neighbors! Welcome back to this, another Tech Tuesday. If you remember last week, we talked about Address Bars in our browsers, a key way to search for information and go directly to websites as needed. Now on that Tech Tuesday we discussed searching only in the broadest strokes. Why don’t we add some detail to those strokes, eh? So today we are going to look at how you search for things on the internet and for that we are going to look at Search Engines.

What are Search Engines?

At its broadest definition, a Search Engine is a tool you can use to find information in a database. Ever look for a word in a dictionary? If so, at that moment you were the Search Engine, and the dictionary was the database you were accessing. Computer-based ones do the same thing, looking through a large set of information for keywords and phrases. Only the size of these dictionaries is so unfathomably huge I cannot properly put them into words.

You say ‘Engines’, how many are there?

There are more out there than you may thing. In fact, there are so many it can be very hard to keep track of them all. Here are a few you may have heard of: AOL, Yahoo, Bing, and Google. Google is THE premier name when it comes to searching for information on the internet, so much so that the act of searching is now called googling it. Now just because Google has placed themselves at center-stage does not mean it is the best, it is just the most well-known. The others mentioned have their pluses and minuses depending on you the user. For me, if I am searching for high-quality, high-resolution, images I will often go to Microsoft’s Bing because I find their selection slightly better. That being said, I often will just stick with Google since its overall database has been used more and is slightly more robust.

If you don’t want to have your information used for tracking and advertising you can use a Search Engine called DuckDuckGo.

Tracking? What is tracking me?

Now this will sound a little scary, but most of the internet is, in some way, tracking you. This tracking is used to learn more about you. Knowing you have searched for a certain brand of shoes, or for a cool vacation allows the companies running the Search Engine to sell the fact that you searched for those things to companies who can advertise to you. Now this can be a good thing and it can be a bad one too depending on your point of view. Thankfully, more companies are realizing customers do not appreciate their advertising practices and are changing their tactics and allowing you to opt out of their targeted advertising. Not all are, however, hence DuckDuckGo, which does not track you at all. Ads with them are based off what you searched for, as if you were at a store and staff suggested a purchase based on what you just grabbed.

Wait, my Search Engine just changed, what’s up?

Hopefully you will never encounter this, but sometimes your Search Engine will change without warning. There are a few reasons why this could happen so let’s take a look at them.

You live with someone else.

If you live with someone else, they might have changed the Search Engine on your computer. As with anything else, the choice of Search Engines can become almost cult-like. People have been known to change someone else’s Search Engine just because it was not the one they preferred. If that happens to you, simply turn it back in your browser’s settings.

You updated something.

While this does not happen as much anymore, sometimes when you update Windows or your browser some of the settings will be returned to factory standard. One common item to be reset is your browser’s Search Engine. Microsoft-branded browsers, Internet Explorer and Edge, can switch from Google or Yahoo back to Bing. While Google-made Chrome is likely to change back to Google. This is annoying to be sure but, as with the above, just change it in your browser’s settings.

Your browser has been hijacked.

This option is, unfortunately, as ominous as it sounds. If someone in your home hasn’t changed your Search Engine and your update hasn’t either, then a virus or malware has taken control of your browser and has switched it. When this happens, you will need to run an anti-virus and an anti-malware scan on your computer. You may have to do it multiple times depending on the infection. You will also have to remove any virus-installed products from the machine through your computer’s Uninstall Programs area and remove the rogue Search Engines from your browser.

Well that was spooky, anything else?

Well there is Incognito Mode but that doesn’t have anything to do with Search Engines and we will talk more about it at a later date. So, for right now, not really. We’ve talked about Search Engines and their uses. Now it’s up to you to use them and learn more. More about Search Engines and more about the world around you.

Until then, have fun, find adventure, and stay safe.

 

 

Tech Tuesday: Address Bar

Posted on by Mr John

Tech Tuesday – The Address Bar

By John Carter

Hi Net Neighbors! Welcome to another wonderful installment of Tech Tuesday, where we take deep dives into the technology issues plaguing you. Last time we talked a bit about internet browsers but there was still a lot left to be discussed. Today I would like to pick up where I left off by introducing you to the Address Bar. But before we get started, I want to remind you of the metaphor we used last time to talk about browsers. That they are cars on a road that is the internet.

