Technology Of Travels!

What> Vista Dead? And what’s this Windows 10 Creator Update?!
And by the way… ‘Don’t Be Evil‘ (Transmogirfied into “Do the Right THing?!”)
Google is now pushing its Google Express shopping opportunity!!!!

Instant Vulnerability in WORD

 

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Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart.
– They’re tagged with #Zentech.
– When what’s said is unclear to me (or I’m unfamiliar with a topic) I tend to quote (” “) verbatim.
– Editor’s comments are delimited by < >

For a couple of months, the audio of today’s show is here. Recent shows are here.

The intro & outro music was by Pentatonix.

 

Paul was in the studio. Glenn called in from Point Richmond in the Bay Area.

 

Siri uses the Microsoft Bing search engine by default, which Paul thinks is useless. If you want it to use Google, prefix your query by saying ‘google’.

Glenn reminded listeners that they may view show notes by going to zen.kvmr.org. And you can send email to the guys at zen at kvmr dot org.

There have been 2 major updates to Windows, Paul said — Windows 10 Anniversary, which “broke a lot of stuff” and Windows 10 Creators Update that came out in the last few days.

Big updates like these are a compilation of all the patches that have come out in the mean time and usually just fix thing under the hood. But the Creators Update actually adds some features. See the link at the top of this page. Paul said he would prefer to wait on doing the Creators Update.

<Here are a few articles I’ve come across (but didn’t read)…
Yes, Another Windows 10 Update Is Here. By Biersdorfer
Windows 10 Creators Update. A David Pogue review
New Creators Update build lets you block Windows 10 updates
Today’s the day to block Windows 10 Creators Update
>

Microsoft has been working on Cortana, their personal assistant, Paul says it’s not as good a Siri. Glenn said hasn’t tried it yet. Glenn said he uses Siri while driving but prefers Google search.

If you use Microsoft Office or its components, it will not be updated in conjunction with a Windows update. There is an option to select <Paul didn’t say where> that will make other Microsoft products update when the operating system is updated. In particular, there is a vulnerability in Word that needs attention, and there’s a link about it at the top of this page.

Google is pushing its shopping service called Google Express. There’s a link about it at the top of this page. Paul wasn’t clear about it but somehow it’s tied in with doing a Google search by voice.

The Microsoft tablet called Surface used to run a version of Windows 8 called Windows RT (runtime). It was different than the Windows for the desktop/laptop. The current model of the Surface uses a version of Windows 10 that is the same as the desktop version. Paul had a chance to try one of these tablets and thought it would have been great if it had come out a few years ago. It seems that he likes it but said the tablet is pricey — in the $900 – $1200 range.

Last night Glenn updated his iPad to version 10.3.1 of the operating system and it slowed it tremendously.

Paul said Apple recently came out with a new iOS filing system for solid state flash drives called APFS. <Talked about during the 3-29-17 show>. And he suggested that Glenn shut down and restart the iPad.

Paul said he’s more familiar with Android, but there are apps for Apple’s iOS to clean up the junk an operating system tends to accumulate. He mentioned an article from Mac World — ‘How To Clear Out Your iPhone’s Memory And Cache’.

One of the things iOS 10.3 does is to recognize incompatible apps. Each new version of iOS gives apps additional resources to run more efficiently. Apps written for an older version may not have been updated to take advantage of a newer iOS. Version 10.3 will notify you that you have one of these older apps, though you may still be able to use it.

Glenn restarted his iPad and said it seems to be a little faster.

In the Linux world, the Unity user interface has been discontinued, Paul said. There are at least 10 window managers (the user interfaces) for Linux that show you the desktop, its icons and allow you to operate the computer. Gnome & KDE are the mainstream interfaces for Linux. And there are lightweight interfaces like XFCE & LXDE, which work even on an old Intel 386 or 486 computer. If you replace Windows XP with Lubuntu on an older machine and use the LXDE window manager, it will run even faster that it did under XP.

