Covid Vaccine

Tech News and Views

If you are 65 or older you can now register with Marion County to receive the Covid 19 vaccine by going to this address: https://tinyurl.com/y98cxp6s

'Plug & Charge' Brings Charging Simplicity To Other EV Networks

The same ease of charging Tesla has had for nearly a decade is coming to other EV charging networks.

Suppose every time you went to buy gas, you needed a phone app or an RFID fob, and you had to be pre-enrolled with the brand. Drive in, validate the pump, and then learn how much you'd pay for your gasoline. No fob or app? Then you’d have to call a toll-free number to provide credit card info over the phone.

That's pretty much how electric car charging works today, for everyone but Tesla drivers. Some EV drivers carry up to six swipe cards, fobs, or phone apps for different networks along their travel routes.

There's a better way, and as early as 2012, Tesla showed the U.S. how to do it. You just drive in, plug in to charge, and any billing happens on the back end. That's how it should be, and the company's high-speed Supercharger network now lets you drive a Tesla almost anywhere in the lower 48 states.

Like Apple, though, Tesla has the advantage of a closed ecosystem. Only Teslas can charge at Tesla Supercharger sites. The company controls both sides of the transaction. Eight years later, the rest of the EV world, dozens of separate EVs, all of which may charge on dozens of different networks, has started to catch up.

All other charging networks will soon operate like the Tesla chargers. The machine will tell you to plug in first. Then it will quickly identify the car, validate the charge, and start the current flowing. No fob, no app, no toll-free number to call.

The magic behind this mundane transaction is the Plug & Charge protocol, which identifies an EV to a charging station. The charging network then validates the car with its maker, which provides billing information that starts the charging.

The U.S. system is similar (but not identical) to the European Plug & Charge protocol already in use by drivers of several EVs on the pan-European Ionity network and others. Half a dozen car brands funded Ionity to make long-distance EV travel practical and seamless through more than a dozen European countries.

Plugging in a car and having it charge automatically doesn't sound like much, but the software integration and validation to make it happen are surprisingly complex. Electrify America, for instance, tests dozens of charging stations for compatibility with dozens of the latest electric cars.

Plug & Charge is rolling out in the newest generations of EVs sold in the U.S. The Mustang Mach-E and the 2021 Porsche Taycan both started shipping to dealers during December with the software installed.

Credit: caranddriver.com

E.A.S.Y Pay

Tech News and Views

Most Oak Run residents have received their invitation to participate in Oak Run Associates’ E.A.S.Y Pay system. Unfortunately many residents will encounter a problem in trying the link. When you click on the sentence that says “Click Here”, nothing may happen.

The instructions tell you that if you have a problem to copy the link shown below the Click Here paragraph and paste it in a browser. Many residents may not know how to do that, so here’s what you should do:

Highlight the text that begins with https (it's the URL). You can do that by clicking your left mouse button 3 times rapidly in front of the h in https. Or you can hold down the left button on the mouse and drag the mouse across all the text. If you have done either method correctly, the entire URL will turn blue.

Press CTRL and the letter C on the keyboard at the same time and then let up on the keys. That will copy the URL into the clipboard (you will not see anything happen).

Open your browser. (Such as Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Internet Explorer)

Click on the Plus Sign at the top of the page to open a new tab, and click the left mouse button in the address line. You should see a flashing vertical line. Then press CTRL and the letter V on the keyboard to paste the URL you copied into the browser’s address line. The copied URL should appear in the address line. Press the Enter key on the keyboard and the Oak Run portal page should appear.

You will be asked if you want to pay Oak Run via Credit or Debit Card. If you want to pay via ACH (auto pay) select that option. You will be asked to enter the bank account routing number and your membership number. Then information about your account will appear. You should be able to follow the directions that appear on the portal page to see more information about your account.

Toyota’s Chief Says Electric Vehicles Are Overhyped

Toyota Motor Corp.’s leader criticized what he described as excessive hype over electric vehicles, saying advocates failed to consider the carbon emitted by generating electricity and the costs of an EV transition.

Toyota President, Akio Toyoda, said Japan would run out of electricity in the summer if all cars were running on electric power. The infrastructure needed to support a fleet consisting entirely of EVs would cost Japan between ¥14 trillion and ¥37 trillion, the equivalent of $135 billion to $358 billion, he said

“When politicians are out there saying, ‘Let’s get rid of all cars using gasoline,’ do they understand this?” Mr. Toyoda said Thursday at a year-end news conference in his capacity as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

He said if Japan is too hasty in banning gasoline-powered cars, “the current business model of the car industry is going to collapse,” causing the loss of millions of jobs.

Advocates of EVs say they can be charged at night when electricity demand is low and, over time, can grow in tandem with other green technologies such as solar power.

Local news reports in early December said the Japanese government was about to announce a ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars starting in 2035, while it would still allow hybrid gas-electric cars. Such a ban would follow the state of California and countries such as the U.K.

But no announcement has come amid industry resistance. Officials at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said they haven’t made a decision on the future of gasoline cars.

In a country such as Japan that gets most of its electricity from burning coal and natural gas, EVs don’t help the environment, Mr. Toyoda said. “The more EVs we build, the worse carbon dioxide gets,” he said.

He said he feared government regulations would make cars a “flower on a high summit” - out of reach for the average person.

With models like the Prius, Toyota is a leader in hybrid cars, which combine a gasoline engine with an electric motor and can be refueled at traditional gas stations. It doesn’t sell pure battery EVs for the mass market in the U.S. or Japan, although it does have a model that runs on a hydrogen-powered fuel cell.

Credit: newsyfi.com

How To Delete A Drive Partition On Windows 10

You can delete virtually any partition (except the ones that make up the installation of Windows 10), and below, you will learn to use Disk Management to complete the task.

On Windows 10, a partition (or volume) is a logical division of the space available on a physical storage drive with a specific file system and settings that the system presents to the user as a separate drive.

Since a drive can hold many partitions, and sometimes, you may need to organize them, Windows 10 includes multiple tools to ease the process to remove those you no longer need to make more space available to increase the size of another partition. Or you can also use the available tools to clean the storage to prepare it with a different partition scheme and file system.

Warning: Using these instructions will erase all the data stored inside the partition. If you have any important files you want to preserve, it's recommended to create a backup of that data before proceeding.

To delete a partition (or volume) with Disk Management, use these steps:

1. Open Start
  
2. Search for Disk Management
  
3. Select the drive with the partition you want to remove
  
4. Right-click (only) the partition you want to remove and select the Delete Volume option
  
5. Click the Yes button to confirm all the data will be erased

Once you complete the steps, the partition and its contents will no longer be available on the drive making space available to expand another partition or format the drive with a new scheme.