What is the Address Bar?

I’m glad you asked. The Address Bar is a critical part of any browser, it is also the part most people miss when they first open a browser. You are probably reading this in a browser right now, if so look at the top of the screen.  See that long bar with hinetneighbor.com followed by what seems like a stream of nonsense? That’s the Address Bar.

What do I do with it?

The Address Bar is used, in modern browsers, for two separate tasks: direct navigation and searching. Let’s take a look at both.

Direct Navigation

When we speak of direct navigation, we are talking about actively visiting a site. You directly navigate to web sites all the time. Ever type in a web address such as Coke.com or NASA.gov? If you have, then you have directly visited a site using your address bar. When we want to go to these locations directly we simply click in the Address Bar and type the address followed by the ENTER key. As soon as you do, you’re there. It might take a minute, it might be an instant, but as soon as you hit that fabled key your computer does the rest, navigating the ‘roads’ of the internet to reach your destination.

Searching

Sometimes though, you don’t know a site’s address, or you don’t know there is even a site for your topic. In those cases, the Address Bar can still be a real asset. Remember how I said under Direct Navigation that, if you know an address you just click on the Address Bar and type it? Well, the same is true for when you are searching for something.

Want to find out how to change a tire? Then type how do I change a tire and hit ENTER. Need to know where the nearest Thai place is, then type that. Gone are the days of complex Boolean logic-based searches, just ask. Ask it like you were asking someone where you might find the nearest gas station.

Is there anything I shouldn’t do with the Address Bar?

Don’t feed it to your cat, it is not that type of bar.

In all seriousness, the one thing you should never do is type your email address into the Address Bar. I know, it sounds counter intuitive. As we’ve previously discussed, an email address is a location on the internet. The reason you cannot use the Address Bar for your email is the same reason you cannot use tell someone your phone number when they ask for your address. Web addresses and email addresses are different things and need to be interacted with differently.

To help you remember the difference, remember this. If you are trying to type an address into the Address Bar and you use the @ sign then you are not typing the right thing. What you should be typing is what comes after the @, the domain. So instead of typing username@domain.com into your Address Bar just type domain.com.

Now what?

Well, if you are asking the Address Bar questions and going to websites then you are off to a great start. Once you get comfortable with that, we are going to talk about Search Engines, which are vital tools in the kit you are building.

Until then, have fun, find adventure, and stay safe.

 

 

Tech Tuesday: The Cloud

Posted on by Mr John

Tech Tuesday: The Cloud 

Hi Net Neighbors! Welcome back to another Tech Tuesday, where we take dives into topics across a host of domains all linked by a common thread and that’s Technology. 

Today we are going to look at something we mentioned last week, The Cloud. Now I’ve spoken to many people over the years and this is a topic where many of us get confused. So, let’s take a step out into the Neighborhood and look at The Cloud. 

What is The Cloud? 

To understand The Cloud let’s look at something a little more mundane, a safety deposit box. Even if you have never used one, you have probably seen them on TV and in movies. All a safety deposit box is, is a place at a location, usually a bank, were you and only you can store your important items. Other people have boxes next to yours, some larger some smaller, but only you can get into your box because you have proof of identity and you have your key. The problem with real safety deposit boxes is that they are only at one bank, you can’t have a box in Jacksonville and go to a bank in San Francisco and ask to open your box. Not very convenient eh?  

Well using the safety deposit box metaphor, let’s look at your email. Your email is a secure place where you can store messages. You access it by going to a ‘bank’, in this case your email provider; Gmail.com, Yahoo.com, Outlook.com, Aol.com. Once at your ‘bank’ you need to state your identity with your username and have a key with your password. Only after typing your username and password does the ‘box’ open and you can see the contents. And because all of this is being done on the internet you really can make your email in Jacksonville and access it in San Francisco. 

So, what is The Cloud? It is a collection of internet-based services accessible from anywhere on the planet with the use of a username and password. 

