1 week’s worth

Amount of supplies Norway recommends its citizens have on hand in case of war with Russia. Imagine getting that in the mail. Norway isn’t alone; check Ready.gov for the U.S. government’s planning guides for everything from a flood to a snowstorm. Nothing sets my doomsday alarm ringing like 10 minutes without the internet.

Tags: emergency preparedness, Norway, Ready.gov, Russia


Area codes and numbers that are probably spam

Whew, the election’s over. The onslaught of robocalls and texts is over, too … right? Nope.

There are fewer political calls and messages, sure, but there are always scammers and spammers. It may be easier for these creeps to get a hold of us now that our phones aren’t constantly lighting up with election-related notifications.

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Protect all your devices with the best antivirus software

When it comes to antivirus software, there’s no better choice than our sponsor, TotalAV. For one, it’s available for your phone and computer, so all your devices are protected.

This security suite protects all your devices from the scariest online threats, such as ransomware, spyware, adware and (of course) malware. Its WebShield browser extension provides advanced protection against malicious websites and even blocks bad guys from stealing your data.

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Test yours at SpeedTest.net to see. If things are slow, it might be time for a full system reboot to clear glitches and restore your speeds. Here’s the right way to do it:

  1. Turn off everything. That’s your modem and router, or yours may be one combined unit.
  2. Wait a full minute. Seriously, count it out!
  3. Turn on the modem first. Give it time to boot completely, then power up the router. Restart your computer and you should be blazin’.

A new credit card fee: Several credit card companies, including Citibank and Synchrony Bank, are charging a $1.99 monthly fee for paper statements. Printing and mailing costs financial institutions $600 million, so they want us to pay for it. Call your card company and ask them to email you the “Schumer box.” It’s an easy-to-read table of all their fees.

Free online financial calculators to get debt under control, plan for retirement and see your net worth

If you need help managing your money, you’ve come to the right place. We have tons of financial tips for investors and small business owners. Case in point: Here are 10 free spreadsheet templates to help you get a handle on your money.

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🤖 Have a kid who plays Roblox? Keep them safe from creeps. Go to Account Settings, select the Privacy tab and toggle the voice chat selector to Off. The toggle will go from green to gray, indicating voice chat has been disabled.

iPad keyboard trick: ​​When you need to type with one hand, switch to the floating keyboard. Then, all you have to do is pinch in with two fingers on the onscreen keyboard to shrink it. Move it wherever you want, and type away. To go back to normal, pinch out.

🔎 FYI, Google users: Next time you need help, there’s a search box where you can type what you want to do in everyday language. It sure beats digging around in the tool menus. In Sheets, you can type Remove column, or, in a Doc, try Who last edited this? Handy!

🚨 “Are Bengal cats legal in Australia?” Type that into Google Search and you’re in trouble. Hackers are creating fake websites and hijacking real ones to land at the top for popular search terms. No kidding, cat sites are a big target. Once you’re there, the goal is to get you to download a zip file. Safety first: Never download anything from a website you stumbled upon.

Call me, maybe: Delete your outgoing voicemail message if it uses your voice and replace it with the default included with your device. Why? Hackers can copy your voice to access protected financial records — or pose as you to rip off your friends and relatives.