Credit: windowscentral.com

Field Test Trick For Cellphone Signal Strength

Apple Bytes: 

Your cellphone’s signal strength changes depending on several factors, from any interferences to how far you are located from a cell tower. Your cellphone signal strength is measured in decibels (dBm).

You can check your iPhone signal strength by using its secret Field Test mode. Open the Phone app and dial *3001#12345#* on the keypad. In a few seconds, you’ll see a mishmash of numbers.

On the top right side, there is a menu. Go through each list until you see an entry that contains rsrp. That is your phone’s signal strength.

If the dBm approaches -120, you are located in what we fondly refer to as a “dead zone.” Anything better than -100 is considered a usable signal. A strong signal is -40 or better. So, the closer that number is to zero, the better the phone’s signal.

Credit: Kim Komando via USA Today

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc. – Executive Board Minutes
December 11, 2020

The Board meeting was cancelled by COVID-19 venue closures.

Browser Attack

Tech News and Views

Adrozek: 4 major browsers are getting hit in widespread malware attacks

ongoing-malware-attacks-are-hitting-users-of-4-major-browsers

Robots Invade the Construction Site

Theresa Arevalo works at Canvas, a company that’s built a robot using artificial intelligence that's capable of drywalling with almost as much artistry as a skilled human worker.

The robot has been deployed at several construction sites in recent months, including the new Harvey Milk Terminal at San Francisco International Airport and an office building connected to the Chase Center arena in San Francisco.

About the size of a kitchen stove, the four-wheeled robot navigates an unfinished building carrying laser scanners and a robotic arm fitted to a vertical platform. When placed in a room, the robot scans the unfinished walls using lidar, then gets to work smoothing the surface before applying a near perfect layer of drywall compound; sensors help it steer clear of human workers.

The Canvas robot can help companies do more drywalling in less time. It requires human oversight, but its operator does not need to be an expert drywaller or roboticist.

It has long been impractical to deploy robots at construction sites, because the environment is so varied, complex, and changing. In the past few years however, advances including low-cost laser sensors, cheaper robotic arms and grippers, and open source software for navigation and computer vision have made it possible to automate and analyze more construction.

The more advanced machines marching onto construction sites will help make construction less wasteful. According to McKinsey, productivity in construction has improved less than in any other industry over the past couple of decades. The arrival of more automation may also alter demand for labor in a number of building trades.

Kevin Albert, cofounder and CEO of Canvas, previously worked at Boston Dynamics, a company famous for its lifelike walking robots, and in the manufacturing industry. He says there’s great opportunity in construction, which generates about $1.4 trillion annually and accounts for around 7 percent of US GDP but has seen relatively little use of computerization and automation. “We really see construction as mobile manufacturing,” he says. “There's this natural extension of what machines are now capable of out in the real world.”

Canvas is part of a boom in construction technology, says Alex Schreyer, director of the Building and Construction Technology Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He says some of the biggest progress is being made in prefabrication of buildings, using robotic processes to construct large parts of buildings that are then assembled on-site. But increasingly, he says, robots and AI are also finding their way onto conventional work sites.

Autonomous vehicles made by Volvo ferry materials and tools around some large sites. Technology from San Francisco startup Built Robotics lets construction machinery such as diggers and dozers operate autonomously. A growing array of robotic equipment can take over specialized construction tasks including welding, drilling, and brick-laying. “There are some really interesting things happening,” Schreyer says.

An IDC report published in January 2020 forecasts that demand for construction robots will grow about 25 percent annually through 2023.

One big opportunity in construction, Schreyer says, is using computer vision and other sensing technologies to track the movement of materials and workers around a work site. Software can automatically flag if a job is falling behind, or if something has been installed in the wrong place. “There is so much potential to do something with that using AI,” Schreyer says. “More companies are going to move into that AI space.”

Doxel, based in Redwood City, California, makes a mobile robot that scans work sites in 3D so that software can calculate how the project is progressing. A four-legged Boston Dynamics robot called Spot is being tested for the same purpose at a number of sites. Several companies sell drones for automated construction site inspection, including Propeller, vHive, ABJ Drones, and DJI.

Buildots, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, sells software that uses cameras fitted to the helmets of site managers, which automatically capture a site and process the images to identify discrepancies between plans and ongoing work. The technology is being used on several large European construction projects.

Roy Danon, Buildots’ cofounder and CEO, says the goal is to use the data collected from work sites to help companies design buildings and plan construction schedules better. “We believe we can have a huge impact on planning,” he says, “if we have enough projects that show how you plan and how things actually turn out.”

“The adoption of technology in construction has lagged behind almost everything except hunting and fishing for the past decades,” says Josh Johnson, a consultant at McKinsey who follows the building industry.

A McKinsey report last month predicts a big shakeout across the construction industry over the next decade, with companies adopting technologies and methodologies from the manufacturing world. Things have already begun to change, thanks to technological progress and an increasingly tech-savvy workforce, Johnson says. The pandemic is accelerating the shift too, by making it more difficult to bring workers to a site and forcing companies to reevaluate supply lines and processes. “It’s forcing many of these legacy [construction contractors] and large companies to begin investing,” Johnson says.

Arevalo, who oversees deployments of Canvas’ robot, says the drywalling robot cannot tackle corners or angles like a human; she says many apprentices see working with the robot as an opportunity to learn how to use more advanced robotic machinery.

The company also has the backing of the local union. “It’s critical for skilled workers to have great resources in their tool kit, and we are excited to be on the leading edge of technology in our industries by partnering with Canvas,” Robert Williams III, business manager at District Council 16, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, said in a statement.

But this apparently hasn’t quelled concerns among construction workers who’ve seen the robot in action. “They love the fact that it’s so consistent, that the wall is gorgeous,” Arevalo says. “But then the next question is, ‘When is it going to take my job?’”

Credit: wired.com

The Secret Button On Your iPhone

Apple Bytes: 

Your iPhone got a new button recently, and you may not have even noticed.

No, Apple didn’t sneak into your house and secretly superglue a button onto your smartphone. But it did release iOS 14, the latest version of its iPhone software, which includes a feature called Back Tap. Back Tap adds a fascinating new “button” to your phone that blurs the line between hardware and software.

Back Tap turns the entire back of your iPhone into a giant touch-sensitive button that you can double or triple tap to trigger specific functions on your phone. There’s a good chance that you haven’t noticed it yet. Apple slipped the settings for Back Tap into its Accessibility menu.

Its intended purpose is to give users more options for interacting with their devices. Most of Back Tap’s options reflect that, with settings to open the app switcher, notification menu, or control center; scroll through an app or webpage; trigger Siri; or take a screenshot.

But Back Tap also ties into Apple’s incredibly robust Shortcuts app, which means you can effectively make those new buttons do almost anything you can imagine. It’s a fascinating kind of button: entirely invisible to the naked eye, completely nonfunctional until it’s enabled through software, but can be tasked to open, interact with, or accomplish nearly any task on your smartphone with just a quick tap.