Glenn told us about a project where he used Kunbuntu to copy the user files from a machine that would no longer run Windows. After reinstalling Windows, the user files were then returned to their correct location and the machine’s operation was restored.

Paul noted that Microsoft now allows you download the ISO image of Windows for free. It’s what the guys used for reinstalling Windows the just-mentioned project. You can search for the words: microsoft 10 iso image. Make sure it comes from the Microsoft website. Paul said, “the reason they give it to you free is because you are tied down with the whole key mechanism.” For the particular machine the guys worked on, the key was stored, as it came from the manufacturer, in the UEFI partition of the hard drive <I think he meant the firmware >.

If you tried to boot the ISO image on a machine that doesn’t already have a key, you’ll end up with an unregistered version of Win10 and it will be missing some of the customizing options. You can get a key from Microsoft for no less than $99, Paul surmised.

The type 6 Kindle Paperwhite Reader that Paul has (mentioned on the 3-29-17 show) runs a slimed-down version of Linux. The current version of their operating system is 588. Amazon makes the souce code available and there is a hacker community called Kindle Hackers dedicated to modifying the Kindle. One such modification makes the Kindle into a message board that you can stick on a refrigerator with double-sided tape. The newest Kindles can run for 1 month between recharges. That’s reduced to 10 days if the backlight is on and it’s using wi-fi.

Dennis called about his a 2007 iMac running Mountain Lion OS. He’s not been able to upgrade to a newer OS. Also, he gets black squares and flashes while running the browser. He wanted to know if there is something like Ccleaner he can run to get rid of junk files. Paul said that there are cleaners but the Mac should do its own cleaning.
– Read carefully the error message you get when trying to upgrade to narrow down the problem.
– People tend to think upgrading the operating system is the way to fix a problem. “If you’re not careful it will just go wrong faster”.
– Find out if the machine is overheating. The machine has several internal temperature sensors. It’s not just a matter of feeling the outside of the machine.
– The storage system (like the hard drive) may be messed up. Tech Tools Pro for Mac will check the hard drive and give you a report. You can first try the built-in program called Disk Utility (go to the Applications folder -> Utilities folder). There’s also Disk Warrior for Mac.
– Paul said he’ll put links to utilities for smart drive checking & temperature monitoring on this page.

Paul mentioned H2O Wireless that he and Glenn use for their cellular provider. You get 3gig of data & unlimited calling & texting for $27/mo.

Things are finally starting to get competitive in the cell phone market in the USA, Paul said. Most use the AT&T network, some use Verizon. If you currently have poor connections to AT&T, for instance, you’ll have trouble using a provider that run on the AT&T network. And you’ll have to unlock your AT&T phone to switch over to a second tier provider that’s using AT&T.

Glenn gave the disclaimer:

The opinions and thoughts you that you hear on KVMR are those of the speaker only and not necessarily those of staff, management, underwriters or board or other broadcasters

The cell phone companies, especially with the the latest phones, are able to “lock down what you do”. <I think he meant cellular providers>. So you can’t do any tethering — can’t use it as a hotspot. And they shut down Apple’s Facetime — a video conferencing feature. But Paul discovered that the free app called Whatsapp is a fine replacement. And it allows Apple users to communicate with not just other Apple users but the rest of the world.

Glenn was at first hesitant in using Whatsapp because it wanted to use his contact list. But since Paul had been using it for a while with no problems, Glenn is OK with it now. You don’t have to allow access to your contacts but you’ll then have to key in the phone numbers manually.

Tim called. He had sent an email last week about a problem and wondered if there was a solution. He has Windows 10 but he can’t access anything on the internet from a desktop icon. He just gets a white screen and a spinning wheel. Paul suggested he google the words: chkdsk windows 10. This is a utility that will check the underlying file system to see if the files are stored properly. Also look up ‘safe mode’, Paul said. Glenn said he’ll take a look at the email Tim sent and get back to him in the next couple of days.

Last Updated 12:06 AM 4-13-2017