No loans, no monthly payments: An easier way to tap your home equity
We’ve all been there — you’re watching HGTV and suddenly you’re deleting walls and installing Moroccan tile in your mind. But unless you’re cash-ready for that reno, you’re considering tapping your home equity.
1-minute tech changes for more privacy
You’re shopping for a gift or doing something personal, and oops! Someone waltzes into the room. No problem — just hit Command + M on a Mac or Windows + M on a Windows PC to instantly minimize the program you have open.
Heads up, Windows 11 users: The “Moment 5” update is rolling out for versions 23H2 and 22H2. It brings an expansion for Microsoft Copilot, AI-boosted ClipChamp and Photos editing, better Snap suggestions and Widgets, and improved accessibility with Voice Access and Narrator. Go to Settings and hit Check for Updates.
$10B down the drain
Total spend on the now-scrapped Apple Car. Apple told employees last week the project is dead after 10 years. The internal code name for the car was “Titan” — but employees are calling it the “Titanic disaster.”
Guests staying with you? Keep ‘em from prying
A spouse, roommate or friend can’t snoop on your phone if there’s no opportunity to do so. Here are a couple of simple precautions you can take.
Lock it down — Just like with your computer, you need to set a password. You may choose to use a passcode, a fingerprint, a pattern or your Face ID. The key is to actually use them. Touch and Face ID are great ways to boost security, as they can’t be guessed. They’re easy to enable, too, so you won’t feel like you’re stuck entering a code all day long.
Hide your notifications — Notifications are tempting to read and can reveal a whole lot. You can hide them from your lock screen.
- For Android: Head to Settings > Notifications, then tap on the gear icon and select On the lock screen. You’ll have the options here to not show any notifications, show all notifications or hide just sensitive notifications.
- For iPhone: Open Settings > Notifications, and select Show Previews. Here, you can choose to show them always, when the phone is unlocked or never.
You could be sitting on a goldmine of old tech and toys
Gadgets have a set shelf life — which is why we’re not all still using huge, bulging monitors and portable CD players. You might have cupboards or even an entire basement packed with outdated tech you keep meaning to get rid of. Hang on, though, before you send it all to the trash. Vintage tech — and even toys — can make you some serious cash as collectors’ items.
How to delete yourself from the internet
I feel lucky to have the job I do. Every day, I help folks stay up to date on tech and help solve all those digital-life problems Google just can’t answer.
And after all these years, I’ll toot my own horn a little and say there’s not much that stumps me anymore. I did get a question recently, though, on my daily podcast that had a not-so-happy answer.
Get it together: Microsoft’s beefing up its Copilot AI chatbot for Excel and Outlook. They say it’ll make life easier for finance pros, but hold the applause. The latest version of Outlook sends unencrypted passwords, emails, contacts, calendar details and even passwords straight to Microsoft’s servers when you add a new email account. No fix yet, so stick to using Outlook’s web version for now, not the desktop client.
Get instant disposable email addresses
Apple and Google let you create “burner emails” to save your inbox from spam. I choose this over giving out my real email address when I’m trying to score a coupon code or a site I’m just browsing requires contact info.
Got an Apple device? The Hide My Email feature lets you generate random email addresses when you fill out an online form or sign up for a website.
- It pops up when you fill out online forms or sign up for a website.
- Emails sent to the generated address go to your iCloud account.
Using Gmail? To create an alias in Gmail, add a + (plus sign) after your address, followed by the name of the site, like first.last+target@gmail.com. If you start getting spam, delete that email address. That’s it!
🗺️ Just got an email from Google detailing how they’ve devised a way to read maps backward. Turns out it was spam.
LinkedIn features you should start using
LinkedIn is one of the biggest social media sites for professionals. If you want to reconnect with old coworkers or find new jobs, it’s the place to be. Users love its many features, especially the profile page you can use to brag about your accomplishments.