DuckDuckGo Blocks Google's Popups

Have you noticed that websites are offering you a friendly new way to sign-in with Google? Try Investing.com. When you hit the site, Google displays a popup recommending that you sign in the top right. If you’re on a phone, the prompt takes up almost half your screen. And if you’re using Chrome, you can sign in with a single click, the fastest way to make the popup go away. Don’t have an account on Investing.com? Google will automatically make one for you.

It’s convenient if you want Google to harvest data about your behavior, or if you just want an easy way to sign in, or both. But for anyone who’d rather not, this new wave of popups may be an unwelcome intrusion that seems difficult to evade. There’s an easy fix. Download any DuckDuckGo app or extension, and you can kiss those popups good-bye.

DuckDuckGo, the internet’s favorite private search engine, rolled out a new feature across its service on 12-21-22 called Google Sign-in Pop-up Protection, It’s on by default, saving your eyes and your time from Google’s nagging. You can still sign in with Google whenever you want, you just don’t have to deal with Google’s prompts.

“They popups are invasive, annoying and they undermine user privacy,” said Peter Dolanjski, director of product for DuckDuckGo. “Google is employing a dark pattern by pushing you to sign in when you might not have otherwise. When you do, Google is is tracking what you do on those websites and linking it to your identity.”

Google Sign In is nothing new, but the popups are a subtle but pervasive change to the web. You can find them on Booking.com, Pinterest, Reddit, Trulio, Zillo and countless more. “We believe google is pitching the popups to these websites as a win-win,” Dolanjski said. “If they can get more users to sign in, it opens up more data collection both for Google and publishers, and it lets Google better target users with ads.” That means more money for everyone involved, except you.

Is what Google is doing the worst business practice in the world? Absolutely not. But there are situations where it undermines user choice. If you’re using a browser or an extension to protect your privacy (DuckDuckGo, for example), those protections go out the window. When you’re signed in, Google has everything it needs to spy on you.

Credit: gizmodo.com

What Is Cloud Computing?

When you stream your favorite album online, shop at an e-commerce store or answer your work email from your home computer, you’re reaping the benefits of cloud computing.

Cloud computing is a form of computing in which networks, data storage, applications, security and development tools are all enabled via the Internet, as opposed to a local computer or an on-premise server in your organization.

If you use a computer or mobile device at home or at work, you almost certainly use some form of cloud computing every day, whether it’s a cloud application like Google Gmail or Salesforce, streaming media like Netflix, or cloud file storage like Dropbox. According to a recent survey, 92% of organizations use cloud today and most of them plan to use it more within the next year.

Public cloud is a type of cloud computing in which a cloud service provider makes computing resources available to users over the public internet. These resources might be accessible for free, or access might be sold according to subscription-based or pay-per-usage pricing models.

The public cloud provider owns, manages, and assumes all responsibility for the data centers, hardware, and infrastructure on which its customers’ workloads run, and it typically provides high-bandwidth network connectivity to ensure high performance and rapid access to applications and data.

Private cloud is a cloud environment in which all cloud infrastructure and computing resources are dedicated to, and accessible by, one customer only. Private cloud combines many of the benefits of cloud computing, including elasticity, scalability, and ease of service delivery, with the access control, security, and resource customization of on-premises infrastructure.

A private cloud is typically hosted on-premises in the customer's data center. But a private cloud can also be hosted on an independent cloud provider’s infrastructure or built on rented infrastructure housed in an offsite data center.

Hybrid cloud is just what it sounds like, a combination of public and private cloud environments. Specifically, and ideally, a hybrid cloud connects an organization's private cloud services and public clouds into a single, flexible infrastructure for running the organization’s applications and workloads.

Multicloud is the use of two or more clouds from two or more different cloud providers. Having a multicloud environment can be as simple as using email from one vendor and image editing from another. But when enterprises talk about multicloud, they're typically talking about using multiple cloud services from two or more of the leading public cloud providers. In one survey, 85% of organizations reported using multicloud environments.

Hybrid multicloud is the use of two or more public clouds together with a private cloud environment.

Traditionally, security concerns have been the primary obstacle for organizations considering cloud services, particularly public cloud services. In response to demand, however, the security offered by cloud service providers is steadily outstripping on-premises security solutions.

Credit: ibm.com & snhu.edu

Club members can learn more about cloud computing by attending the 12-21-22 meeting at 9:00AM in the Orchid Club.

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc.
Executive Board Minutes
December 9, 2022

Alan Marcus, President, called the meeting to order at 9:00AM. Members in attendance: Jim Trimboli, Bob Kenlay, Bob Leiner, Don Forgette, Linda Tingley, Bill Balch, Mike Metelits and Alan Marcus.

The Secretary’s report was read by Bob Kenlay. No corrections or additions necessary.

Jim Trimboli then read the current Treasurer's report. The current balance is $1515.85.

Alan Marcus will contact the DOD for the Holiday party to open the Kitchen door.

Alan Marcus asked if any could assist with the Feb, Mar and Apr meeting topics. Will be determined at a future meeting.

Future meeting topics:

Dec 21 - Holiday Party and Cloud Computing

Jan 25 - Whatsapp, Chat and Browse by Bill Balch

Feb 15 - What to look for when buying a dash cam

Mar 15 - How to participate in a Zoom meeting

Apr 19 - Streaming TV basics

The meeting adjourned at 9:25AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Kenlay, Secretary

Replace Router Without Disconnecting Devices

Upgrading to a new Wi-Fi router doesn’t have to be hard. Here’s how to easily switch all your smart home gadgets and other connected devices in your home to a new router in under a minute.

When it’s finally time to get a new Wi-Fi router, there’s no need to panic. Whether you’ve switched internet service providers or you’ve decided to get something snappier, snazzier, and more reliable than whatever piece of plastic your ISP handed you, upgrading your router doesn’t have to be a headache.

If you have a smart home, you may be dreading the thought of having to manually update every light bulb, light switch, and security camera in your home to the new network. While typing a new password into a laptop or iPad is pretty easy, when it comes to smart home devices, you have to open each app for every smart device and go through the process of updating its Wi-Fi access. This is a real challenge for devices like smart floodlight cameras, which may be on the side of your house, 15 feet up.

But there is an easier way! Here’s how to change out your Wi-Fi router without having to manually update each device.

• Make a note of your current Wi-Fi network name (wireless SSID) and password. This may be printed on your modem or router, or you can access it by going to your router settings page. This page can be found in the companion app or by typing http://192.168.1.1/ into a web browser. (If that IP address doesn’t work, you can find the right one for your router in the network settings of a computer connected to the network.)
• Set up your new router by following the manufacturer instructions.
• When you get to the stage where you have to create a network name and password, use the exact same name and password as your old network.
• Unplug your old router. (If your old router is combined with your modem, you will need to go into its settings to disable the Wi-Fi network there.)
• All your devices should now automatically connect to your new router using the same network name and password. Verify your devices are working properly.
• You’re done!