Does that mean The Cloud is just for email? 

Heavens no! The Cloud is so, so much more than just email. Email is just getting your foot in the door.  Once the door is open, there are so many options I would not blame you if you were a little scared. But let’s stick with email for the moment. There are many Cloud-based options available thanks to your email.  

Let’s look at the domains of Gmail.com and Outlook.com/Hotmail.com.  

If you look at the top of either site you will find a square of nine smaller squares, what many call the waffle. You may think it looks like the numbers on a landline phone. When you click on the waffle you are given a wide array of options depending on the domain. And that is key, this is domain specific. Remember last time, we mentioned that the part of your email address after the ‘@’ is your domain. Each domain is owned by a different company so there will be different options attached. 

In Gmail.com you have a YouTube account, a place for your contacts, a calendar, a storage box in the form of Drive, along with Docs, Sheets, and Slides, the Google versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Did I mention that you get all of those for free? Because they are. Not a single cent spent.  

Meanwhile, in Outlook.com land, you get OneDrive, Microsoft’s version of a storage box, contacts, a calendar, and honest-to-goodness Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. All also for free. 

Contacts and Calendars? I just save those to my phone. 

Many people do and if you are one of them that is okay. But I recommend another way. Save your contacts and calendars to the cloud. More than once I have had people come to me with a new phone wondering where all their contacts are. Either they got an upgraded phone or their prior one was damaged. Whatever the cause, the phone store didn’t/couldn’t transfer the information and now they are at square one. 

Even if they could have transferred the information, I have seen people sit in a store for hours waiting for their data to move. Not waiting for someone to do it. Waiting for the computer to move their numbers and calendar. 

The thing is, this wasn’t necessary. All this hassle didn’t have to happen. If you know one or two username/password combinations you can have access to all that information if you have saved it to a cloud. I personally store my information in Google, mainly because my first smartphone was an Android, but I could have stored it in my iCloud, my Outlook.com or really any other cloud service. Whenever I get a new phone or device where I need all my personal information, all I do is sign into an account or two and everything is there. It may take a few minutes most and then I’m ready to go. 

And, because they are being saved to the cloud, when I make a change on one device, it is changing the information on all the devices. This saves a ton of time and ensures that I always have the most up to date information. 

Okay, I’m interested. What else can I do with The Cloud? 

Good question. Like art or photography? Then you have Adobe’s Creative Cloud which, at 53 dollars a month, gives you Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and the rest of Adobe’s products along with 100 GB of storage. Although, if you have an email ending in .edu you might be eligible for a student account bringing Adobe down to 20 dollars a month.  

If paying that much seems insane to you, then you can still do photo editing thanks to Pixlr.com, one of many free alternatives. Meanwhile Vectr.com is one of several free vector graphic illustration options. 

Want to try your hand at 3D design and modeling? Great! You have many options, though I am going to focus on two; Tinkercad.com and Leopoly.com both of which are free. With Tinkercad.com you have a place where you can make complicated replacement parts, toys, and gifts using an easy, intuitive environment. Your work is automatically saved online, so you never have to worry about losing anything. And if you like either Legos or Minecraft then Tinkercad.com has tools which will allow you to plan out your designs before you lay the first brick. Meanwhile, in Leopoly.com, your artistic side can run wild thanks to a robust sculpting system tailor made to make your imagination a reality. Though don’t forget to hit that save button. 

With the new year many people want to get into coding but they don’t know what to download. Thankfully Repl.it has you covered there. Repl.it has over twenty different coding languages you can work in and the system will run your code directly in your computer’s browser. And it is completely free. 

What about iCloud? 

Sigh, okay you got me. I’ve left out iCloud from the discussion on purpose, mainly because its name is really confusing. Brought to you by Apple, iCloud.com is just their version of Gmail.com. If you don’t have an Apple Product, meaning an iPhone, iPad, or a Mac, then you don’t have to worry about iCloud.com. If you do, then you have free access to contacts, calendar, photo and everything else storage, along with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, the Apple spin on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Calling it iCloud was just a fancy marketing gimmick. 