That software customization is key. It’s easy to imagine a world where Apple limited Back Tap to just a few preset options focused on making the iPhone UI more accessible. But by opening it up to Shortcuts, the company turned Back Tap into a tool of limitless creativity, letting users come up with their own ways to take advantage of the new button on the back of their devices.

It’s not just Apple. Google experimented with a similar, albeit more limited, feature for Android 11, although it didn’t end up making the final cut. Some enterprising developers have since replicated the feature for any Android device.

This is also a level of control that’s almost unheard of for iOS devices. Imagine if Apple let you remap the side button (for Siri and Apple Pay) on an iPhone 12 to, say, launch Google Assistant or send a preset text message to your partner. It’s practically unthinkable.

It works well, too. The software is responsive, and whatever Apple’s doing to differentiate between an intentional tap and just regularly holding your phone, it works well. It's particularly useful for triggering Control Center to quickly toggle system settings.

Back Tap repurposes the existing sensors and hardware on your iPhone with software to create a new hardware interaction that wasn’t available before. It’s a new physical button users can interact with, but one that’s almost completely free of Apple’s limitations.

Physical buttons, of course, are the most direct form of interaction. It’s why Samsung insists on a bespoke Bixby button and why Netflix pays for a spot on your Roku remote. And while Apple may not quite be willing to give up control of the physical buttons on your iPhone, Back Tap, with its almost button, is the next best thing.

Credit: theverge.com

This Free Service Is A Way To Foil Spam And Protect Your Privacy

Don’t give your information to marketers who might pelt you with spam or even expose you to a potential hack. Use Abine Blur instead, a service that generates a free “masked email” address, to use instead of your real one The service will forward messages to your actual Gmail (or other) inbox and you can cut off any future emails with one click.

Edited from an article by Jared Newman at

I started using Abine Blur about five months ago, after hearing about it from one of my newsletter readers, and it’s since become one of my most cherished privacy services. With masked email addresses, I don’t have to worry about getting spammed just because I signed up for an app, made a donation, or subscribed to some retailer’s newsletter in exchange for a coupon. I just tell Abine Blur to stop forwarding their emails, and our link is severed.

While the idea of avoiding spam through masked or secondary email addresses has been around for a long time, Abine Blur stands out for being easy to use across multiple websites, each with their own separate addresses. It’s a simple way to protect an important part of your online privacy, yet it seems to fly under the radar compared to flashier tools like ad blockers or VPNs.

The main reason to use masked email is obvious: Given the chance, too many companies will abuse the privilege of having your email address, sending endless marketing messages without your explicit permission.

The United States doesn’t have a law like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which requires opt-in consent for companies to email you. In the U.S., when you turn over your email address while signing up for a service or buying something online, that address becomes fair game for marketing. Here, the 2003 CAN-SPAM Act does require marketers to include opt-out mechanisms in their emails, but those unsubscribe options can be hard to find. Besides, I’ve been on enough seemingly inescapable mailing lists to know that the law isn’t always followed to the letter, and unsubscribing from one list won’t help if a company has handed your email address to a third party.

Beyond just the immediate privacy violation of having your inbox invaded, handing out your email can also be a security risk. Just type your email address into the long-running security checkup site Have I Been Pwned, and you’ll likely see that it’s been involved in all kinds of security breaches. Scammers can then use your email and any corresponding personal information from the breach in phishing attempts, which try to trick you into turning over even more sensitive information such as passwords or bank account details.

In the same way that you’d change your password after a security breach, a masked email would let you change your email address as well. If an app or website that you use gets hacked, you can just switch to a different masked email and dispose of the old one, and scammers would have no way of contacting you.

Creating email addresses in Abine Blur is pretty easy. After setting up an account, just head to the masked email menu and select “New Masked Email.” You can then specify what you’re using the address for, which will help you easily disable emails from that site or service later.

For each masked email, Abine Blur uses a jumble of 12 random letters and numbers, along with one of several possible domain names, so you’ll get an address like: 

9860nu90ed5n@opayq.com   or   i5qpqjmc7c22@blurme.net

You can then copy the email address and paste it into any sign-up form.

If that seems like too much trouble, Abine Blur also has browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. (The former is also compatible with other Chromium-based browsers, such as Microsoft Edge or Brave.) Once installed, the extension will automatically detect sign-up forms and offer to generate masked email addresses automatically. You can also generate and copy email addresses through Blur’s iOS and Android apps.

After setting up a masked email, any messages to that address will arrive in your inbox with a message from Abine Blur at the top, with a “Block” button you can click to stop any future emails from arriving. Abine Blur’s website and apps also have a section for blocking and unblocking addresses or deleting your masked email addresses outright.

It’s worth noting that Abine Blur offers other privacy tools, such as masked credit cards, masked phone numbers, and a password manager, but some of those features require a paid subscription starting at $39 per year. Personally, I just use the masked email feature, which is free and has no limits on the number of addresses you can create. (On that note, if you’re using the browser extension, I suggest clicking on the extension button, heading to Settings > Settings for All Sites, and disabling any Abine Blur features you don’t use.)

Abine Blur isn’t the only service that can mask your email address. You can also generate temporary email addresses with services such as  Maildrop or 10 Minute Mail, or rely on the time-worn practice of keeping a second email address for junk. In Gmail, you can also add dots or plus symbols to your username in email forms, then set up filtering rules so that emails to those modified addresses don’t land in your inbox. Even Apple now offers masked email addresses with its Sign in With Apple feature, which you can use to create an account in some apps and services.

But compared to those methods, Abine Blur is simpler to use. I don’t have to worry about checking a second inbox or wasting time with Gmail filters, and unlike Sign in With Apple, it works with virtually any app or website. (Some sites do block Abine Blur’s email domains, but I’ve yet to be thwarted by this myself.)

That ease of use makes me more likely to use the service in the first place. After months of doing so, I’m wondering how I went so long without it.

Honey Integration Removed From Microsoft Edge

Microsoft appears to be moving to its own coupon tool on Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft recently rolled out tools for Microsoft Edge and Bing to help people save money on the web. One of the new features is Coupons, which automatically scans the web for coupon codes.

This might sound familiar, as the popular extension Honey offers similar functionality and was built into Microsoft Edge on mobile devices. However, it seems that Microsoft is moving away from Honey, replacing it with its own offering on Microsoft Edge beta for Android. Honey has also been replaced on Microsoft Edge on iOS.

The new Coupons feature is already available on Edge on Windows and iOS, and it appears that Microsoft is testing it on Android now.

In a blog post highlighting money-saving features from Microsoft, a footnote reads, "Coupons are currently available in U.S. markets and now available on desktop and iOS. Coming soon to Android."