Credit: theverge.com

Domino’s Buys A Fleet Of Chevrolet Bolt EVs

On Monday, 11-21-22, Domino's announced the arrival of more than 100 Chevrolet Bolts to select Domino's locations with another 700 due by the end of 2023. You can even check on their progress online, of Bolt deliveries, not pizza deliveries, although that's possible, too, thanks to onboard telematics.

"Domino's has always been on the cutting edge of pizza delivery and electric delivery cars make sense as vehicle technology continues to evolve. We've made a commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and this is one way we can begin reducing our environmental impact, one delivery at a time," said Russell Weiner, Domino's CEO.

The Bolt is an eminently sensible choice as one of the most affordable and efficient EVs for sale today. Domino's says that not only are there servicing and maintenance advantages to an EV fleet, but it should also help the company attract delivery drivers who don't have cars of their own.

Credit: arstechnica.com

Apple Wants To Change "Hey Siri" To Just "Siri"

Apple Bytes: 

While you currently have to say “Hey Siri” to activate the assistant hands-free, that may not be the case for much longer. Bloomberg reported on 11-7-22 that Apple engineers are working to drop the “Hey” part of the phrase, so you’d only have to say “Siri” followed by a command to activate the assistant.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that this is “a technical challenge that requires a significant amount of AI training and underlying engineering work.” Apple has reportedly been working on this change for the last several months and hopes to roll it out either next year or in 2024 depending on the progress of development and testing.

As it stands today, Apple is testing this change with employees and is collecting the necessary training data as part of that process. One of the specific challenges is making sure Siri is able to understand the wake word in multiple different accents and dialects.

Apple is also working to make improvements to other aspects of Siri, including its integration into third-party applications and services. “It will integrate the voice assistant deeper into third-party apps and services and improve its ability to understand users and take the correct course of action,” Bloomberg says in the report.

Apple’s mission to change Siri’s wake phrase from “Hey Siri” to just “Siri” shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Doing so would match what’s offered by Amazon, where you simply have to say “Alexa” to trigger the assistant, not “Hey Alexa.” It would also give Apple a leg up on Google, where the wake phrase is “Hey Google” or “OK Google.”

But as the report says, this isn’t a small undertaking and there’s a lot of training and behind-the-scenes work that goes into a change like this. For Apple, this is especially true as Siri is already prone to a number of false positives particularly with activations of Siri on the HomePod.

Credit: 9to5mac.com

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc.
Executive Board Minutes
November 11, 2022

Alan Marcus, President, called the meeting to order at 9:00AM. Members in attendance: Jim Trimboli, Bob Kenlay, Bob Leiner, Don Forgette, Linda Tingley, Bill Balch and Alan Marcus.

The Secretary’s report was read by Bob Kenlay. No corrections or additions necessary.

Jim Trimboli then read the current Treasurer's report. The current balance is $1563.85.

Linda Tingley will purchase 8 dozen donuts & 2 lbs. coffee for the Holiday party.

Alan Marcus suggested that we buy $1 scratch off tickets for the Holiday party giveaway. Alan Marcus made the motion to purchase 100 scratch off tickets. The motion was seconded by Jim Trimboli. The motion was passed.

Jim Trimboli made a motion to buy 10 - $10 gift cards for the Holiday party. Linda Tingley seconded the motion. The motion was passed.

Alan Marcus said he received a message from Steve Maly that he is no longer a resident of Oak Run. Linda Tingley confirmed that he has resigned as Vice President. Alan Marcus will mention at the next club meeting for any nominations for the club Vice President position.

Linda Tingley ask how we should determine the distribution of the 50/50 funds. It was agreed that Linda should make that decision depending on the amount collected.

Future meeting topics:

Nov 16 - Using Team Viewer to get computer help and to remotely control your computer

Dec 21 - Holiday Party and Cloud Computing

Jan 25 - Whatsapp, Chat and Browse by Bill Balch

Feb 15 - What to look for when buying a dash cam

Mar 15 - How to participate in a Zoom meeting

Apr 19 - Streaming TV basics

The meeting adjourned at 9:40AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Kenlay, Secretary

WiFi Security Flaw Lets Drone Track Devices

WiFi's friendliness to other devices might pose a significant threat in the wrong circumstances. University of Waterloo researchers have discovered a security flaw in the networking standard that lets attackers track devices through walls.

The technique identifies the location of a device within 3.3ft just by exploiting WiFi devices' automatic contact responses (even on password-protected networks) and measuring the response times. You can identify all the connected hardware in a room, and even track people's movements if they have a phone or smartwatch.

The scientists tested the exploit by modifying an off-the-shelf drone to create a flying scanning device, the Wi-Peep. The robotic aircraft sends several messages to each device as it flies around, establishing the positions of devices in each room.

A thief using the drone could find vulnerable areas in a home or office by checking for the absence of security cameras and other signs that a room is monitored or occupied. It could also be used to follow a security guard, or even to help rival hotels spy on each other by gauging the number of rooms in use.

There have been attempts to exploit similar WiFi problems before, but the team says these typically require bulky and costly devices that would give away attempts. Wi-Peep only requires a small drone and about $15 in equipment that includes two WiFi modules and a voltage regulator.

An intruder could quickly scan a building without revealing their presence.

Research lead Dr. Ali Abedi is calling for changes to the WiFi standard to prevent devices from responding to "strangers." That may take years, however, and Abedi suggests that hardware makers address the issue in the meantime by introducing randomized response times.

The chances of burglars using drones to map your home devices aren't high at this stage (they'd still need the know-how), but there are things developers can do to thwart these aerial spying efforts.

Credit: engadget.com

Affordable Solar-powered Electric Vehicle

German company Sono Motors says it will bring a solar-powered electric vehicle to market in Europe in mid-2023. Sono has brought the car, called the Sion, on a tour throughout the U.S. in anticipation of its eventual domestic release.

Priced at $25,000, the car is more affordable than most EVs on the U.S. market. It features 465 integrated solar half-cells throughout the exterior of the car, roof, doors, fenders, hood and all. The company estimates that solar power alone can fuel about 70 miles of driving per week.

For longer trips though, the Sion has a lithium iron phosphate battery with a 190-mile range, made by Chinese electric vehicle and battery giant BYD.

Sono is contracting with Finnish company Valmet Automotive to produce the Sion and the company says there are already 42,000 reservations for the car in Europe. The goal is to produce 257,000 Sions by 2030.

CEO Laurin Hahn says that contract manufacturing is the first thing that allows the company to keep costs down.

"Second is we have just one variant. This car comes in any color you like as long as it's black. So basically there's no options. That's massive in saving costs. Third, is we do online direct sells. Fourth is we have no steel stamping. It's an aluminum space frame, very safe car. And fifth is it has no paint. There is no paint job because it has solar panels on the outside. And for those five things, we can be so affordable."

Sono uses a polymer-based solar technology that it developed.

"We have several patents, over 30 patents on that," said Hahn. "And it's a big difference because all other companies who try to integrate solar are using most mostly glass. Glass is heavy, slow in production and very cost expensive."

An app on the car's dashboard gives drivers real-time information about how much solar power the car is generating at any moment. Drivers can also control power-sharing via the app, using the Sion's battery to charge other electric devices, including EVs, at a price point of the owner's choosing.

