Bob's Bytes - Even More Random Tech Topics

 And for today we had ...

• Computer Speed testing: how fast is your Internet, Storage devices, CPU, RAM and computer?
• What’s this? - an new con appeared in the system tray, "Meet Now"
• The SpaceX Starship - What is it, how is it different, and what happened yesterday, (Dec 9)
• VideoProc Review - A video handler that Bob actually spent money for!

Links for you so you don't have to dig for them:

A deal from Woot for Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 for $50.  If you throw in Adobe Premier Elements (also $50) the combo package is only $60!  https://computers.woot.com/offers/adobe-photoshop-elements-2020z-2

The old program I like to test storage devices with is HDTune:  https://www.hdtune.com/download.html No need for the paid version, the 2008 free version still works great.  For fun, you can compare your measurements with mine:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EMx8T3sWIEVGqaiWZqi-LF9_HDHWtppx/view?usp=sharing

Best place to look up CPU and GPU benchmarks is:  https://www.cpubenchmark.net/  Use this to compare different CPUs to find out which one is faster.

To test your own computer, use the free Novabench:  https://novabench.com/  For fun, you can compare your figures with mine:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FmKUpJTJv_A8X2xXpPn1_9wWXB1ocCHE/view?usp=sharing

The rotating circles optical illusion:  https://twistedsifter.com/2020/12/rotating-circles-optical-illusion-gif/

 Here's a link to all the free (with ads) James Bond Movies:   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwwhtOnMyjuyEeWvv6UX11aw3jFLFAxU1

VideoProc is available here:  https://www.winxdvd.com  Watch for deals - I got it for $30.

Bob's Bytes - Random Tech Topics

• Best Halloween Costumes - Pictures
• Electoral College - Why is Nebraska & Maine different?
• Frauds of the week - email and telephone phishes
• Yeah, you need a backup - a member lost files
• MeWe - what is it?  An alternate social media site
• Chasing a Rabbit - I'm retired, I can do this!
• What is “Streaming?” - Is it really "live?"
• HDMI, FireStick - Basics, use TV as a monitor
• New Project - Digitizing Everything I have
• WLM vs. TB - Windows Live Mail & Thunderbird
• Speed testing - TBD, a teaser topic for next presentation

 

Instagram by Leidy Guerrero

Summary
1. Brief History
2. Procedure: Creating an account, Passwords, & Security
3. Alternative instructions for Ipad
4. Review & Extra Training

 Link to her presentation, a PDF.  Lots of clickable links to the topics she talked about:  https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnjSwOmsFbmGtWHC-FB1hGiPOkxb?e=35SBqx

Elderly Scams & Fraud

 Given on 5 Nov 2020:

JoAnne McKeen / Lisa Boyles
Victim Service Advocates for Financial Exploitation, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services

  

 (Yes, I know I have not posted all of my presentations from September and October.  If you send me a note I'll provide them.  It's been a strange year.)

Brain Training & Bob's Bytes

Topics of the day:

• Brain Training Camp
• News & Comment
• Google Meet
• How to print emails
• Windows 10 updates aren't going to 'kill your SSD'
• How to Screen-shot a menu
• Why is NSCSurfers.org not secure?
• Microsoft Word can open (and edit) PDFs!
• Uninstalling IE?
• Short answer, you can't.  Bob talks about why

To sign-up for the 'Brain Training' camp, email Dr. Elizabeth OrsegaSmith, <eosmith@udel.edu>

To bid on the Dell Latitude E5550: <link> 

Google Meet is a good, free alternative to Zoom:  https://meet.google.com/

The Epic / Apple fight

    The Story: <link>

    The Video: <link> "more entertaining than any court session has a right to be"

Bob’s Bytes: Capturing, Converting, & Saving Music

I figured why the live Audacity audio capture of a YouTube video did not work - It doesn't work inside of the Zoom shared window.  It works fine if I don't share the screen!

The NSC is now open, register at https://newarkseniorcenter.com/ for all events, including the computer lab.  The computer club will host 1 hour appointments 12n to 3pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.  I'll still hold the Zoom virtual meetings at 1pm on Mondays and Thursday, but from the NSC rather than my desk at home.  

Here is the Consumer Reports Guide to Digital Security & Privacy:  https://www.consumerreports.org/digital-security/online-security-and-privacy-guide/ A very good, non-partistan, non-vender, paper.