You will able to use the new Coupons feature on your Android devices running the beta version of Microsoft Edge. Your Android devices running the non-beta version of Microsoft Edge will still see the option to use Honey.

When browsing the web on Microsoft Edge beta Android, you now see a blue tag that prompts you to check out the Coupons feature. These prompts help you save money and are a handy visual indicator to check for codes and deals.

Microsoft is investing time and effort into shopping features for its browser. Between price comparison tools, coupon scanners, and Collections that can be used as wish lists, there are quite a few ways to save money through Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft made sure to roll the features out before Black Friday, which should help save some money over the holidays.

Credit: windowscentral.com

Do You Need A New Router?

Tech News and Views

Many computer users are unaware of what computer hardware does and when it needs replacement. Here is an article from Consumer Reports that tell why you may need a new router.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-time-buy-wifi-6-110007607.html

Free Yahoo Mail Accounts Will Lose Automatic Forwarding Ability

Getting the feature back requires paying for a premium account.

In a move that's sure to frustrate a lot of Yahoo Mail users, owner Verizon has decided to remove the ability to automatically forward emails. The decision affects anyone who uses a free Yahoo Mail account.

As ZDNet reports, the removal of the feature happens on January 1, 2021. As the Yahoo Mail FAQ explains, "If your free Yahoo Mail account is set up to automatically forward emails to a third party inbox such as Gmail, those emails will stop being delivered to the third party address on January 1, 2021. You’ll still be able to view your emails in your Yahoo mailbox through your web browser at mail.yahoo.com or via the Yahoo Mail apps. Yahoo Mail Pro subscribers will not be affected by this change."

As to why Verizon decided to implement this change, apparently it's to help keep free accounts secure. The FAQ doesn't really explain how automatic email forwarding hurts security and simply says, "We regularly evaluate our products and services against current security standards and have decided to remove this feature to help ensure free Yahoo Mail accounts remain secure. The change will help us focus on building the best new features and experiences for our Yahoo Mail users."

It will come as no surprise that you can get automatic email forwarding back by choosing to pay for a Yahoo Mail Pro account. It costs $3.49 per month or $34.99 per year. Alternatively, there's a $12 per year "Access + Forwarding" option available. Signing up for the more expensive Pro account also gets you the added benefits of no ads, faster performance, priority customer support, and no email purging regardless of how long your account is inactive.

Credit: pcmag.com

Tesla's Push For Service To Catch Up With Sales

Tesla has told staff that it is preparing a massive push to expand service capacity as it attempts to catch up to its rapid growth in sales.

Over the last few years, Tesla has been growing at a ferocious pace with deliveries and production capacity seeing important increases. Now the Tesla customer fleet has reached over 1 million cars.

Unlike most other automakers who rely on third-party franchise dealers to provide service to customers, Tesla owns its entire global service infrastructure, which it is trying to ramp up alongside sales and production.

In recent years, it hasn’t been able to keep up with Tesla’s growth. Over the last 12 months, Tesla’s deliveries grew almost 50% year-over-year, adding over a half million vehicles to its fleet. But over the same period of time, Tesla’s service centers grew by only 12% and its mobile service fleet by 8%.

Last year, Tesla made several statements about expanding service after CEO Elon Musk admitted a “foolish oversight” of Tesla’s service coverage and plans to open many more service centers around the world. Things moved slowly, but they started to ramp up last quarter with Tesla adding 20 new service centers in just a few months.

A source familiar with the matter has said that Tesla communicated to its staff that it plans to significantly ramp up service over the next year with at least one new service center opening per week in 2021. It means that Tesla plans to add over 52 new service centers in 2021. Tesla currently operates 466 service centers around the world.

Tesla president of automotive, Jerome Guillen, has also recently stated that he is on the lookout for real estate that the company can quickly turn into Tesla service centers. The new service centers are going to be located where Tesla is seeing strong demand for its vehicles and where they see service-center capacity already lacking.

New service centers also create more demand for Tesla. Musk has previously said that Tesla has found expanding service centers, and the Supercharger network are Tesla’s two best ways to bring in more customers.

This is good news. Service delays are a recurring complaint from Tesla owners in some markets where Tesla never seems to catch up to growing sales. On top of expansion in markets lacking a service center altogether, there are many markets in the same situation that need a new location to help lower the demand on existing locations.

Let’s hope that Tesla delivers on this goal of a new center every week next year. Tesla owners are going to need it if Tesla delivers what is expected to be ~800,000 new cars next year. That will push Tesla’s fleet to more than 2 million vehicles, meaning that the fleet will have doubled in less than two years.

Credit: electrek.co

macOS Big Sur Is Here

Apple Bytes: 

macOS Big Sur, the latest version of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, is now available to Mac users as a free software update. Big Sur introduces a beautiful redesign and is packed with new enhancements for key apps including Safari, Messages, and Maps, as well as new privacy features.

Big Sur delivers a spacious new design that makes navigation easier, while putting more controls at users’ fingertips. From the curvature of window corners to the palette of colors and materials, the thoughtful design will benefit everyone from first-time Mac owners to the most demanding pros. Dock icons retain their Mac personality while also appearing more consistent across the Apple ecosystem for a more cohesive look and feel. And a new design for apps makes it easier for users to stay focused on their content and interact with apps. Buttons and controls appear when needed and recede when they are not - reducing visual complexity and bringing the most relevant content to the forefront.

The biggest update to Safari since its original launch in 2003 makes the world’s fastest browser even faster while maintaining industry-leading battery life. Safari’s JavaScript engine helps it outperform other browsers on Mac and PC, and loads frequently visited sites an average of 50 percent faster than Chrome. And on new Macs with M1, Safari is now up to 1.5x speedier at running JavaScript and nearly 2x more responsive. Streaming on popular platforms is more vivid and clear with the addition of both YouTube and Netflix in 4K HDR. Redesigned tabs make navigating Safari faster and more efficient by showing more tabs onscreen, revealing page previews when hovering over tabs and displaying favicons by default for easy identification.

Messages on the Mac offers new tools to help users manage their favorite group conversations and fun, engaging ways to express themselves. Users can pin conversations to the top of their Messages list for fast access, and search has been completely redesigned to help users quickly find links, photos, and matching terms. Messages for Mac also works seamlessly across iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, so conversations stay in sync.

Maps has been entirely redesigned and brings exciting new features for exploring the world on the Mac. Users can discover places to visit and things to do with Guides from brands they trust, as well as create custom guides of favorite restaurants, parks, and vacation ideas to share with friends and family. Look Around provides an immersive 360-degree view of a destination, and new detailed indoor maps help with navigating major airports and shopping centers. And for the first time, cycling and electric vehicle trips can be routed on a Mac and sent directly to iPhone to have when on the go.