While there are no mass-market solar electric vehicles available today, Hahn believes this technology will take off soon.

"We think it has the potential to become a mainstream technology. Our mission is solar on every vehicle because there is no point of not putting it on. It is very cost-effective. It doesn't add a lot of costs onto the bill of materials for the car. So there's actually no reason not to integrate it."

Credit cnbc.com

Talking To Customer Support Is So Awful ...

... People Would Rather Shave Their Heads

You pick up your phone countless times a day. But what does it take to get you to pick it up and call customer service? A lot, it turns out.

Twilio asked OnePoll to conduct a survey of 2,000 Americans to find out what they would rather do instead of dealing with customer support on the phone. It found that respondents would rather do their taxes (30%), go to the dentist (28%), go to the DMV (25%), shave their heads (24%), and even spend a night in jail (22%) instead.

Although humans have evolved to hate talking on the phone, there’s more at work here. A bad customer support experience led 62% of survey respondents to end their relationship with a company or cancel a service. They reported spending an inordinate amount of time on hold, on average over an hour, and even then the issue is only resolved 46% of the time.

Those who’ve bailed on attempts at calling customer service have had the additional frustrating experiences of missing deadlines for canceling contracts (46%), passing the return window for products (44%), and losing on an item or service (41%).

Survey respondents said these experiences could be made better if people could solve their issues without speaking on the phone to a live person (52%) and had multiple ways to contact support to get their issue resolved (51%).

Credit: pcmag.com

Mozilla Makes Private Browsing In Firefox Easier ...

... Also Adds PDF Editing And "Firefox View"

The latest Mozilla Firefox web browser update places more focus on privacy, introduces PDF editing, and adds a new "Firefox View" tab history feature. 

Mozilla’s sales pitch for Firefox 106, announced Tuesday (10-18-22) for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, leads off with privacy, the focus of much of the non-profit’s recent browser development.

Unlike previous updates, which blocked such common tracking techniques as third-party cookies and browser fingerprinting, this release makes smaller changes: a private browsing shortcut that you can place on your desktop for quick switching, plus a default dark mode so it's clear when private browsing is enabled.

Mozilla created a new feature called "Firefox View" for desktop browser users which rolls out with the release. It acts as a short history of your browser activity (think of it as a supercharged new tab experience), keeping track of up to 25 of your recently-closed tabs. This isn't limited to just one device, though. Firefox will remember the contents of those tabs across all the devices you are logged into. On mobile devices, you'll see the last three tabs you had open on other devices.

Firefox’s PDF viewer, meanwhile, is now a PDF editor as well, allowing users to mark up documents and sign them without leaving the browser. This catches Firefox up to Microsoft’s Edge, which has featured PDF annotation for years, and sets it ahead of Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome. But Firefox still trails Safari, Chrome and Microsoft’s Edge in not offering a tab-groups feature aside from its weirdly Android-only Collections.

Mozilla is also expanding its Firefox Colorways feature, which allows for color-based customization of the browser. The latest, limited edition of the Colorways wallpapers were produced by streetwear and sneaker designer Keely Alexis (best known for the Nike Air Jordans).

And finally, Mac users get one extra feature in this update: automatic text recognition in images and PDFs, provided they run the 2020-vintage macOS Catalina or later.

Among the major browser choices, Firefox continues to stand out for its strong privacy protections and independent development.

Credit: pcmag.com

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc.
Executive Board Minutes
October 14, 2022

Alan Marcus, President, called the meeting to order at 9:00AM. Members in attendance: Jim Trimboli, Bob Kenlay, Bob Leiner, Don Forgette, Bob Irish, Bill Balch and Alan Marcus.

The Secretary’s report was read by Bob Kenlay. No corrections or additions necessary.

Jim Trimboli then read the current Treasurer's report. The current balance is $1553.85.

Jim Trimboli suggested that the club consider a bingo party at our 2023 Holiday party as a way of increasing our club membership. Discussion will take place at a future meeting.

Don Forgette suggested we consider a presentation on car dash cams, Alan Marcus will investigate.

Other considerations are “Team Viewer” and “Fire Stick” or streaming and video conferencing subjects.

Future meeting topics:

Oct 19 – Member Questions & Computer Problem Solutions by Alan Marcus

Nov 16 - TBD

Dec 21 - Holiday Party

Jan 25 - Whatsapp, Chat and Browse by Bill Balch

The meeting adjourned at 9:50AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Kenlay, Secretary

How Malware Hides in Images and What To Do

There are plenty of dangers to watch out for when it comes to keeping your devices and your data safe, including viruses, phishing attempts, compromised wifi networks, and rogue USB sticks. Here, we’re going to talk about one of the lesser-known threats: Compromised images.

You might not have realized it, but malware can be injected into digital photos that appear to be perfectly normal. The technique for doing so is known as steganography, or the practice of hiding one file in another, and it’s not always done maliciously. The method takes advantage of the hidden data that comes along with an image, data which isn’t necessarily translated into pixels on your screen.

Almost any image format can be edited to conceal malware, and the more appealing and popular the picture, the better: Images from the James Webb telescope were recently used as part of a malware attack, for example. Typically, these compromised pictures get served to you on websites or embedded in documents.

Those are the basics, but the exact details of this threat vary between attacks. Malware code can be embedded in an image in a few different ways, for example: Attached to the end of a file, or through slight tweaks to individual bits of the code, or through changes to the metadata associated with a file (this metadata also stores the time and date the photo was taken, and other information).

In one recent attack, the ObliqueRAT malware was hidden inside a seemingly ordinary bitmap file displayed in a browser tab. In this case, a Microsoft Office email attachment was used to direct unsuspecting targets towards the image, but a variety of other methods can be deployed as well, as long as the image gets loaded, the exploit can work.

Whatever the details, the image acts as the carrier for something dangerous, like the Trojan horse of Greek lore. Pictures can carry code to cause damage to a system, to set up a ransomware request, or to start mining crypto on a computer. There are many different variations and possibilities, and of course new threats are being developed all the time. In fact, any file can be used as a carrier, videos and documents work as well as images.

One of the reasons these attacks work so well is that an image file seems a lot more innocent than an executable file. Even if you’re unlikely to download and run an app you don’t know anything about, you might be tempted to take a look at a picture someone has sent you, especially if it’s a majestic shot of deep space, as with the James Webb telescope example.

As with other security threats, bad actors and security experts are in a constant battle to stay ahead: For instance, threat intelligence company Reversing Labs has a great blog post about how the EXIF data attached to an image (those details around when the photo was taken and which camera was used) can be compromised to execute code. There are plenty more examples out there.

At this point, you might be wondering if you should ever load an image in your web browser or email client again. The setting to block this is actually available in most browsers if you really want to be on the safe side, in Chrome, for example, open Settings from the menu and then click Privacy and security, Site settings, and Images.

The good news is that your web browser will be actively looking for online threats and should shut down the majority of malware attacks that come through images before they can do any damage. Computer security is never 100 percent guaranteed, but you’re most likely going to be fine if you carry on loading images as normal, thanks to the limits that browsers put on what websites are able to do, just make sure that your browser is always up to date.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that almost all the images you see on social media have been modified and compressed on their way to a data server, making it very difficult for a bad actor to hide code that’s still fully preserved by the time the image makes it in front of anyone’s eyeballs. Image-based malware isn’t a particularly common threat, but it’s still worth knowing about and protecting yourself from.