You can request a mail-in ballot for Delaware elections at: https://ivote.de.gov/VoterView/  I did it for the November general election, but ballots for primaries and school board elections are also available.

Here is "Ask Leo's" answer to "What’s the difference between an Email Account, an Email Address, an Email Program, and an Email Service?"  https://askleo.com/differences-email-account-address-program-service/   Recommended!  Terminology is important and Leo Notenboom does an excellent job in explaining it.

Download the PatchMyPC program installer and updater from https://patchmypc.com/home-updater/  Ninite.com is still good, but PatchMyPC has 6 times as many programs.  And it includes Ccleaner.

We've talked so much about Audacity, it's redundant to give the link.  So get it with PatchMyPc!  Here's the article that answers the question ... https://www.howtogeek.com/217348/how-to-record-the-sound-coming-from-your-pc-even-without-stereo-mix/.  It works wonderfully!  Record anything the computer is streaming and playing.

Here's the presentation.  I've deleted the in-line videos to reduce the download size, but you can still get those by the provided links in the presentation.  (And if you buy a Microsoft Surface Duo - I want you to do a "Show and Tell!")

P.S.  Consumer's Reports responded to my email about the slides from their presentation:

Hey Bob, Thanks for catching that, and apologies!  I should have sent these slides here.  Apologies for the oversight, and thanks for attending the workshop!  - Alan

Click the link for the right set of slides.

Paul Baumbach's Delaware Covid-19 update

Mr. Baumbach is the State Representative to District 23 which includes Newark.

Using the following links he reviewed the current status of Covid-19 inflections in Delaware.

https://www.facebook.com/paulbaumbach23/
https://coronavirus.delaware.gov/
https://myhealthycommunity.dhss.delaware.gov/
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

And a link to the NY Times Covid-19 page:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

All of these are constantly updated with current status.  Lots of good information on all of these pages.  Check 'em out!

If you're in his district, he answers emails at: <Paul.Baumbach@delaware.gov>

Left-Overs and Simple Video Stuff

As it worked out, more left-overs than main course.  <grin>

• RIP: William (Bill) Brice Swift
• Happy 100th! Tom Brockenbrough
• Venmo Scam: https://scambusters.org/venmo.html
• Not a Scam: IRS stimulus payments by Debit Cash Cards
• Discussion of Legitimate or Scam technical support
• What to do with a Computer Problem?
• Turbotax told me I had more $ coming back!
• Leo Notenboom likes Chromebooks  <link>
• Doug G reviews the 8mm film scanner
  

Doug's Wolverine Film Digitizer Review:

Link to Doug's video: (MOV file):

     https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XSXhwSHQNeY5EBBs9Ai1RlUkdVNYV8fG/view?usp=sharing_eip&ts=5f199b6a

2 July - A 'Show and Tell'

Topics of the Day:

• News: The Microsoft Store is Dead; Windows 7 got the new Edge Chromium whether you wanted or not; Use Mozilla Thunderbird instead of Windows 10 Mail; Don't force the 2004 Feature update to Windows 10; Microsoft releases Emergency Windows patch not in Windows update but in the Microsoft Store; Coronavirus Updates: Delaware cases are up.
• NSC not re-opening on July 6, Governor is not authorizing Phase 3 re-openings.  The NSC is ready, watch Carla's video on how they are going to do it.  Specific instructions for making appointments and useing the computer lab is still TBD.
• The Simplisafe Security System is ... duh ... simple to setup and use. Learn all about it at https://simplisafe.com
• Windows 10 "Quick Assist" is a easy to help/get help by remote access.  But caution, only let 'trusted' helpers access your computer.
• Microsoft OneNote: There are several free versions: included with Windows 10, included with MS Office, available at Outlook.com, and apps for Andriod and iOS.  Bob uses it as a free and easy OCR of scanned documents.

