Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Do you own a Samsung Galaxy S4, S5 or S6?
If so, there’s a good chance that a flaw in your phone’s keyboard software has left your phone vulnerable to a hacking attack.
Fortunately, the vulnerability seems to only be an issue when the phone is connected to the Internet via an unsecured Wi-Fi connection. [Read more…]
If you have been using computers for any length of time, you have probably had some run-ins with the irritating Ask Toolbar.
Without your explicit permission, it probably installed itself along with some other program you downloaded and then took it upon itself to change your Home Page and Default Search Engine, leaving you wondering what in the world had just happened.
Well, I have some good news to report about the Ask Toolbar: The way it stealthily makes unwanted changes to your computer have finally prompted Microsoft to classify the Ask Toolbar as malware and add it to the list of programs that will automatically be removed by Microsoft’s security tools. [Read more…]
It’s no secret that the major cell carriers are trying to ween customers off of their “grandfathered” unlimited data plans. I’m sure you have seen the commercials that are designed to entice folks to switch to one of the new “tiered” data plans.
While those new offers have indeed prompted many customers to give up their unlimited plans in order to qualify for the perks mentioned in the commercials, many more have stubbornly decided to stick with their current plans in order to keep taking advantage of their unlimited data allotments.
Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’re one of the folks who are still using one of those grandfathered plans (like I am), start preparing for the party to end before too long. [Read more…]
Apple has announced that they are voluntarily recalling over 1/4 million Beats Pill XL Speakers due to a battery issue that could potentially cause a fire.
About 222,000 of the recalled speakers have been sold in the United States and another 11,000 or so were sold in Canada.
If you happen to own a Beats Pill XL Speaker, you can refer to this page on the Apple website in order to determine whether it is affected by the recall or not.
If your speaker does fall under the recall, follow the instructions on that same page to arrange a return in exchange for either an Apple Store credit or a monetary refund via electronic payment. In either case, the amount of the refund will be $325 (US).
As I explained yesterday, Microsoft has just announced that they will be releasing Windows 10 to the general public on July 29 and that users of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will be able to upgrade their machines for free during the first year.
For some time there has been confusion about what would happen to all the devices running the free Windows 10 upgrade at the end of that first year.
Would Windows simply stop working at the end of the year, requiring users to purchase retail Windows licenses at that point? Or would those Windows installations continue to work and receive regular Windows Updates without having to pay Microsoft any money whatsoever?
Well, now we have the answer to those questions… [Read more…]