All the same security rules apply to keep yourself safe from image-based attacks as for any other kind of threat. Make sure your programs are always running the very latest versions, be wary of opening anything that comes your way over email and social media (even if it appears to be from someone you trust), and for extra peace of mind, get a third-party security software suite installed on your computer.

Credit: gizmodo.com

How to Switch iPhones Without Losing a Thing

Apple Bytes: 

Everything you need to know to successfully transfer your contacts, music, photos, and apps from one iOS device to another.

Wondering how to switch iPhones or iPads successfully, without losing anything in the process? If you're looking to upgrade, it is possible to do so painlessly. Your photos, contacts, videos, message history, music, calendars, mail accounts, and many of your apps can all be transferred from your previous device to the new one.

1. Back Up Your Old iPhone or iPad

First, you need to back up your old device, which can you do via iCloud or your computer.

Using iCloud

Make sure your device is connected to Wi-Fi. Then go into your iPhone or iPad’s settings and click your name at the top, which will take you to your Apple ID page. Depending on which model you have, you will either choose iCloud > iCloud Backup > Back Up Now, or after clicking your Apple ID page, you'll see a list of devices your ID is signed into.

If that's the case, click on your iPhone or iPad. From there, choose iCloud Backup, toggle it on, click on Back Up Now, and let your device back up while it’s still on Wi-Fi. It might be worth setting your new device to automatically backup daily, but be aware that Apple only lets you store 5 GB for free.

Using a Mac

Plug your iPhone or iPad into your MacBook or iMac and open Finder. On the left, you should see your device come up under Locations. You can go through all your saved data, from music and podcasts to photos and files. If your photos have been saved via iCloud, they won't show up here unless you turn that feature off.

Under the General tab, you can select Back Up Now. To save Health and Activity data, choose the option to encrypt your backup, or else it will not be saved; not saving unencrypted Health and Activity data is a default privacy feature. All iCloud backups are encrypted automatically.

Using a Windows Computer

You'll need to download iTunes for Windows and plug your iPhone or iPad into your laptop or desktop via USB. Click the iPhone/iPad button at the top left of the iTunes window, then go to Summary > Back Up Now. Encrypt your backup by clicking Encrypt local backup and setting a password. Encrypting allows you to back up your Health and Activity data, as well. To find your backups, click Edit > Preferences > Devices. Apple also goes through the steps here.

2. Swap SIMs or Activate eSIM

Once you're fully backed up, it's time to sort your SIM card. If you're in the US, the iPhone 14 range no longer has a physical SIM card slot, so you have to use eSIM. If you have previously used an eSIM on an iPhone, you can activate it during setup by following the onscreen instructions.

If you are switching from an older iPhone using a physical SIM card, then you will be asked about transferring your number as a part of the Quick Start process described below. Apple has full eSIM setup instructions for different scenarios. Just know that once you go from a physical SIM to eSIM, your physical SIM card will no longer work.

To use a physical SIM card with an older iPhone, simply swap the SIM card from your old phone into the new phone. You can also do this step after setting up your new iPhone, in case you don't want to miss any calls or messages during the process. Lightly pushing a SIM tool or paperclip into the SIM tray hole will help you open it up. The SIM card has one sloped side, which you can line up on the SIM tray of your new iPhone.

3. Turn On Your New Device

We recommend fully charging both your old device and your new iPhone before you begin, and keep a charger handy just in case. You are ready to turn on the new device. The next part depends on the version of iOS or iPadOS your old device is running.

Note: Anyone using the Google Authenticator app (or any other two-factor authenticator app) should be careful not to delete this app on their old iPhone until they have moved their accounts across to the new one or they may lose access. Google's instructions for transferring Authenticator codes to a new phone are HERE.

If your old device is running iOS 12.4 and iPadOS 13.4 or newer, then you can use Quick Start to directly transfer data from your old iPhone or iPad to your new one. (You can check your iOS version by heading to Settings > General > About > iOS version.)

Steps to use Quick Start:

1. Turn on your new device and place it near the old one, making sure that Bluetooth is turned on. The Quick Start screen should appear on your old iPhone or iPad, and you can tap Continueto begin the process.

2. Wait for an animation on your new device and hold your current device over the new device to center the animation in the camera viewfinder. Wait for a message that says Finish on New [Device].

3. Enter your passcode on your new device and follow the instructions to set up Face ID or Touch ID.

4. You can choose to migrate data directly from your old iPhone or iPad to your new one by choosing Transfer from [Device].

5. Keep both devices close and plugged into power until the transfer is complete and you're done. You can skip the rest of the steps below.

If your old device doesn't support Quick Start, or you don't want to use it, then follow the steps on the Hello screen until you reach a screen that asks whether you want to join a Wi-Fi network. Choose the network you wish to join. You will be prompted to set up eSIM (choose Transfer from another iPhone) and then set up Face ID or Touch ID.

4. Restore Your Backup

Restore from iCloud Backup

If you used iCloud to back up your iPad or iPhone, continue through the setup process until you reach the Apps & Data screen and tap the Restore from iCloud Backup option. Sign in to your Apple ID (if you're forgetful, consider using a password manager to find and store old login information) and choose the backup that you want to use.

The backups are time-stamped, so if you've been regularly backing up your phone there will be several listed; be sure to look at the date and size of the backup to make sure you pick the correct one.

Restore from Mac or PC

If you used your computer to back up your data, plug your phone or tablet into it. If you're using a Mac running Catalina 10.15, open Finder and select your device. If your Mac is running an older operating system or you have a PC, open iTunes. Select your iPhone/iPad when it appears in the window. Click Restore Backup under the General tab and choose the correct date.

5. Make Sure Your Wi-Fi Connection Is Stable

Don't disrupt the Wi-Fi connection until the transfer is totally done. Disconnecting early will cause your backup to pause until you reconnect. The same goes if you are restoring by tethering your device to a Windows 10 PC or Mac, leave your phone or tablet plugged in until it's finished.

There isn't anything else to it. If you went ahead and fired up your new iPhone or iPad without transferring anything, you'll have to either erase it and start over, or transfer your content manually, but that's going to be a lot more work than doing a full transfer. We recommend just starting over from scratch and following the above steps to get all your data over at once.

Do not delete data on your old device until you have your new one up and running. Have fun with your new iPhone or iPad, and if you don't need your old one, consider selling it.

Credit: wired.com

Flood Of Marketing Emails Coming From Amazon

Amazon is going to allow third-party sellers and brands to run personalized email marketing campaigns targeting existing customers.

Buying from an Amazon third-party seller or brand may soon see you automatically signed up to a personalized email marketing campaign.

Amazon is launching a free new feature for sellers and brands it calls "Tailored Audiences," which was announced during the Amazon Accelerate conference this week. It will allow sellers to run personalized email marketing campaigns, with the goal being to "build lasting and profitable relationships with your existing customers."