25June - Multi-wavelength Astronomy

By Judi Provencal, UD Professor

Opening Videos:

To Scale: The Solar System:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR3Igc3Rhfg

VFX Artist Reveals the True Scale of the Universe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCTuirkcRwo

4June2020 - Bob's Bytes

Entitled: Sump'in - Sump'in as I could not think of something.  :-)

Topics:

• Board meeting notes, currently we have 349 members
• Renewals due by 30 Sep, distribution list cleaned on 1 Nov.
• Social indefinitely postponed
• Lab to reopen 13 July by appoint.  email Ask@nscsurfers.org
• Thursday presentations still virtual only
• Random Stuff, 14 different stories:
• We've switched to MailChimp to distribute notifications. They may be categorized as 'Promotions' by GMail, so check that folder.
• Clipboard history has to be turned on to be used.  Settings, System, ClipBoard.
• Google/Apple contact tracing tools is a API, not app.  And they probably will not get enough users to be effective.
• Bob got a set of Bluetooth earbuds, how do they compare to Apples Airpods?  (Hint: this is an unfair comparison.  $130 vs $32 vs. $8)  <link> 
• Things you may not know about SpaceX Dragon space capsule and Falcon 9 rocket
• Bob got mad at his mouse, so bought a new $17 one  <link> 
• Windows 10 May 2020 Feature Update: nothing to see here, move along
• Are really cheap copies of Microsoft Office Legal/Legitimate?
• What is my computer doing?  Task manager Performance tab and the Resource Monitor
• The $350 "5GBioShield" USB flash drive.  Utter nonsense.  But a fun read because of the jargon-laced marketing copy, "Holographic Nano-Layer Catalyst" indeed!
• Webmail vs. EMail Clients
• Windows 10 Mail, 
• Microsoft Office Outlook, 
• Mozilla Thunderbird 

14May2020 - Bob's Bytes: Random Stuff

I did not realize till just after the preshow video that there was a theme to this presentation.  Yes, I talked software a lot, but from the initial video, the Convid-19 updates, space disasters and close calls, funny virus interstitials, to the closing video, this was a reminder of of time we have and how we choose to use it.  As the Knight says in the The Last Crusade, "Choose wisely."

Topics of the Day

• News & History
• Covid-19 update, it still looks bad, we're less than 1/2 way through this.
• What was the first (and so far only) human deaths in space?
• The "USAF" A12 aircraft in the News - Elon Musk's son?
• The complete story of Marcus Hutchins, the Wannacry hero.
• Windows Trick: the Clipboard History {Win}-V
• It was Patch Tuesday: Bloom's recommended Windows Maintenance tasks
• WinDirStat: what taking up space in the hard disk?
• A good “Ask” Question: What's This?
• FilePuma (Glary) Software Updater
• Task Manager: controlling your startup programs
• Software (or Driver) updater programs: Good or Bad?
• Do not use Internet Explorer in any version of Windows
• Changing the default browser in Windows 10
• Program Reviews/Demos
• Ccleaner Alternatives
• Glary Utilities
• MailChimp
• The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant

Links
Preshow Video - Don't let the Old Man in.  <link>
Covid-19 Daily detections and deaths:  <link>
Interesting stats on people's responses:  <link>
The Story of Soyuz 11:  <link>
Other stuff that happened in space:  <link>
Really scary story of STS-27, Space Shuttle Atlantis.  Worst damage than Columbia!  <link>
Project Oxcart, smaller and faster than the SR-71:  <link>
Elon Musk's Son's name:  <link>
The complete story of Marcus Hutchins:  <link>
The Best Mobile Scanner Apps:  <link>
Program Reviews:
     WinDirStat:  <link>     FilePuma (Glary) Software Updater:  <link>     Glary Utilities:  <link>     Ccleaner:  <link>     MailChimp:  <link>

The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant     A short story by Nick Bostrom:  <link> "The Book"     Adapted by CGP Grey into a Video:  <link> "The Movie"

Identity Theft

By Maria Pippidis, UD Cooperative Extension

Links:

• Identity Theft Risk Assessment <link>
• Suggestions for Reducing the Risk <link>
• Post Presentation Survey <link>

30Apr20 - I'm Still Here

Topics of the Day:

• Internet Questions on 
• The Cloud, 
• The Deep Web, (use TOR or Tails)
• Social Networks, (Facebook, Twitter)
• NSC Clocks
• Program Reviews: 
• HandBrake and background on DVDs
• Simple Photo editing, 
• Veracrypt

Links:
    Handbrake: https://handbrake.fr
         https://www.howtogeek.com/102886/how-to-decrypt-dvds-with-hardbrake-so-you-can-rip-them/
     Irfanview:  https://www.irfanview.com/
         https://www.reviewgeek.com/40826/6-great-youtube-channels-to-learn-photo-editing-from/
     VeraCrypt:  https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html

Mainly Viewer Q&A

Topics of the day:

• COVID-19: Not the end, or the beginning of the end, maybe the end of the beginning.
• Overhyped Ccleaner message
• Coming for Windows 10 next version (v2004 - May) - Nothing I'm interested in
• Free WinX DVD ripper
• Microsoft Office 365 is now "Microsoft 365" - not much is changed, a great deal for some people
• Using the Zoom Whiteboard.  (click 'annotate' in the Zoom menu)
• Multiple people can edit the same file at the same time! - Using OneDrive

Questions from the floor:

• Smart Phone Qs: Android, iPhone, Basic Smartphone file structure
• Computer Hardware Qs: Computers worth buying, Router Setup, File server setup
• Computer Security Qs: Adware, pop-ups, use of ctrl/alt/del, what’s a backdoor?

