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 podcast of today’s show will be here. Recent shows are here.

Both Glenn & Paul were in the studio. Today’s show ran a bit long — about 20 minutes into the following hour.

Glenn thanked the listeners who support KVMR. If you’d like to make a contribution, please visit kvmr.org.

The show started with talk about automobiles. Paul was helping someone whose car’s engine warning light came on along with strange noises and smells.
– Cars made since the 1990s come with onboard diagnostics.
– You need a code reader device to decipher what’s wrong.
– You can take the car to Auto Zone and they’ll loan you a reader
– “The diagnostic system itself tests itself at times”
– When the engine light comes on you should stop as soon as possible and when it’s safe to do so. You should stop and turn the engine off. Don’t wait until an exit ramp.
– When something goes wrong with the automobile you should stop driving it and find out if the check engine light indicates a serious problem.
– Cars of a more recent vintage have more sensors that can cause the check engine light to come on, but the warning systems aren’t yet smart enough to pinpoint the exact problem.

The power steering is designed to work, though with greater effort on your part, when the something goes wrong and the power assist no longer works. As with cars lacking power steering, it’s best to have the car moving, if only slightly, when turning the steering wheel. It then takes much less effort to turn the wheels.

Cars with automatic transmissions aren’t supposed to be towed by simply attaching a rope or chain an pulling. This is mainly because the person in the towed vehicle doesn’t have full control of the car, according to Paul. And with rear-wheel drive cars you’re not supposed to tow it with the front wheels raised from the ground. The car is designed to have the transmission driving the rear wheels, not the wheels driving the transmission. Also, you can’t ‘bump’ start a car with an automatic transmission — you may risk damaging the transmission.

The guys helped someone set up a new Windows 10 computer who then wanted to copy a DVD. It turned out that the process was not so intuitive. There were no instructions. Glenn eventually discovered the method was to highlight the files or folders you want to copy from the first DVD and drag them to a folder on the desktop. Once they’re copied over, remove that DVD and insert a blank DVD into the drive. At that point you’ll be prompted to highlight the files/folders you created on the desktop and then move them to the blank DVD, at which point the files will be burned to the disk. Paul said that most versions of Windows 10 have an ability to burn DVDs and CDs. He said you can also use iTunes to burn a disk in either audio format (like the regular music CDs) or as a data disk (where the files are stored similar to a hard drive).

Some time ago, Paul found free CD/DVD burning software called ImgBurn. As time went on, newer versions of the software tried monetize its popularity by installing affiliated software like various toolbars. It became irritating to have to say no to the installation of each piece of third party software. Even cnet.com stopped hosting IMG Burner because of its foistware.

Paul is now looking for different free burning software. There’s one called ISOburn <this might be it> that copies CD/DVDs track by track. He asked listeners for other suggestions.
<I’ve used Infra Recorder with success:
or you can also get it here (note the .mp3 plugin)
I also found ISO Recorder but haven’t used it.>

The guys talked about an issue with the Chrome browser that occurred a couple of years ago at KVMR and was mentioned on this show at that time. A visitor to KVMR used the Chrome browser at KVMR to log on to their own account (an account unrelated to KVMR) and, apparently, didn’t logout when they were finished. Later, when Glenn used the computer, he noticed he had access to that person’s accounts and, disturbingly, even their home computer. The guys didn’t have a solution when they first encountered the problem, but Paul has some suggestions now.
– Don’t use Chrome if you don’t have to, though it’s otherwise a fine browser.
– Paul goes by the adage: you can’t have security and convenience at the same time.
– Here’s what Paul thinks happens…

When you first install Chrome, which is made by Google, you’re presented with a sign-in page. If you sign in with your Google account there’s an unexpected side effect. If you later try to sign in to Chrome on a different computer, there’s an option to make it forget you used this second computer, but it’s not obvious. And it’s not enough to close Chrome when you’re finished. So, when you start using Chrome on the second computer and you login (at your bank, for instance), it saves the bank login in your Chrome account <at Google>, not locally in the 2nd machine. Now, when you login to Chrome, no matter where you are, the bank login/password is immediately available.

Paul then told us how to get around this ‘feature’ in Chrome. When you use Chrome on an unfamiliar computer, click the menu icon (the one with the 3 horizontal bars, or maybe 3 dots) -> settings -> new incognito window. This mode will not make you anonymous but it will throw away cookies, discard the cache and logins when you’re finished. You can do the same in other browsers like Firefox. <Incognito mode may sometimes go by another name like ‘private’ window.>

Paul said, “you can change the settings in Chrome, by the way, and I recommend doing this. They don’t make it obvious. Again, under the triple bar where it says configurations, again go down to settings, and this is not apparent, instead of on startup opening a new tab page, inviting you to login to Chrome, you could check ‘continue where you left off’, or the third one, which I choose, is ‘open a specific page or set of pages’. And then the word ‘set pages’ follows that.” When you click ‘set pages’ there may be some already set and you can edit them. Paul likes to have https://google.com as one of his set pages.

While you’re there you can set a couple of other things. Paul likes to ‘show home button’. And the other option is to ‘always show bookmarks bar’. Google’s webpages use Ajax that saves things as you go along.