Until now, Amazon only allowed sellers to target individuals who opted to "follow" their store or brand through its website, but Tailored Audiences removes that restriction and replaces it with three customer groups that can be targeted with personalized marketing. Those groups are Repeat Customers (ordered in the past 12 months), High-Spend Customers (top 25% of spenders), and Recent Customers (most recent 20%).

Amazon will offer a free tool and easy-to-use campaign templates to help create the marketing emails, which can be sent every seven or 14 days. Sellers will also be able to "monitor the impact" of a marketing campaign including details such as open rate, click-through rates, emails delivered, opt-out rate, sales, and conversion.

A beta test for Tailored Audiences is already underway, and Amazon expects a full release within six months. After that, buying anything on Amazon from a third-party seller or brand could also result in you receiving marketing emails from them. It looks as though the only way to stop them is by finding the opt-out link when the first marketing email arrives in your inbox.

Hopefully Amazon realizes before the beta test is over that not all customers want unsolicited marketing emails appearing in their inbox. The best way to avoid that is either by displaying an opt-out option as part of the checkout process, or offering the ability to opt-out of Targeted Audiences campaigns completely from your Amazon account settings.

Credit: pcmag.com

M2 MacBook Air Runs Windows 11 Faster Than Dell

Apple Bytes: 

Real-world experiments with the new MacBook Air show Apple’s latest can use Parallels 18 to run Windows 11 faster than a Dell XPS Plus.

It’s a tribute to the performance of the Apple M2 processor in the latest Air.

MacBook Air can be a high-performance PC

Windows has the lion’s share of the desktop/laptop market. That means that situations arise where dedicated macOS users need to be able to run Windows. That’s where Parallels comes in. This virtualization software can put Windows on a Mac.

The YouTube channel Max Tech loaded the recently released Parallels 18 onto the 2022 MacBook Air and tested it with Geekbench 5. It scored 1681 on the single-core test and 7260 on the multi-core one.

For comparison, the Dell XPS Plus scored 1182 single-core and 5476 multi-core on the same test while unplugged, losing to the Mac on both test segments. That said, take the Windows PC off its battery and its scores rise to 1548 single-core and 8103 multi-core, so one of its benchmark scores beats the MacBook.

But there’s a drawback for someone planing to use their notebook on the go. When talking about the Dell, Max Tech host Vadim Yuryev said, “The battery life on those machines is not good and those chips take a lot of power.”

This is not an example of an expensive Mac being more powerful than a cheap PC. The MacBook Air configuration in the test costs $1599, while the XPS Plus is $1849.

It’s all about the Apple M2

The 2022 iPad Air in the head-to-head test is one of the first with the Apple M2 processor. Apple says the chip is 18% quicker than its predecessor. Real-world tests show that it’s at least that fast.

The new processor already proved its chops by solidly out scoring other Macs in the Speedometer 2.0 benchmarking app.

Credit: cultofmac.com

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc.
Executive Board Minutes
September 9, 2022

Alan Marcus, President, called the meeting to order at 9:00AM. Members in attendance: Jim Trimboli, Bob Kenlay, Bob Roesener, Bob Leiner, Linda Tingley, Don Forgette, Steve Maly and Alan Marcus.

The Secretary’s report was read by Bob Kenlay. No corrections or additions necessary.

Jim Trimboli then read the current Treasurer's report. The current balance is $1545.85.

Alan Marcus asked the Board if there were any suggestions for future membership meetings. He has contacted several possible presenters with no success. It was suggested that the Executive Board Members should come up with current computer problem areas and possible solutions to be discussed at our regular club meetings.

Future meeting topics:

Sep 21 – “Creating Video Keepsakes From You Photos” by Alan Marcus.

Oct 19 – “Computer Issues and Solutions” by Board members

The meeting adjourned at 9:00AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Kenlay, Secretary

This App Beeps Every Time Data Is Sent To Google

What if you got an audio cue every time your computer sent data to Google?

Enter Googerteller, an app created by developer Bert Hubert. It makes a beeping noise every time your computer sends data to Google, and as you might imagine, it beeps a lot.

The app works by using a list of IP addresses Google uses for its various services (excluding those related to Google Cloud) and alerts you whenever your computer communicates with one of those addresses. It beeps basically every time you click on anything.

This doesn't only happen when you use Google Chrome, the Googerteller is equally as beepy in Firefox.

Googerteller is only available for Linux (though there are ways to run it on a Mac), but it's doubtful that people are going to swarm to install it on their systems.

It's easy to forget just how often you're being tracked online, and the app's value is in providing a very direct (and scary) example of how often your data is being sent to Google.

Credit: mashable.com

DuckDuckGo, Your Go-To Search Engine

DuckDuckGo is the Google alternative you should be using.

Since Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal, people have become more aware of what information they are giving companies and advertisers, sometimes without their knowledge or consent. The number of data breaches also rose to a record high of 1,862 in 2021. More people are taking steps to protect their information, and one way some folks are doing that is by using the search engine DuckDuckGo.

DuckDuckGo has positioned itself as a privacy-focused alternative to search engines like Google. DuckDuckGo has rolled out Android and iOS mobile apps and browser extensions to help keep your information secure no matter if you use it on your phone or computer.

Here are five reasons why you should be using DuckDuckGo.

Stop online trackers from spying on you:

Online trackers are everywhere on the internet. Princeton's Web Transparency & Accountability Project found that Google trackers are present in about 75% of websites and Facebook trackers are present in about 25% of sites. These trackers collect data like where you live, who you live with and what your reading habits are, to create targeted-ads to sell you stuff.

DuckDuckGo identifies and blocks these online trackers from sites like Google and Facebook. The search engine can also show you the networks that have tracked you over time to give you a fuller picture on how your data is being used.

However, DuckDuckGo came under fire in May after tracking scripts from the company's partner, Microsoft, were found in DuckDuckGo's search engine. Gabriel Weinberg, DuckDuckGo's CEO, said this was due to the company's partnership agreement and said DuckDuckGo is working to change this policy.

You'll see fewer ads:

When using DuckDuckGo you should see fewer ads overall. If you run a search via Google, the results will likely show you a handful of ads, or an entire page, before you see something that's not sponsored content. When you search for something on DuckDuckGo, you'll see fewer ads in your search results and save some time.

In addition to fewer ads on the results page, because DuckDuckGo blocks online trackers, ads won't follow you across the web. If you use DuckDuckGo to search for something like a new food bowl for your pet, you won't keep seeing ads for pet bowls on different sites. These ads don't follow you around like said pet demanding you feed them despite having just given them food five minutes ago.

Websites should load faster:

On top of causing ads to follow you around and collecting your data, online trackers also add extra data to websites you visit, slowing the website's load time. DuckDuckGo blocks these trackers, frees up bandwidth and lets websites load faster.

Your search history isn't stored:

Let's say you get into a debate with your significant other over which way the toilet paper should hang. You say it should hang under. They say the patent for toilet paper clearly has the toilet paper going over, making that the correct way. You look up the patent and find that yes, the toilet paper is hanging over. You sit in disbelief, and now your search history will forever shame you.

