Microsoft excels at stuffing ads into Windows 11: Look for them in the Start menu and lock screen once testing is over. Don’t want to see them? Turn off ads under Settings > Personalization. During the last quarter of 2023, Microsoft’s net income was $21.87 billion, up from $16.43 billion during the same time in 2022. Yup, they need the money.
With all the cybercriminals and digital threats, you shouldn’t pinch pennies when protecting your devices. Using free antivirus software can actually put you at risk. You need smarter, more robust tools to combat increasingly sophisticated hackers and scammers.
I grew up in New Jersey, right next to a state park. I still remember riding my bike all day like it was yesterday. Oh, and the time I threw a snowball at a police car and hit the cop inside. That was bad.
I hadn’t looked at the house in years, so seeing it on a map took me back. While at it, take yourself on a walk down memory lane, too.
Spotlight for everything on a Mac: Apple’s built-in search function isn’t just for finding files; use it for quick calculations, currency conversions and even definitions. Press Cmd + spacebar to access Spotlight and search away! It’s a powerful tool that can save you time from opening separate apps for simple tasks.
The Oregon Trail game has been teaching kids about the perils of the West for 50 years, one broken wagon axle at a time. What you might not know is three Minnesota student teachers developed the game and donated it to a nonprofit. How much is it estimated they could’ve made from the sold copies since? Is it A.) $5 million, B.) $25 million, C.) $125 million or D.) $1.3 billion?
Tax check: Want to double-check that everything went through? Use this site to see when your refund is expected. Here are other ways to check if your federal and state taxes were filed. Warning: If you’re calling the IRS right now, the wait times are nuts.
Pardon me? See a phone number you don’t recognize? Use my tricks for sleuthing. Psst, I stopped robocalls and spam by getting my name and phone number out of people-search and data-broker sites with Incogni.
Set some boundaries around tech with your family. It’s hard to know what’s right on your own, so try this free resource from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Share this with the parents in your life.
Ctrl + Alt + Del for your Mac: Use Cmd + Option + Esc to quickly open the force-quit applications window on your Mac. Use this to kill an app when it’s not responding.
Find out which apps are listening: Have an iPhone? Open Settings > Privacy and Security > Microphone. From there, disable the apps you don’t want picking up conversations. On Android, go to your Settings menu and find the Apps Permission Manager. Disable the microphone for any apps you don’t want listening in.
Here’s some trivia about something you probably do every day — CAPTCHA. You know, those annoying “tests” to prove you’re a human and not a bot. Which of these words isn’t part of the CAPTCHA acronym? Is it … A.) Completely, B.) Automated, C.) Turing or D.) Hackers?
