They have gone three or more days without interacting with another person. In our hyper-connected world, loneliness is a big problem. Community is so important, and online community counts. Check out the Komando Community if you want to connect with other tech lovers.
When Barry and I were on the (very long) flight to Japan, he leaned over and asked, “I want to check our Morgan Stanley account. Do you think it’s OK to do it using the plane’s Wi-Fi?”
How did we live without Wi-Fi on a plane? Oh, yeah, we read magazines! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news — Wi-Fi isn’t as protected as we hope.
There was the deepfake audio robocall of President Biden telling you to hold your vote. And just last week, a phony video of Donald Trump with black voters made the rounds.
AI deepfakes are a massive problem this election season, and it’s easy to get taken — especially when your news and social media feeds are full of this junk.
Beep-beep: With a cheap setup, someone can copy the signal from your keyfob to open and steal your car. What can you do? Buy a signal-blocking pouch that can hold your keys, like this $9.99 shielded RFID-blocking one. It works!
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
Ads are coming: Perplexity, the AI search engine backed by Jeff Bezos and other big-name investors, will soon slip in ads where you’re most likely to click — on “related questions” that make up 40% of queries. Pay attention: The web as we know it is completely changing.
Pros use the 3-2-1 backup rule: Three copies of your data (original and two backups) are stored in at least two different formats (like an external drive and in the cloud), with one copy stored offsite. If you have important docs and biz data, store them offsite, too. If it’s just your personal stuff, the cloud will do.
No more email: Need to transfer photos, vids and docs from your Android phone to a Windows PC? Forget email. Use Google Share. It’s free and it works great!
Team Android warning: Banking malware is hiding in a fake version of the McAfee Security app. The scam kicks off with a fake text about an unauthorized transaction. Call the number, and a fraudster convinces you to download a “security” app containing malicious code. You have to be smarter than this.
You’re too close: Holding your phone too close to your face puts extra pressure on your eyes. On iPhones, you can get a friendly warning. Open Settings > Screen time and toggle on Screen distance. Pro tip: If your text is too small, fix that under Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.
That’s not quite right: You’re texting with your voice and it went all wrong. To delete the last word you dictated, say, “Delete the last word.” To delete the last sentence, say, “Clear sentence.” If you want to get rid of everything you just said, say, “Clear all.”