If you use DuckDuckGo, though, this blemish won't show up in your search history because the search engine doesn't save your searches. Each time you open DuckDuckGo is a fresh start, free from anything you may have searched for before. A downside to this is there are no suggested search options. Also, if you want to look at something you saw previously you won't be able to search for it in your history.

Google's Incognito mode also keeps your search history private, too, but it does so by deleting your search history once you close the window. If you don't close the window, it's still stored. Incognito mode also still collects some of your information, like your location and search activity.

Your search results won't be influenced by your browsing history:

Google filters the results it shows you when you use it to search for something. Google shows you things related to your search it thinks you will click on based on the data it has collected on you. It doesn't bother showing you results it doesn't think you'll click.

This means if you try to look up a news story, you'll likely see stories that lean towards what you've already read. These types of results could fuel what psychology calls confirmation bias, which is when people find information that supports what they already want to believe.

However, in 2017 Google announced updates to its search quality guidelines to push offensive results and bogus conspiracy theories further down its search results.

DuckDuckGo will show you more robust search results. A DuckDuckGo and Google side-by-side to search for something like Facebook renders different results, which could influence your thoughts on the company. Presenting you with unbiased search results could give you a more complete picture of what you are searching for.

Because your search results aren't tailored to you and your interests, search results can feel imprecise when compared to Google. Some DuckDuckGo users on Reddit have said they have used Google for some searches when DuckDuckGo gives them irrelevant search results. This sounds like a downside, but it ultimately means DuckDuckGo is working properly.

Credit: cnet.com

iPhone Can Identify Any Song With Just A Tap

Apple Bytes: 

The iPhone has a feature that syncs with Shazam and helps you identify any song with one tap.

It can also save a history of the songs you've identified, so you can add them to playlists later.

Your iPhone has a useful feature you might not know about. You can identify the song that's playing on the radio at a bar, in your car or at a friend's house, all without having to open an app. All you have to do is swipe down and tap a single button.

It's part of the iPhone's and iPad's integration with music-recognition service Shazam, which Apple acquired in 2018. It's been available for a couple of years but might be more useful now that people are out and about again. You don't even need Shazam installed.

Here's how to set it up

• Open Settings on your iPhone
• Tap Control Center.
• Scroll down under "More", tap the green '+' button next to Music Recognition

That adds the music recognition function to Control Center, which you access by swiping down from the top-right of your screen or from the bottom of the screen if you have an iPhone with a Home button.

How to identify a song from your iPhone

Once you've done that, you can use your iPhone to identify a song by swiping down from the top-right of the screen to open Control Center and then tapping the Shazam button.

Your phone will listen for a few seconds, then show the artist and title at the top of your screen. And it'll save a history of the songs you've identified so you can go back and see them later. To do that, just press and hold the Shazam button.

Credit: cnbc.com

Warning: Actively Exploited 'DogWalk' Windows Bug

Microsoft has warned its customers that a vulnerability known as DogWalk, which affects every recent version of Windows and Windows Server, is being actively exploited by attackers.

DogWalk (CVE-2022-34713) is a high severity vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) that can be exploited to enable remote code execution on vulnerable devices, the company says in a Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) update.

There are many such devices; DogWalk affects Windows 7, 8.1, 10, and 11 as well as several versions of Windows Server, Microsoft says in the MSRC update. More than 1.4 billion devices currently run Windows 10 or 11 alone, the company says on its website.

Microsoft does reassure Windows users that "exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a user open a specially crafted file," which means attackers can't just force their way onto a vulnerable system, but it's not particularly hard to get someone to open a malicious file.

"In an email attack scenario," Microsoft says, "an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending the specially crafted file to the user and convincing the user to open the file." Or they could upload the malicious file to a website and just wait for someone to download it.

This update has prompted the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to add CVE-2022-34713 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. That means federal agencies have until 8-30-22 to patch their systems against the vulnerability.

That might not seem like a long time, especially since Microsoft released the Windows and Windows Servers patches related to DogWalk on 8-9-22 as part of Patch Tuesday. But attackers have known about this flaw in MSDT for at least 2.5 years at this point.

BleepingComputer reports that DogWalk was initially disclosed by a security researcher named Imre Rad in January 2020. Microsoft initially dismissed the report, Rad says, but now it's finally released a fix and confirmed that attackers have exploited the flaw.

Credit: pcmag.com

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc.
Executive Board Minutes
August 12, 2022

Alan Marcus, President, called the meeting to order at 9:00AM. Members in attendance: Jim Trimboli, Bob Kenlay, Bob Roesener, Bob Leiner, Linda Tingley, Bill Balch, Don Forgette and Alan Marcus.

The Secretary’s report was read by Bob Kenlay. No corrections or additions necessary.

Jim Trimboli then read the current Treasurer's report. The current balance is $1568.85.

Alan Marcus asked the Board if there were any suggestions for future membership meetings. Alan Marcus will contact the Ocala IMHC (Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition) for a possible presentation.

Future meeting topics:

Aug 17 – “Internet Sources for Personal Growth” by Mike Metelits.

The meeting adjourned at 9:45AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Kenlay, Secretary

Who's Winning The Speed Wars?

T-Mobile continues to lead mobile speeds while COX wins fastest broadband

Ookla is out with its latest report for mobile and fixed broadband Internet speeds in the US. Continuing a string of wins, T-Mobile came in first for best mobile performance with download speeds almost 2x faster than AT&T and Verizon along with having the strongest consistency and 5G availability. For fixed broadband, COX beat out XFINITY for the fastest download speeds.

Ookla, the maker of Speedtest, shared its report for US mobile and broadband internet performance during Q2 2022 on its website.

For mobile, T-Mobile again outperformed the competition, corroborating results seen from recent Opensignal and PCMag studies.

However, a J.D Power study showed Verizon as the most reliable carrier in the US.

US Mobile speeds for Q2 2022

The median download speed for T-Mobile came in at 116.54 Mbps for Q2 this year in Ookla’s study. Verizon and AT&T came in at roughly half the median speed at 59.67 and 54.64 Mbps, respectively.

For median upload speeds, the major US carriers were much closer:

When it came to consistency, here’s what Ookla found:

For 5G, T-Mobile led for both median download speeds and availability, although Verizon and AT&T made up a slight bit of ground:

US broadband speeds for Q2 2022

For fixed broadband Internet, COX took top honors with a 196.73 Mbps median download speed with XFINITY and Spectrum following closely behind at 184.08 and 183.74, respectively.

Interestingly, COX ranked last for median upload speed at just 10.6 Mbps. Frontier, Verizon, and AT&T led that with 100+ Mbps median upload speeds.

Check out the full Ookla report for more details like regional/city performance and more.

Credit: 9to5mac.com

Did Windows 10 Update Stop Your Printer?

It seems one of the security patches in a recent Windows Update has stopped printers from working for some users on Windows 10.

The problem stems from update KB5015807 (released on 7-12-22), which is simply classed as addressing "security issues for your Windows operating system." Microsoft made it available for all editions of Windows 10 (21H1 and 21H2), as well as Windows Server (20H2) and Enterprise editions.