Privacy is at the core of the Mac experience, and Big Sur expands on its industry-leading privacy to bring new levels of transparency and give users more control over their data. Coming later this year, the Mac App Store will include a new section on each product page showing a developer-reported summary of the privacy practices of an app. Inspired by the convenience and readability of food nutrition labels, the information offered includes the types of data the apps might collect - such as contact information, or location - and whether they are shared with third parties for tracking.

macOS Big Sur is available as a free software update. For more information, including compatible Mac models, visit apple.com/macos/big-sur.

Read the entire news release > HERE

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc. – Executive Board Minutes
November 13, 2020

The Board meeting was cancelled by COVID-19 venue closures.

GM's Super Cruise System Tops Tesla's Autopilot

General Motors’ Cadillac Super Cruise active driver assistance technology beat out Tesla’s Autopilot in a Consumer Reports study announced 10-28-20.

Super Cruise stomped the competition with a rating of 69 out of 100, compared to 57 for Autopilot on Tesla’s Model Y, 52 for Ford's Co-pilot 360 system and 48 for Audi’s Pre-sense. Thirteen others trailed behind.

As for Tesla’s Autopilot, which can control the car’s steering and speed to assist the driver, “most mainstream automakers now offer similar systems on their cars, and it’s quite likely that the next new vehicle you buy will be equipped with one,” Consumer Reports wrote.

Active driving assistance doesn’t represent self-driving, “but rather it’s intended to support the driver. A well-designed system can help relieve driver fatigue and stress, such as on long highway road trips or in stop-and-go traffic,” the publication said.

As for Cadillac’s Super Cruise, it “remained our top-rated system because, when turned on, it uses direct driver monitoring to warn drivers that appear to have stopped paying attention to the road,” Consumer Reports said. “Monitoring whether the driver is paying attention is a big part of the reason that Super Cruise is still tops in our ranking.”

Meanwhile, “of the other systems we tested, we saw minor improvements in lane-keeping performance for the Tesla and Volvo.”

Credit: thestreet.com

How To Disable Thumbnails On Windows 10

If you have no use for files thumbnails or got them disabled by mistake, use these steps to disable or enable the feature on Windows 10.

On Windows 10, File Explorer has the ability to display various sizes of thumbnail images for files, folders, documents, pictures, and videos to give you a quick preview of the content without having to open them.

Although it's a useful feature that adds a visual queue to find files faster without even looking at their names, it can take some system resources to render and cache all the previews, especially in locations with many images.

If your device is taking a long time to load the previews, you're troubleshooting a problem, or you're not interested in using this feature, Windows 10 includes at least three ways to disable thumbnails to show file icons by using File Explorer, Settings, or Group Policy.

On Windows 10, the easiest way to disable or enable thumbnail previews for files is to use the File Explorer settings.

To disable thumbnails, use these steps:

• Click the View tab.
• Click the Options button.
• Under the "Advanced settings" section, check the Always show icons, never thumbnails option.
• Click the Apply button.
• Click the OK button.

View the entire how-to guide complete with screenshots > HERE.

Credit: windowscentral.com

5G Isn't Really Ready

From more durable displays to improved cameras and a new, more refined style, Apple’s latest iPhones sure seem impressive at first blush. But it’s the inclusion of 5G cellular technology, which promises far faster upload and download speeds than current 4G LTE connections, that makes these iPhones stand out.

5G is the first new cellular specification to hit the iPhone since the iPhone 5 got 4G in 2013. The big carriers say 5G will lead to life-altering advancements ranging from truly immersive virtual reality to self-driving cars interfacing with road signs and even traffic lights. But for all of the promise 5G offers, the networks and apps just aren’t there yet.

That’s because 5G is still in its early stages. And that could leave new iPhone users let down when they take their slick new phones out of the box.

The Big Three U.S. carriers, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have been talking up 5G for years as the next big thing, promising huge advancements in the mobile landscape on par with how 4G opened up whole new sectors of the economy, including food order apps and ride hailing services.

But, and this is a big but, 5G has little to show users outside of, well, faster download and upload speeds and reduced latency and bandwidth. When used in the right scenario, that will unlock new ways of using our smartphones.

Remember, we wouldn’t have apps like Spotify or GrubHub or Instagram without 4G LTE. 3G networks were simply too slow to handle the immense demands the software required.

And like 4G LTE, 5G will provide users with far better overall performance including seriously impressive upload and download speeds and greater bandwidth. That means you’ll be able to download movies and music faster with no delay even in an incredibly crowded area.

Current iPhones get download speeds as high as 175 megabits per second over 4G LTE. The iPhone 12 though, will get 4 gigabits per second in ideal situations, and 1 gigabit per second in normal use.

But our current apps are optimized for 4G LTE. They’re not built around the capabilities offered by 5G. Which means you’re not going to see many apps that take advantage of those increased speeds and reduced latency. Sure, you’ll be able to stream movies, but you can do that over 4G LTE and WiFi. And yeah, you’ll be able to download albums off of Spotify, but you can already do that in less than a minute or two with ease.

In other words, when you get your shiny new iPhone, or any 5G phone really, don’t expect your world to change overnight. The apps that actually require such speeds haven’t been created just yet. When will they finally hit the market? It’s not entirely clear.

The iPhone 12 will certainly be the catalyst that gets developers to start working on 5G apps if they haven’t been already. That’s because developers know Apple users are more willing to spend money on apps, and so with the iPhone finally getting 5G, they now have a greater incentive to create such apps that take advantage of Apple’s latest and greatest offering.

In the next year or two we’ll start to see apps that truly need 5G to function properly.

Once it is fully operational, 5G will largely benefit grander technological movements more than the latest apps, though. Think networks of self-driving cars or real-time remote surgeries. 5G will certainly help make consuming and creating content faster and easier, but its promises are far greater than that.

Leaving apps aside, it’s important to recognize that 5G technology still isn’t as ubiquitous as current 4G LTE networks. T-Mobile boasts it has the largest nationwide 5G network, and according to its coverage map, it certainly looks like it does. But there are still plenty of areas across the country that its 5G network doesn’t reach.

AT&T’s map has even larger gaps in 5G coverage, leaving out entire swaths of states. And Verizon, which turned on its national 5G network to coincide with the iPhone 12 announcement, covers even less than that. Despite those gaps, you’d think from all of the carriers’ commercials that 5G covers everything the light touches.

There’s no doubt that each of the carriers will continue to build out their 5G networks until they blanket the country as much as their 4G LTE networks do. But at the moment, there’s no guarantee that your brand-new 5G iPhone will have a readily available 5G connection.

None of that necessarily means you should avoid getting a 5G iPhone. By all means, if you’re thinking of upgrading, go for it. The phone itself promises myriad improvements outside of its new cellular connection.