How safe is the cloud? I hear it’s not very secure. 

Not to answer a question with a question, but how safe is your bank? Has a bank ever been robbed? It doesn’t hit the news as much anymore, but it happens, yet we still put our money into them. The Cloud is the same way. People have had their information stolen, though it often happens to people who are higher profile such as movie stars and internet personalities. The good news is that, since your information is not stored on just one computer but a vast network, if one copy is lost others in the chain can replace it. 

My advice is to be smart about things, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Don’t have the same password for every service. Where possible, have your accounts secured to your phone, so bad guys must know your username, password, and phone number. Though remember to keep your phone number if you change phones, otherwise you might lose access to your accounts. And remember, if someone asks you for your username, password, and phone number don’t give it to them. You wouldn’t give a stranger your safety deposit box key, why would you give one the internet equivalent? 

So now what? 

Go out and explore. You have a huge variety of tools out there just waiting for you, try them out. If you don’t like something, or don’t want to use a service, then don’t. Just remember to be safe, be smart, and keep an eye out. If you do that your browser will treat you well. 

What? Your browser? Don’t worry, we’ll get to that soon enough.  

Until then, have fun, find adventure, and stay safe. 

 

 

Tech Tuesday: Email

Posted on by Mr John

Hi Net Neighbors! I am back today with a new segment here in the Net Neighborhood, Tech Tuesday. Tech Tuesday is just that, a day to talk about technology that is predictable and has some alliteration, which is great. Some Tech Tuesdays might be longer, some shorter, but I will try to get one out to you every Tuesday.

This week, Tech Tuesday is dedicated to a piece of the Net Neighborhood many of you know and use but may not have thought about; Email. Now many of you probably know a lot about Email and if you do, that’s great. And if you don’t know a lot, or even anything about it, then welcome. Either way, I hope we can have some fun as we take this dive into Email.

So What is Email?

While it may seem obvious to many, I find it is a good idea to start with the basics and work from there.   Email is short for electronic mail, meaning mail sent via the internet. Now I have often people get confused when texting and Skyping and other forms of communication are mixed in so let’s take a step back and really drill down to what we mean. Think of a hand-written letter you might send to someone. Take all those rules of conduct you follow in those letters. Everything you are thinking about right now applies, in some shape or form, to Email. Texting and the rest are different and follow their own rules. We’ll talk about them in the coming weeks but for now we’re focusing on Email. And when we look at Email, the most important thing to consider is the Email Address.

What is an Email Address?

Email addresses are in many ways just like our normal, real-world, addresses, they give you a place on the internet from which you can send mail and receive. Now if you have never had an email address before there are A LOT of options out there. The number of choices can be rather overwhelming but that is why we are having this conversation.

Before we talk about those options though, let’s take a look at a generic email address:

 USERNAME@DOMAIN.COM 

Rather intimidating, isn’t it? Well don’t worry. It only looks scary, in reality it is a paper tiger. As you can see, there are several parts to any email address, each one is important just like the town, state, and zip code is important in your own real-world address. Oh, and like your real-world address, you don’t need to capitalize the whole thing.

Now that we have the basic structure down, let’s take a look at the individual parts.

Username

Usernames are the part of any email address people end up stressing over. At its most basic, the username is you. Or, more exactly, the username represents your unique location within a domain. Think of it as the first part of your regular address. There can only be one building at 1234 Park Place, the same way there can be only one username per domain. If you have ever seen someone whose email address was something similar to  CUDDLYMONKEY23@DOMAIN.COM  it’s because there were probably 23 other people who wanted to be CUDDLYMONKEY and they got to the domain first. Usernames can be even harder if you want a more professional one that includes your real name. Think how hard it must be for me to get one with a name like John Carter!

@

Now the @ sign might not seem all that important in the grand scheme of things but it is vital. @, or at, tells people where your username can be found. This is important since you can use the same username for multiple different accounts. That new Kindle you just got, well it is going to need an Amazon account on top of your email address and you can use the same username for both. By having the @ sign though people and computers know your username is attached to an email and not an Amazon account.