While it may fix a number of security bugs, the update is also preventing printers from working properly. Microsoft acknowledges this, stating it has "received reports of issues affecting some printing devices following installation of this update." The impacted Windows 10 users can't print anymore.

Thankfully, the fix is relatively simple. First of all, navigate to Settings > Devices and check the "Bluetooth & other devices" section. Multiple copies of your printer may be present and it's just a case of checking which one works before deleting the other copies.

If that doesn't work, Microsoft tells you to update the printer driver for your PC, or to be even more thorough, uninstall and then reinstall the printer. After that, printing should be back to normal. Hopefully the duplicate printer deletion option works so you don't have to go through the frustration of a printer reinstall.

Credit: pcmag.com

What Your Browser Knows About You

Navigating the web can require typing the same details again and again: Passwords, addresses, and credit card details, for example. To give some respite to your fingers and thumbs, most browsers now offer autocomplete features that save this information and retrieve it automatically when you need it.

This can be hugely convenient, but you may be concerned about your privacy and security online. And even if you are not, it’s important to be aware of what your browser is saving and where you can access it. Remember that anyone who sits in front of your computer can use this auto-fill data, so your computer password is essentially the only barrier protecting sensitive details such as your address or your social security number from unscrupulous eyes.

Find your data in Google Chrome

Click the three dots (top right) and then go to Settings. Choose Auto-fill from the list on the left to see all the data your browser is storing (and syncing between multiple devices, if you’ve enabled this option under You and Google and Sync and Google services).

Select Passwords to see a master list of all the login credentials Chrome is keeping safe for you. You’ll be able to search through them via the box to the top left, view them by clicking on the eye icons, or edit them by selecting the three dots on the right. You can toggle the options at the top to stop Chrome from remembering your passwords and logging you into sites automatically, and you can also click Check passwords to see if your login details have shown up in a data breach or are too easy to guess.

Choose Payment methods to see the debit and credit card data that Chrome has saved. As on the passwords page, you can set whether you want your browser to save this information by toggling the switch at the top. Meanwhile, on the list underneath, you’ll be able to view, edit, and delete information for individual cards, click the three dots to the side of an entry to modify it or remove it from the list. You’ll also see payment methods set up with Google Pay included in this list.

The other option on the Auto-fill page is Addresses and more (the “more” being phone numbers and email addresses linked to postal addresses). Select this entry and you’ll see the credentials Chrome has stored. Click the three dots to the side of any entry on the list to find the Edit and Remove options. If you’d rather Chrome didn’t hold on to this type of information, turn the Save and fill addresses toggle switch off.

Find your data in Microsoft Edge

Edge and Chrome are based on the same Chromium code, so while you’ll notice some similarities between them, you’ll also see Microsoft has added plenty of its own unique tweaks on top. To find your personal information in Edge, click the three dots (top right), then choose Profiles from the list on the left. Via Sync you can choose whether the browser syncs your data across all devices where you have Edge installed.

The first menu to dig into is Personal info, which is where the program saves information like postal and email addresses, phone and even passport numbers. You can use the toggle switches to decide whether to store this data in Edge and click the three dots next to any entry to Edit or Delete it.

Next up is Passwords, which is exactly what you would expect. You can see all of your credentials in a long list (use the Search passwords box to look for something specific), and by clicking the three-dot buttons on the right of each one you can copy, edit, or delete them. Edge also rates each password’s health in terms of security and gives you a choice of entering these credentials automatically on recognized sites or prompting you for your computer account password each time.

And then there’s Payment info, which is where Edge saves the details of all your payment cards. Again, you’ve got a master toggle switch that lets you decide whether the browser records this information at all, and the list underneath lets you view, edit, and delete your financial information. If you’re signed in with a Microsoft account, and it has payment info associated with it, you’ll see this here too.

Find your data in Safari

If Safari is your browser of choice, open the Safari menu and choose Preferences then AutoFill to see what the program is saving, and uncheck any type of data you don’t want it to store. There’s one option here that you won’t find in other browsers, Using information from my contacts. This data is technically in the Apple Contacts app rather than Safari but you can still get to it by clicking Edit.

Click Edit next to Usernames and passwords to see a full list of all the login credentials that Safari has on you. You can search through them, edit, and delete them as required. Apple’s browser will also warn you about passwords that are duplicated, too easy to guess, and have appeared in a data leak online, so you can update them.

Select Edit next to Credit cards to see what Safari has saved in terms of payment information. There are no options here to edit any of the details, you can only Add a new entry in the list (which will prompt you for information such as the card number and the cardholder name), or Remove it.

The last Edit button is next to Other forms, and this covers information such as postal and email addresses, and phone numbers. On this dialog box, you can edit any information that’s inaccurate, as well as remove any entries from the list. Unfortunately, you can’t add new auto-fill data from here, you’ll have to do it in an actual web form.

Find your data in Firefox

Firefox has a comprehensive suite of tools for remembering data so you don’t have to keep typing it in time and time again. Click the three horizontal lines (top right), then choose Privacy & Security to see the information the browser is saving, or Sync to choose whether you want Firefox to sync this data between all of your devices running the browser.

The Logins and Passwords section under Privacy & Security is where you can decide whether Firefox should save your login details, and automatically log you into sites it recognizes. Click Saved Logins to see everything the program has saved so far. You can search through them, Copy them to the clipboard, Edit them inside Firefox, or Remove them from the list entirely.

Below passwords in Privacy & Security is the Autofill credit card option, which you can check or uncheck as you need it. Click on Saved Credit Cards to check the cards currently on file in Firefox, from the next dialog you can add new cards, edit the ones that are already there, or remove them from the list.

The last option you should look into on the Privacy & Security screen is Forms and Autofill. Add a checkmark next to Autofill addresses to have Firefox save and automatically enter your addresses into web forms for you. If you click on the Saved Addresses button, you get options to Add, Edit, and Remove addresses.

Credit: popsci.com

How To Change Mouse Speed On Windows 11

If you feel the need to change your mouse pointer speed, there are a couple of ways to complete this task on Windows 11. The mouse is a critical component that allows you to navigate and complete actions with ease, which is why it's so important to tune its settings correctly for the best experience possible.

If the current speed of the mouse pointer doesn't match your preferences, because you prefer the movement to be faster on a multi-monitor setup, or you want the pace to be slower to track where the pointer is going easily, Windows 11 includes multiple ways to change the speed with the Settings app or Control Panel.

To adjust the mouse pointer speed on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Bluetooth & devices.
Click the Mouse page on the right side.
Use the "Mouse pointer speed" slider to adjust the pointer speed.

Once you complete the steps, the mouse movements will reflect the speed you selected on the settings page.

To change the mouse speed with Control Panel, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Hardware and Sound.
Under the "Devices and Printers" section, click the Mouse option.
Click the Pointer Options tab.
Under the "Motion" section, use the slider to increase or decrease the speed of the mouse pointer.

After you complete the steps, Windows 11 will apply the new speed for the mouse pointer on your computer.

Credit: windowscentral.com

New Gmail rolls out to everyone ...

... and you can hide that big sidebar now.

