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Home » Archives for January 2015
12:42 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Apple apparently hasn't turned its back on free stuff, after all,
even though ithe situation seemed a little iffy after the disappearance
of the free iTunes Single of the Week. In other news, a Missouri
lawmaker wants users to produce photo IDs every time they use Apple Pay
and similar services in his state, and Apple introduced some simple but
useful tools for its Photos for iCloud.com app.
Apple Introduces 'Free on iTunes' Section
For a few days there,
it looked as though the free U2 album kerfuffle had soured Apple on the
idea of free products forever, but a new "Free on iTunes" section of
iTunes shows that's far from the case. Many longtime users were
initially sad to hear...
12:27 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
You know the feeling. You open up your browser to head to your favorite website only
to see an ugly toolbar taking up space. And instead of your usual home
page, your browser starts with a random search page for a company you've
never heard of.
I tell you how to get your old home page back in this handy tip.
How did that happen? Even more important, how do you get your browser
back to normal? None of the settings to fix it is where you'd think it
would be. It's beyond frustrating!
Not only do unwanted toolbars and plug-ins squeeze the fun out of
going online, they can make your computer less secure. Some outdated
plug-ins make it easier for viruses and spyware to sneak...
7:37 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
I'm sure you've heard of Amazon Prime by now. It's a popular one-stop shop for just about anything cut the cord on cable once and for all.
you could want from mega-retailer Amazon that can help you
The service not only gives you free shipping on any product, it give you access to millions of TV shows, movies, as well as a music library that has more than a million songs. Oh yeah, and did I mention unlimited photo storage and unlimited access to the Kindle library, too?
If you've been on the fence about signing up for Amazon Prime, this
weekend could be the right time to finally pull the trigger. Amazon is
discounting the service, but for a limited time...
7:33 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Microsoft is on a roll with product announcements this week. So far, we've heard about Windows 10, the huge Surface Hub TV/tablet and the groundbreaking HoloLens. Now, Microsoft is releasing details on one of its biggest properties.
Yep, it's the new version of Microsoft Office, the gold standard of
productivity software the world over. Microsoft is making big changes in
its other departments, so is Office getting a minor upgrade or a
complete overhaul?
It's actually a bit of both. After the fiasco that was Windows 8, it
seems Microsoft is done with the "one-size-fits-all" mentality.
To that effect, it's releasing Office in two versions targeted...
7:26 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Did you miss out on the Black Friday doorbusters and those
ridiculously cheap TVs over the holidays? You're definitely not alone.
And if you're in the market for a new TV, you actually made the right
decision.
The Consumer Electronics Show ended earlier this month, and the next
wave of bleeding-edge TVs are about to be shipped out to retailers. TV
prices drop to their lowest point in late January as companies
start cleaning out their stock for the next generation or offer sweet
deals for the Super Bowl.
Unlike the typical Black Friday doorbuster deal, these TVs are from
big brands and have the latest technology. That means if you're looking
for a TV that will last, this...
6:54 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
When looking for a job, you should always try to stand out from the
crowd. But, that's easier said than done. That's why LinkedIn has
offered some help to all the job hunters using its social network by
releasing its annual list of most overused buzzwords.
For five years now, LinkedIn has created a top 10 list of the most
overused buzzwords. It looks through all of the English-language
profiles on its site to see which generic terms people are using most.
When you're creating a resume or LinkedIn profile, it's easy to fall
into the trap and use a vague word like "motivated," but what does that
really say about you? Just about everyone applying for the same job
would probably...
3:09 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Reader Phil Rogers has more images than he cares for. He writes:
Because digital photos are so easy to save, my wife and I developed
the bad habit of downloading, and downloading, and well, downloading. If
we needed to show each other something at the store, we’d snap a photo
and email it. Then at some point, that orange, or stapler, or whatever,
would eventually get downloaded. Net result? Over 50,000 photos in
iPhoto, with many duplicates.
How does one even begin to cull the herd? I’ve tried many of the
duplicate-finder programs with varied success. But what about just
plowing through to get rid of the clunkers?
This is a common problem, particularly now that so many of...
1:22 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Here’s a question that could change the rest of your digital life: Where is the Recovery Key for your Apple ID account?
If you haven’t enabled two-step verification on your Apple ID (or on multiple such accounts),
you don’t have to answer that question, because you don’t have such an
animal. If you have turned on this extra account protection, that
question is vital, but don’t panic quite yet if you don’t have an
answer.