Domain.com

The domain is, to borrow from our real-world mail metaphor, the ‘city’ where your email is located. There are many domains out there, perhaps you’ve heard of some: Yahoo.com, Gmail.com, Hotmail.com, Outlook.com, Aol.com, Bellsouth.net. I could go on for hours naming more and more, but if you’ve heard of any of those you’ve heard of a domain. Some of us get domains from their cable/phone companies and if you do then that’s great. A word of warning for you though, if you were to ever end your cable account, perhaps because you are moving to somewhere Comcast does not exist, then you would lose the email associated with it. Therefore, even if you have an account already, it is wise to get an account you in no way pay for. Gmail.com and Outlook.com are both good choices for an email account, be it a secondary or your first as they both have added cloud benefits. (Look for that in a later post)

As a side note about domains, do not use one domain to make another. What I mean is this. Let’s say you have your bellsouth.net address and you want a new gmail.com address. One question you are asked is, “What do you want your email address to be,” and some people just put their bellsouth.net address. This is a big, BIG, no no. What you have done is essentially made two different houses in two different cities and gave them both the EXACT same address, even down to the city, state, and zip code. If you think the people at UPS would get confused imagine how bad it can get for computers. If you want to keep the same username then by all means do so but don’t use the same domain when making a new email address. Keep bellsouth.net with bellsouth.net and gmail.com with gmail.com. I know it makes it a little harder to keep track of what is where but trust me, it will save you and those who help you a ton of time.

What about Passwords?

Passwords are the bane of most people, be they newcomers to the digital world or long-time digital citizens. Now most experts will tell you to create a password complicated enough so no one will ever be able to crack it, something like: 7zK45jKbbY812!h&5L. As far as passwords go, at least from a security standpoint, that one is pretty good with a decent mix of numbers, letters, capitalization, and special characters (meaning the ! or the &). But from an ease of remembering standpoint, it is TERRIBLE. Going into the creation of a password by saying, “I am going to make one no one will ever guess,” is you guaranteeing that you will never be able to remember it.

So, what can we do? How can we make a password that will be hard to crack but easy to remember? Well let’s try something. Look at this sentence:

Mary had a little lamb.

Pretty easy right? Most of us know this little nursery rhyme and if you don’t then I am sure there is something from your own childhood that is burned into your memory. But with this one sentence we can do a lot: M4ry_h4d_@_little_l4mb, or MaryHad@L1ttleLamb, or M@ryL1ttl3L@mb. With each of these I took the line and then established a code in my head. In one I replaced every ‘A’ with a 4 because an ‘A’ looks a lot like 4, at least depending on the font. In another I capitalized the first letter of each word and replaced the “i” in little with a 1. There are a lot of ways you can scramble it while still retaining the core thing you need for your memory. The key is consistency. Notice in all three I replaced the ‘a’ between had and little with a @, or just replaced all the instances of ‘a’ with @. Instead of trying to remember where you put a character just have it in the same place every time.

And please, do not feel bad about writing down your passwords in a book. A lot of people do it and there is nothing wrong with it. Just remember to keep it consistent in a way that makes sense to you.

Wait, why is it asking for my phone number?

When you make an email account these days often you will be asked to provide a cell phone number. They do this as an additional safety barrier for you on top of your password. With your phone number if someone, including yourself, is trying to get into your account you will receive a text message with a code. This is code is single-use, so do not hang onto it, and it will let you in. Because of this, bad guys would need your phone number and your username and your password to steal your information.

However, if you do this please remember your email and your phone are now linked. When it comes time to upgrade to a new phone make sure you move your phone number to the new phone, otherwise you will lose access to your email account. Because if you cannot get to your old phone number for the code you CANNOT get in.

Okay, that was scary. Now what?

Well the good news is, you have an email address! Having an email address means you are now a digital citizen. You can communicate with other people, sign up for goods and services, and have access to everything the internet has to offer. Most importantly though, depending on which domain you went with you also have your own personal slice of The Cloud. But for more on that, tune in next time.

Until then, have fun, find adventure, and stay safe.