The new desktop Gmail design started rolling out 7-2-22. If you use the default theme, you'll know it has arrived when your entire Gmail interface turns blue. Gmail's new design first entered an opt-in preview in February, and after gathering feedback and fixing a few things, Google is pushing the design out to everyone.

A few things have changed between now and the February preview. The most striking change is the all-blue color scheme. Google's blog post says, "You’ll notice the new navigation now features Material You, our updated, fresh look and feel for your Google apps." "Material You" launched with Android 12 as a color-coordinated theming system that matched your OS color scheme with your wallpaper. There's no color-matching with Gmail's "Material You," though, just the blue color scheme.

Gmail still has a theme system, so you can change the color to whatever you want. Click on the settings gear in the top right and then under the "theme" section, click "view all." The background closest to the old Gmail is the solid "soft gray" background option. To truly match the Old Gmail background, you would want "white," but that's not an option. (You can also pick from your Google Photos collection via a "my photos" link at the bottom. This "theme" screen is also where you can apply Gmail's weirdly hidden dark mode. Just pick the black background option, and everything will switch over to light text on a dark background.

The other change you might want to make involves fixing the biggest complaint with the new Gmail, that new, giant sidebar. Google has long had the strategy of shoving whatever new products it wants to promote into Gmail, and the new Gmail design comes with a big, full-height sidebar featuring only four icons: one for Gmail, two for Google Chat (Google's latest messaging app), and one for Google Meet (Google's version of Zoom meetings). Gmail already has a sidebar, but this new design adds a second sidebar, which feels like a big banner ad for Google's other communication apps. Thankfully, in between the February preview and this on-by-default rollout, Google apparently listened to feedback and added the option to turn off the sidebar.

This new "no-sidebar" option isn't very obvious, but you can kill the Gmail sidebar by turning off Google Chat and Google Meet. Just head to the settings gear, then the "Customize" link under "Chat and Meet." Un-tick both checkboxes, and the sidebar will disappear, allowing you to reclaim a lot of screen real estate. It's strange that New Gmail works this way when Old Gmail put Gmail controls, Google Chat, and Google Meet all in a single, adjustable sidebar, but that's what Google chose to do.

Turning off the two-sidebar layout not only makes new Gmail look a lot more like old Gmail, it also makes the regular Gmail sidebar work the way it used to. With the two-sidebar layout, clicking the hamburger button to collapse the sidebar only shows the app switcher and not any of the Gmail controls, you see links for Google Chat and Google Meet instead of "Inbox," "Stars," "Spam," etc. When you turn off Google Chat and Meet, though, collapsing the Gmail sidebar once again shows Gmail controls inside Gmail.

If you really don't like the new Gmail, you still can, for at least a little while longer, opt out of the new design. Click the settings gear, and you should still see a "Go back to the original view" option. This won't last forever, though, and you'll have to get used to the new Gmail eventually. The original new version was rough, but Google seems to have listened to the complaints about the second sidebar. If you tick the right settings boxes, you'll see that there is no longer much difference between the newer and older versions of Gmail.

Credit: arstechnica.com

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc.
Executive Board Minutes
July 8, 2022

Alan Marcus, President, called the meeting to order at 9:00AM. Members in attendance: Jim Trimboli, Bob Kenlay, Bob Roesener, Bob Leiner, Steve Maly, Rich Groh, Don Forgette and Alan Marcus.

The Secretary’s report was read by Bob Kenlay. Alan Marcus made a correction to the June Board meeting minutes that the start time was at 9:00AM instead of the reported 8:00AM.

Jim Trimboli then read the current Treasurer's report. The current balance is $1577.85.

Alan Marcus asked Rich Groh to introduce himself and give a brief history of himself. The rest of the present Board members introduced themselves.

Alan Marcus forwarded a question from Linda Tingley to suspend the club meetings during the summer. The consensus was it might hurt future attendance to the regular year. No motion was made.

Future meeting topics:

July 20 – “Install solid state drive in a laptop” and "Install DVD in desktop" by Alan Marcus

The meeting adjourned at 9:45AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Bob Kenlay, Secretary

Firefox To Curb User Tracking With ‘Cookie Jars’

Firefox announced reently (6-14-22) that it is rolling out “Total Cookie Protection” by default to all its users worldwide. It’s a neat feature and it will go a long way towards keeping Firefox users safe from the pernicious practices of data brokers. It doesn’t stop all kinds of tracking, but it makes it much harder for your activities around the web to be tracked from site to site.

Firefox is possibly more popular than you think. It has around 6.65 percent of the desktop browser market in the US and around 7.66 percent of the market worldwide. It’s the fourth most popular browser after Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. (The percentages change but its ranking doesn’t if you also include mobile web browsers.) In short, this update is going out to millions of people and will likely be yet another nail in the coffin for cookies.

Total Cookie Protection works by making a separate “cookie jar” for every website you visit. All the cookies for a given site are put in its dedicated cookie jar. This means you can’t be tracked around the web (as other sites can only access their own cookie jar). So if you search for “running shoes” on Amazon, for example, you’ll no longer see ads for running shoes popping up on every site you visit.

There’ll still be a cookie in Amazon’s cookie jar with the details of your search history, but the ad units on other sites won’t be able to see it and pull from it. You will likely end up with dozens of similar cookies stored in all your different cookie jars instead of just one, but since they’re tiny text files, they won’t affect your computer’s performance.

In the blogpost announcing the feature, Mozilla claimed that, “this approach strikes the balance between eliminating the worst privacy properties of third-party cookies and allowing those cookies to fulfill their less invasive use cases (e.g. to provide accurate analytics).” It’s a pretty fair summary. You won’t have to login to every site every time you visit (one of the good uses of cookies) but you will be much harder to track around the web (one of the very bad uses).

As for the competition, Microsoft Edge is trialing a “Super Duper Secure” mode that has a similar feature, though it isn’t as private by default. Safari blocks all cross-site tracking whether using cookies, fingerprinting, or anything else by default with a feature called Intelligent Tracking Prevention; it is designed to limit all kinds of tracking “while still enabling websites to function normally.” But that is only available on macOS.

Brave is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux and is at least as aggressive in how it blocks cookies by default; we suspect it’s not being included as it has less than 0.1 percent of the desktop browser market so hardly counts as a “major” player. Opera, with around 2.5 percent of the desktop browser market (about the same as Internet Explorer) is probably being excluded on the same grounds. DuckDuckGo, currently in a Mac-only beta, has negligible desktop market-share, and its privacy credentials are under fire after it was revealed it had a deal with Microsoft to allow certain trackers.

Really, all that’s left is Google Chrome which, somewhat unsurprisingly, is not the most aggressive at preventing tracking cookies. It is due to start blocking third-party cookies next year, though similar plans have already been delayed in the past.

If you use Firefox, this is definitely a nice boost to your privacy. Or if you use Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome and want something that’s a bit more privacy-focused, this could be a compelling reason to switch. Firefox is a good, modern browser. For Safari, Opera, Brave, and even DuckDuckGo users, though, Total Cookie Protection doesn’t offer any radical extra privacy protection. In those cases, it then comes down to what browser you like the most.

Crdeit: popsci.com