What’s more, getting a 5G phone now means that when we begin to see apps that take advantage of those high speeds and 5G networks expand to more regions, you’ll be ahead of the game.

Just don’t expect to get all of those benefits carriers have promised the minute you take your phone out of the box. Because, 5G isn't really ready.

Credit: finance.yahoo.com

Also: Tests indicated that the iPhone 12 battery dies two hours sooner when connected to a 5G network. And, 5G requires the cell towers to be closer together because the shorter wavelength signal doesn't travel as far. So, if you are in an area with a weak 4G LTE signal and have to stand outside to use your cellphone now, you probably won't even get a 5G signal without more towers being erected.

All-New iPad Air With Advanced A14 Bionic Chip

Apple Bytes: 

The most powerful, versatile, and colorful iPad Air ever is here. Apple made the  all-new iPad Air available beginning Friday, October 23. Offered in five gorgeous finishes, iPad Air features an all-screen design with a larger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, camera and audio upgrades, a new integrated Touch ID sensor in the top button, and the powerful A14 Bionic for a massive boost in performance, making this by far the most powerful and capable iPad Air ever made.

iPad Air features a completely new thin and light design in five gorgeous finishes: silver, space gray, rose gold, green, and sky blue. The new all-screen design brings a larger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display for a stunning visual experience, with 3.8 million pixels and advanced technologies, including full lamination, P3 wide color support, True Tone, and an anti-reflective coating. To allow the display to extend on all sides, a next-generation Touch ID sensor is integrated into the top button, providing the same fast, easy, and secure way to unlock iPad Air, log in to apps, or use Apple Pay. iPad Air is compatible with Magic Keyboard and its floating design with built-in trackpad, the Smart Keyboard Folio, and new Smart Folio covers, as well as Apple Pencil (2nd generation), which attaches magnetically to the side of iPad for easy pairing, charging, and storing.

iPad Air delivers a massive boost in performance with Apple’s most advanced chip ever made, A14 Bionic. Handling even the most demanding apps, A14 Bionic makes iPad Air even better for editing 4K video, creating gorgeous works of art, playing immersive games, and more. Using breakthrough 5-nanometer process technology, A14 Bionic is packed with 11.8 billion transistors for increased performance and power efficiency in nearly every part of the chip. This latest-generation A-series chip features a new 6-core design for a 40 percent boost in CPU performance, and a new 4-core graphics architecture for a 30 percent improvement in graphics.

To deliver breakthrough machine learning capabilities, A14 Bionic includes a new 16-core Neural Engine that is twice as fast, and capable of performing up to 11 trillion operations per second, taking machine learning apps to a whole new level. A14 Bionic also includes second-generation machine learning accelerators in the CPU for 10 times faster machine learning calculations. This combination of the new Neural Engine, CPU machine learning accelerators, and high-performance GPU enables powerful on-device experiences for image recognition, natural language learning, analyzing motion, and more.

iPad Air includes a 7MP front-facing FaceTime HD camera and now features the same 12MP rear camera used in iPad Pro for higher resolution photos and 4K video capture. The new design of iPad Air features stereo speakers in landscape mode, elevating the audio experience so users can enjoy wider stereo sound while watching video. A USB-C port comes to iPad Air for up to 5Gbps data transfer, which is 10 times faster, for connecting to cameras, hard drives, and external monitors up to 4K. With Wi-Fi 6 performance and 60 percent faster LTE connectivity, along with A14 Bionic, this is by far the most powerful iPad Air ever.

Read the complete news release with pricing and more > HERE.

Tesla Quietly Killed Its 'No Questions Asked' 7-Day Return Policy

The policy was intended as a display of confidence in the quality of its cars. Recent quality control issues might be to blame for the change.

Tesla has stopped offering its "no questions asked" 7-day return policy. CEO Elon Musk had touted the unique guarantee as a show of confidence in the quality of his company's products, but the change in policy comes at a time when the automaker is dealing with mounting complaints about the quality of some of its recent cars. The move does the exact opposite of instilling confidence.

The company's policy previously stated the following:

“Owning a Tesla vehicle means you are driving one of the most advanced, best performing and safest vehicles available. We are confident that you will feel great about your new vehicle, and so are giving you time to experience and enjoy your new Tesla. Subject to the terms and conditions of this policy, if you are unhappy with your vehicle, you may return it to us within seven (7) calendar days.”

There was always the caveat that the car must be returned with no damage and less than 1,000 miles on the odometer to get a full refund, so it wasn't exactly possible to do a coast-to-coast Cannonball Run with one of the cars anyway, if that's an idea you ever had.

According to Electrek, there isn't a new stated policy to replace the 7-day offer, and dissatisfied buyers will be referred to Tesla's service department if they want to return a vehicle. Tesla knows what it's selling, so why does it feel the need to walk back its generosity and bravado now?

Where's the confidence? Tesla has been running into a lot of quality-control issues with the new Model Y, including problems with the exterior paint and misaligned doors, not to mention the incident when the sunroof flew off one owner's car while he was driving down a highway. It's possible that the company hopes it can dissuade nervous customers from returning their vehicles for a refund when they have to actually speak to an employee.

The 7-day return policy was appreciated by customers exactly because of those issues, it can take multiple days of driving to actually identify problems like leaking windows. The company often identifies issues in its first cars to roll off the line and then fixes its manufacturing process to remedy them in later vehicles.

Tesla is obliged to fix faulty cars, but it's notoriously slow at completing such repairs and doesn't authorize third-party shops to fix its vehicles. Owners have reported waiting months or even up to a year for Tesla to complete requested repairs.

By offering a generous policy, customers were more willing to forgive Tesla for any issues. The company is lucky that other automakers have been so far behind in electric, but it can't afford to continue this way as they start to catch up.

Credit: inputmag.com

Also: Tesla previously offered a two- to four-year warranty on used Model S and X vehicles, but now only offers a warranty of one year or 10,000 miles over the original policy.

New Streaming Gadget ~ Great Alternative To Roku Or Fire TV

The new $50 Chromecast with Google TV is Google's first real rival to Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

It brings a lot of features that never existed on a Chromecast before, such as a full remote and brand-new Google TV software that makes it easier to find movies and TV shows. And it ties into all sorts of services, such as Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+.

Previously, the Chromecast let you play content on your computer, but you had to select content on your phone. Now it has a whole new software experience, which makes it feel a lot more like a Roku, an Amazon Fire TV or an Apple TV. It means Google might finally be able to take some market share away from leaders Amazon and Roku.

What's good about the Chromecast with Google TV

The new Chromecast is super simple to use. You just plug it in to your TV's HDMI port, every modern TV has one, and turn it on. The Google TV software has seven menu options at the top of the screen that are really straightforward: Search, For You, Live, Movies, Shows, Apps and Library. I like that the "For You" page pulls in movies and TV shows from subscriptions you pay for, such as Hulu or Netflix, and that you don't have to open those apps to see what might be popular in any of them.