Left for next week:

• Internet Qs: Social Network, the dark web, the cloud, NSC Clocks
• Program Qs: Handbrake, Photo editing, OneNote

Our First Thursday Presentation by Zoom!

Topics of the day:

• Welcome to Zoom - How to control your client
• Tracking COVID-19 - Facts and Fiction
• Wi-Fi advice - from Bob Rankin and me
• Routers - What do they do?
• Downloading Music - WinX YouTube Downloader

Bob's Bytes #252

The topics of the day:

• What's the largest park in the continental US?  What's the problem with the Glasgow statue?
• Our New 8mm Film Digitizer
• My new *huge* mouse pad
• Analyzing Spam ... you really don't want to click links!
• Which Computer to buy?
• Are Bob's Core i recommendations still applicable?
• What about the new Ryzen CPUs?  Are they good?
• How to compare CPUs?
• Beginning/Background Android
• Where did it come from, the Father of most modern OSs
• Market share
• The Home screens, the three buttons
• All apps, Settings, Customization
• The Wow Computer for Seniors
• It's really a Telikin, cost is $1,000+
• The hardware is cheap ... the hand-holding is expensive (and may be worth it)
• Alternatives:  $500 Dell, $600 Acer, $3,500 MS Studio, or a maxed-out Mac Pro at $54,000 (monitor extra.)

The geek joke of the day:  Due to the Corona virus Pandemic, all Internet TCP/IP packets will be temporarily replaced by UDP packets.

Bob's Bytes: Random Topics

You can't say I didn't have a wide variety of topics today!

• The Rise of the Senior Surfers
• Tech News: PC Sales, Public Wi-Fi, the Iowa Caucuses App
• Background / Beginner / Non-geeky:
• The Windows 10 Menu
• How can the same file be in 3 places?
• Changing Windows Program Defaults
• CGP Grey – Electoral College Change?
• My “new” Pixel 3 Phone Camera
• Vs. my older Lumix point-and-shoot

UofD Community Engagement

Tracy Shickel presents the STAR campus overview:

Bob's Bytes - Happy #250!

Topics of the Day

• Free Video Streaming Apps
• The new Microsoft “Edge”
• Price Checkers: Honey, Wikibuy, & CamelCamelCamel
• 1st Amendment & Political Advertising & Facebook
• Demo of our new Chromebook

*Yes indeed - my 250th presentation to the computer club.  'Course, they were a bit less elaborate then, here's #1 given in February 2007; all of 7 slides.


Dick Scott and I used to collaborate 10 minutes before we started and do the old Huntley/Brinkley thing trading comments, questions and barbs back and forth.  I was "Windows," he was "Apple," each extolling the the virtues of each and occasionally digging each other out of the verbal holes we dug for ourselves.  I miss him.

Assistive Technology for Healthy Aging

Before the main presentation, the U.S. Department of Justice, (the FBI) talked to us about "Money Mules" and how to not become one.  Here's their brochure:  https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnjSwOmsFbmGtHaC9DYNWkTqBLvu?e=qZczpT

Karen Latimer then talked about some of the neat things the Center for Disabilities Studies at the University of Delaware has available to help us cope with aging:

Bob's Bytes - IT

From 8 January 2020

Topics:

• ExpressVote XL PA problem – this is the voting machine Delaware has selected; to say it had problems last year in Pennsylvania is an understatement.
• Windows Support ends … for some.  This includes *both* Windows 7 and 10; of course, there is a story behind this and Bob has some recommendations.
• Malwarebytes updated to v4 – Quietly Malwarebytes has updated their interface, and surprise, it’s better in the free version!
• The Grandparent Scam – The AARP podcast “The Perfect Scam” had an episode last month on the “Grandparent Scam.”  We’ll play an excerpt and see if you would have been taken in.