Owen Williams of The Next Web documented
the many hours of cold sweats he went through after someone attempted
to crack his account, and Apple disabled normal access, as described in this support document. He couldn’t find his Recovery Key, and Apple said without...
1:14 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
The Android operating system along with a huge range of gadgets from
multiple manufacturers already offers users tons of options when picking
out a tablet or smartphone. Better yet, the Android system has more
apps available than any other mobile operating system out there. The
more than 1.3 million apps listed in the Google Play Store can make you
gadget do nearly anything you wish!
But with so many available apps to choose from, how do you make sure
you find the best ones? After all, it would take nearly 150 years to
download and try out every app in the store! But you can relax. I've
done the leg work for you, sifting through the best, the most useful and
the most unique apps.
For...
1:09 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
A new iPad or iPhone right out of the box is already an impressive
piece of hardware. It's an oldcliche by now but well worth repeating:
the computing power in your Apple gadget is about a million times more
powerful than the computers that flew astronauts to the moon and back.
Yet for all that awesome power in the palm of your hand controlled by
the slightest touch of your fingertip, you need more than what came in
the box with your iPad or iPhone. You need apps! But fire up Apple's App
Store on your screen and prepare to be overwhelmed.
At last count, the App Store featured 1.2 million titles all just
begging for your download attention. By the way, if you tried to
download...
12:20 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Microsoft's Windows 10 event is just getting started, and it sounds
like the company is eager to make it as easy and cheap as possible for
those running older versions of Windows to upgrade. Terry Myerson just
announced on stage that, for the first year after Windows 10 launches,
any device running Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows Phone 8.1 will be
able to upgrade to the latest version of MIcrosoft's OS — for free. How
exactly this program will work isn't clear just yet — it'll certainly be
subject to some hardware requirements, particularly for older machines
running Windows 7. But a simplified upgrade path will likely do a lot to
help Windows 10 adoption — rather than dealing with...
5:03 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Your iPhone and iPad can help you do so much: communicate around the
world, play games, take pictures and videos, wake you up, help you
sleep, keep your schedule, shop online, the list is endless. Click here to get apps that help you do that and more.
While there's no limit to what you can do with your Apple gadget,
there IS a limit to the amount of stuff you can store on your gadget,
especially if you have a gadget that only had 16 gigabytes of space to
begin with, like this one:
You don't want to be taking video of your kid or grandchild's first
step only to get an "out of memory" message. I've even heard from a
number of people who couldn't upgrade...
3:56 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Roughly one month after we first saw a demo of Tim Cook scanning an iPhone at a cash register to Apple Pay arrived
for the rest of us to check out. But before you go blowing your entire
paycheck on everything from big handbags to Big Macs, there are a few
things to keep in mind about the platform. Read on to learn more about
how Apple Pay works, how to get your iPhone ready for it, and most
importantly, where you can go test it out yourself.
buy stuff,
What's the latest?
Apple rolled out Apple Pay compatibility with 15 more credit unions and
banks on Tuesday, bringing the total number up to more than 45. These
just-added banks and credit unions are:
A+ Federal Credit Union
Amegy...
3:51 PM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Windows 10 is the next major version of Microsoft Windows, and it's
due out later this year.
Microsoft is hoping 10 will placate its
customers after Windows 8 turned out to be really unpopular, not
without good reason.
Over the last year, Microsoft has been slowly releasing details about
the new release, but today it gave a full demonstration of the upcoming
operating system. So, is there anything in there that's going to make
you upgrade? Let's find out.
Basic tweaks
As promised, Windows 10 is going to fix many of the mistakes in
Windows 8. It brings back a version of the Start Menu, and ditches the
Start Screen on desktops and laptops.
Apps are now loaded...
11:10 AM
High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Jose Quintero knows all too well how much havoc a lost smartphone
can wreak on a business. Years before he became director of information
services at law firm Bush Gottlieb, Quintero worked as an automated
systems analyst at an international firm with more than 700 attorneys
across 15 offices.
Unknown to Quintero and others on staff, one of those
attorneys transferred all his documents, photos and data from his
laptop to his new iPhone, failing to back up the content onto a separate
hard drive in the process.
"Not long after, his laptop got hit with a virus. All of its data was
lost," Quintero recalls. "Then he lost the iPhone, and all of that data
was lost forever."
Quintero...