It also makes recommendations based on shows or movies you've watched. Best of all, it doesn't have any ads, like Roku and Amazon do.

All of this is easy to navigate with the remote. There's a button to search by voice, a home key, a back key, an omnidirectional circular bar for moving through apps, and dedicated buttons to launch YouTube and Netflix. You can also change TV inputs or adjust the volume from the remote.

Many really like that voice button since it syncs right into Google Assistant, much like a Fire TV can tap into Amazon Alexa. So, you can ask for the weather and your TV will show you the forecast. Or, if you have a Google Nest camera, you can pull up a video feed on your screen. Google Assistant can tap into all sorts of stuff, such as Maps to show you where the nearest coffee shop is. Unlike Amazon Fire TV, however, you can't shop for stuff from the voice remote.

The "Live TV" page is great if you subscribe to YouTube TV, since it shows a traditional menu of shows that looks very similar to what you'd find on a cable box. And you can record unlimited shows with a YouTube TV subscription and pull them up on your TV or any device with the YouTube TV app.

There are other things some people will care about, too, such as 4K support and Dolby Atmos for better surround sound, which are great to have in a device that costs $50.

What's bad about the Chromecast with Google TV

There are a bunch of apps you can download for Google TV, but you really have to know what you're looking for because there's no dedicated "store" to browse through them all in one place. Instead, you have to browse through popular apps by category, such as "entertainment "or lifestyle." But, this can be kind of hard if you just want to download the Peloton app, for example. Many will wish it had a more traditional store.

Similarly, the "Library" tab is laid out really weird. If you've bought a bunch of movies through the Google Play Movies store, now simply called Google TV, on an Android phone, those all appear. But it's just a long horizontal list of what you own. You would probably prefer a full page of movies and TV shows presented in alphabetical order. This could easily be fixed with software changes.

Finally, the Chromecast with Google TV doesn't officially support Google's Stadia game streaming service yet. You can get it to work by fiddling around, but it's not quite there yet. Google is working to add this sometime next year.

Should you buy the Chromecast with Google TV

If you're looking for a new streaming TV, you really can't go wrong here. It's affordable, it ties into all sorts of services really well, it has a great remote, and it's easy to use. You'll benefit even more if you use the Google TV app on a phone to add movies and TV shows to your watchlist, which then sync to your TV. And you'll especially like it if you use YouTube TV.

If you already have and like Amazon Fire TV or Roku, those are still great platforms with their own strengths. But if you've been looking for something different, the new Chromecast with Google TV is awesome.

Credit: cnbc.com

Boom Supersonic's Faster-Than-Sound Demonstrator Aircraft

Boom Supersonic is closer than ever to its goal of introducing supersonic commercial aviation back to the global stage, the Colorado-based startup unveiled the final design of its XB-1 demonstrator aircraft on 10-7-20. This is a fully functional prototype airplane, which will help the company test out the flight capabilities and systems that will eventually make its Overture supersonic commercial passenger aircraft a reality.

XB-1 is a scaled down version of what Overture will be, lacking the passenger cabin that will offer business-class style amenities to commercial passengers. It does have a cockpit for the test pilots who will help Boom put its design through its paces beginning in 2021. It measures 71-feet long, and its propulsion is provided by three GE-made J85-15 engines that together provide 12,000 lbs of thrust. There are standard cockpit windows, but because of the extreme angle of the nose required for aerodynamics, there’s also an HD video camera and cockpit display to provide pilots with a virtual view out the front of the plane for maximum visibility.

The frame of the XB-1 is made up of carbon-composite, which is designed for light weight while also offering very high tensile strength and rigidity, as well as an ability to withstand the high temperatures generated by traveling at supersonic speeds (even in the relatively friction-free environs of higher altitudes). Boom also kept pilot comfort in mind when creating the XB-1, optimizing for ergonomics via user testing spanning “hundreds of hours.”

Boom plans to test XB-1 at Mojave Air and Space Port, located in Mojave, California. As mentioned, the goal now is to get that underway next year – but Boom will begin on its ground testing program immediately. Meanwhile, Boom will continue developing Overture simultaneously, working on wind tunnel tests and other elements of aircraft validation in order to help move towards the target of getting that commercial jet in the air for 2025.

Credit: techcrunch.com (with 10 more photos)
See also: boomsupersonic.com

Apple Introduces Four iPhone 12 Models

Apple Bytes: 

On Tuesday, 10-13-20, Apple unveiled iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini with 5G technology, ushering in a new era for the world’s best smartphone. The newly designed iPhone 12 models feature expansive edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays for a brighter, more immersive viewing experience, and a new Ceramic Shield front cover, providing the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone.

The Apple-designed A14 Bionic, the fastest chip in a smartphone, powers every experience on iPhone 12, and coupled with an advanced dual-camera system, delivers meaningful new computational photography features and the highest quality video in a smartphone. iPhone 12 models also introduce MagSafe, offering high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone.

Read the complete news release with pricing and more > HERE.

Also on Tuesday, 10-13-20, Apple announced iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, introducing a powerful 5G experience and advanced technologies that push the boundaries of innovation for users who want the most out of iPhone. iPhone 12 Pro models feature a new design and edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays, the largest ever on iPhone, protected by the all-new Ceramic Shield front cover, which provides the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone. The Apple-designed A14 Bionic chip, the fastest chip in a smartphone, powers impressive computational photography features including the all-new Apple ProRAW for more creative control in photos, and enables the first end-to-end Dolby Vision video experience, up to 60 fps.

The reimagined pro camera systems include an expansive Ultra Wide camera, a Telephoto camera with an even longer focal length on iPhone 12 Pro Max, and new Wide cameras to capture beautiful professional-quality images and video in bright and low-light environments. iPhone 12 Pro models also introduce a new LiDAR Scanner for immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences and MagSafe, which offers high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone. 

Read the complete news release with pricing and more > HERE.

Winstall Now Lets You Quickly Install Packs Of Apps

Bulk installing apps onto Windows is now easier than ever.

• Winstall now allows you to install packs of apps.
• Winstall allows you to easily install Windows Package Manager apps.
• You can create your own packs of apps or install apps from featured lists.

Winstall is a tool that allows you to easily install Windows Package Manager apps. The tool came out in the first half of 2020 and has gained a handy new ability today, the ability to install packs of apps. When browsing through Winstall, you can look through featured packs of apps or create your own packs to quickly install apps in bulk.

Packs can be used to create collections of apps, such as apps for working from home or keeping yourself entertained. Winstall has several featured collections, including packs for school, gaming, and for developing apps.

When browsing through a featured pack, you don't have to install every app within it. Instead, you can select five or more applications to install. For example, if you performed a clean install on your PC, you could jump into the "Get work done from home" pack and select to install Microsoft Teams, Slack, ShareX, Microsoft Edge, and Discord. To install your selected apps, you can run a PowerShell script or download a .bat file.

If you create your own pack of apps that you like, you can share it with the community.

Credit: windowscentral.com

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc. – Executive Board Minutes
October 9, 2020

The Board meeting was cancelled by COVID-19 venue closures.

How To Use A USB Drive With iPhone Or iPad

Apple Bytes: 

The world is full of USB drives, from portable thumbdrives to full external SSDs. Happily, you’re not closed off from these just because you use an iPhone or iPad. All you need is the right adapter.

And you’ll have full read/write access to everything on the drive. You won’t even need to install any software, as the app you need comes preinstalled on your device.

Some might be confused because iPhones and USB drives couldn’t really work together for far too many years. You could get around the limitation, but it took effort and money. That all changed with iOS 13/iPadOS 13.

iPhone and iPad users need a Lightning-to-USB adapter

The drives you want to connect with have a USB-A connector. Your iPhone or basic iPad has a Lightning port, so you’ll need an adapter. Fortunately, Apple makes just the one you need.

Plug the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter ($39) into your device, then plug the USB drive into the USB-A port.

Many drives take more power than your iPhone or iPad alone can provide, but Apple’s adapter also includes a Lighting port. Plug a charging cable into it, and it’ll provide all the power the drive needs. As a bonus, it’ll also charge your handset or tablet.

iPad Pro users a need a USB-C-to-USB adapter

iPad Pro uses have it even easier. This tablet has a USB-C port, and you can get a drive that uses that same format. That extends from thumbdrives all the way to external SSDs.

But that doesn’t help with all the legacy drives out there with larger USB-A ports. You’ll need an adapter. Fortunately, there are a plethora. The iPad Pro can use almost any USB-C accessory designed for laptops, and that includes multi-port hubs with USB-A ports.

Take a simple example, the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter ($69). Plug this into your iPad and then plug the drive and you can read the contents of the drive.

But there are so many other options. One is Sanho’s HyperDrive iPad Pro ($89.99), but you might also like the Satechi Slim Aluminum Type-C Multi-Port Adapter V2 ($69.99), which can be used with your iPad Pro and your MacBook.

HyperDrive iPad Pro offers 3.5mm headset jack, a USB-A port,
microSD and SD card readers, a USB-C port, and an HDMI port.

The Apple Files app is all you need

Whether you have an iPhone, iPad or iPad Pro, the only software you’ll need to access the contents of USB drives is the Apple Files application. Plug in the drive (with the appropriate adapter) and it’ll appear in this app, which comes pre-installed on every iOS and iPadOS device.

If you’ve accessed a drive on your Mac then you should be familiar with this process. To see the contents of the drive, go to the Browse screen in the Files application. In a list of available drives, like your local iPhone or iPad, you’ll see the name of the USB drive you’re trying to access. Tap on it and you’ll open a window with all the files and folders.

From there, you can do whatever you want. Open files. Move them around. Put them on your iPhone or iPad. Or copy files from your device to the drive.

How accessing a USB drive with iPhone or iPad is useful

Even in the world of iCloud, there are still plenty of reasons to use USB drives. If you want to carry around a couple of terabytes of pictures, work files, movies, etc., and be sure you always have access to them, get an external dive and connect it to your iPad, iPhone or both.

With your files stored locally, you don’t have to worry about the vagaries of internet access. Even on a plane, you can always pop in the drive and access your files. Plus, a thumbdrive can hold proprietary files that you don’t want to risk sharing with anyone else.

And consider removable memory cards. Apple won’t build SD or microSD card slots into its devices, but card readers all use the USB format. If you have a drone, it probably has an SD card full of images. You can easily move these pictures over to your iPhone or iPad.

Credit: cultofmac.com

Windows 10 October 2020 Update Review: Subtle, But Necessary

UI enhancements, a new browser, and more.

Microsoft's next big Windows 10 feature update is almost here, packing several notable changes and enhancements. This release is known as the October 2020 Update, version 20H2, and is the second big Windows 10 update to hit in 2020, after version 2004 which released earlier this year in May. This release is very much a continuation of version 2004, adding a few final touches and subtle design tweaks, cleaning up the UI.

20H2 will be delivered as a free cumulative update that sits on top of version 2004, meaning the update will only be a few hundred megabytes and won't take long to install. If you're on version 1909 or below, version 20H2 will be delivered as a free full OS upgrade.

The Start menu on Windows 10 is the area that has seen the biggest changes, even if rather subtle. In fact, you may not notice anything has changed, unless pointed out. With version 20H2, Microsoft has started tidying up the Windows 10 UI.

The live tile interface is now system theme aware, with tiles no longer following your chosen accent color. This introduces a minor change that's designed to keep the Start menu interface looking minimalist. Instead of following your accent color, the live tile interface now matches your system theme. So, if you're using Windows 10 in light mode, the tile interface will reflect that.

Read the complete, informative article at: windowscentral

How The Industry Aims To Fix Electric Vehicle Range Anxiety

Automakers are investing billions into an electric-powered future. Last year, 143 new EV’s launched around the globe. Analysts predict record growth of EV sales in 2021, especially in Europe and China.

But, in the U.S., electric vehicles sales represented less than 2% of all autos sold in 2019, according to the Edison Electric Institute. Several hurdles remain for the market to really take off. One of the biggest is charging.

CNBC explores the current state of electric vehicle charging and how automakers like Tesla, GM and companies like ChargePoint and Electrify America are adding charging infrastructure to increase electric vehicle adoption.

Watch the video to learn more.

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpTOKKKGWV8

Credit: cnbc.com

VW ID.4 Electric SUV Sold Out On The First Day

VW announced that the first version of its ID.4 electric SUV sold out within 8 hours on the first day it opened orders. This is impressive, but, VW only planned to have “a few thousand First Edition models” for the US.

Finally on Wednesday, 9-23, VW fully unveiled the ID.4 after months of teasing. While it has been toned down from the concept with a more traditional design, the specs for the price point have impressed many and it is pushing all-electric vehicles to a wider market.

This version of the ID.4 started at $43,995 before incentives and will be delivered later this year. Now new buyers will have to turn to the $39,995 ID.4 Pro, which comes with fewer design enhancements and will be delivered in early 2021.

The vehicle is equipped with an 82 kWh battery pack (77 kWh of usable energy) that should result in about 250 miles of EPA range. An even less expensive version with a smaller battery pack with likely closer to 200 miles of range is expected to launch in 2022 after VW starts production of the ID.4 in the US. For now, the North American market will get ID.4 electric SUVs made in Germany.

Credit: electrek.co