Glenn related a story about an email that he got supposedly from a friend who was stuck in Turkey and couldn’t get help from the embassy. Glenn figured it was a scam because he knew that person wasn’t in Turkey. He warned the listeners not to reply to such emails. Sometimes the reply-to address is a slightly modified version of the actual address belonging to your friend, and the reply will go to the scammers instead. Paul said such bogus emails often originate at Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL. In fact, Apple no longer accepts Apple IDs that are AOL addresses. Paul noted that your security software is usually no help in these situations. Paul noted that if you choose to abandon your email at Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL, be sure you kill it completely,

Paul talked about the possibility of having your Facebook page cloned. It can happen if one of your Facebook friends doesn’t logout of Facebook on a machine where others can grab information from your profile and recreate the content. They then ask your friends to join as friends at the bogus page. “If you get offers of joining a friend that you’re already friends with be very circumspect about it”.

Paul mentioned the Panama Papers. He said there are a number of ways info can be leaked. It could come from a disgruntled employee. Or it could be the theft of a computer — one of the top security breeches, according to the FBI.

Paul offered a tip for remembering your passwords. He suggested using a password composed of the first letters of the words in a familiar phrase. “A stitch in time saves nine” can become the password ‘asits9’. And it’s safer to write the phrase on a piece of paper than the password itself.

Paul said he’s tried using speech recognition software to create a text of a Zen Tech broadcast. It didn’t work out very well because he started with an .mp3 file, he suspects. A .wav file should do better.

Paul mentioned a free audio-editing program that’s been around for years. A new version (2.1.2) of Audacity came out Jan of this year.

Kate called. She switched from Peachtree accounting software on a Windows machine. She wondered if there’s anyone in town that offers instruction on the Mac. She also wanted to know if there’s a simple accounting program for the Mac to do invoicing and reports.
– Apple itself is an option. They have a store in Roseville.
– The guys have discussed putting on classes themselves. They still have to work things out.
– There’s also the Quickbooks software for the Mac at $200. They have a 30-day free trial if you go to quickbooks.com/mac. There’s also an online version that you can subscribe to at $24 month.
– There are online invoicing services. Paul uses Simple Invoices. <this might be it> It’s free but you have to install a program and he doesn’t recommend it “unless you’re a computer person”.
– Paul asked listeners for other suggestions.

Jack called with a suggestion for Kate. He said lynda.com provides instruction, is very inexpensive and you can learn just about anything you want about the Mac. He also suggested she buy a book on the Mac. There’s a lot of software that comes with the Mac that many people aren’t aware of.

Paul noted some conventional wisdom that has turned out to be wrong. He had thought that when pruning tree limbs, one should use some stuff to cover the cuts. Well, he had a chance to talk to someone who services trees and found out that since 1985 it’s been proven by a 10 year long study that it’s the worst thing you can do. Covering the cut blocks the sterilizing UV light from the sun, makes it damp, humid and horrible and prevents it “from being flushed out” and it traps liquid sap underneath as well a bacteria and mold.

The disclaimer…
The views and opinions expressed on KVMR are those of the speaker only and not necessarily those of KVMR, management, staff or underwriters.

A couple more things from the conventional wisdom file:
Don’t cover your sneeze or cough with your hand. You’ll end up spreading germs to what ever you handle. Instead, sneeze into the crook of your elbow. And sugar doesn’t cause diabetes but it does aggravate the condition if you already have diabetes. Life style and heredity are its main cause. Also, removing amalgam fillings in your teeth because you think it’s a health issue just releases the mercury from the filling.

Changelog:
In a comment, added link to CD/DVD burner Infra Recorder and here
In a comment, added link to CD/DVD burner ISO Recorder

Last Updated 2:41 PM 4-29-2016

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 podcast of today’s show will be here. Recent shows are here.

Paul was in the studio. Glenn was in Richmond but didn’t call in.

Over the years, this show has suggested the use of an anti-virus on your PC. However, Paul had proposed that an anti-virus not be used with the Mac. Though Macs do get viruses they are rare and the cost and effort of using an anti-virus is not worth it, Paul said.

Though recommended in the past, Microsoft Security Essentials shouldn’t be used. Its ability to protect has deteriorated in recent years and has been pretty much abandoned by Microsoft. Windows Defender is not very good either, Paul said.

Once your subscription to the anti-virus you’re using has expired, uninstall it and install the currently suggested program called Avast. You don’t double your security if you run 2 anti-virus programs at the same time and they can conflict with each other. There is a free version of Avast, and the licensed version is a reasonable $19. The free version is good for a year. Avast is rated pretty high for catching viruses.

When downloading Avast, as well as other software, look for a button that says something like ‘customize’. Using it will allow you to select what options are included. For Avast, Paul suggested you select file shielding, updating, and browser cleanup. You don’t need anything else.

When installing Avast you’ll be asked to register the program by providing an email address. Paul said he’s not gotten excessive volume of email from the company but this is good occasion to use a throwaway email address: not one you use for serious emails.

A couple of Paul’s clients have recently received warnings from their anti-virus about a program called Open Candy that pops up ads. It’s not strictly a virus but belongs to a category that Avast calls PUP, potentionally unwanted programs. Paul suspects the site freefilesync.org is what sneaks Open Candy onto computers.

It’s a good idea to occasionally open your anti-virus program and do a full system scan, Paul said. You usually have a choice of scanning just the executable files (ones ending in .exe, .com, .bat, etc.), but do a full scan instead.

Just because the anti-virus finds something doesn’t mean that malicious software is running. It could just be something in a ‘temp’ folder that got cached while you were surfing the web and has been there for a couple of years or more. Paul said he’s not seen an well-known anti-virus remove software that it shouldn’t, when you ask it to correct the problems it’s found, but be sure to do regular backups just in case.

In backing up your machine, ideally you’re storing your personal stuff, the files you created, not the programs used to compose those files (Microsoft Office for instance). What you want to backup is what you find in C:\users on a machine running Vista, Win7, Win8 or Win10.

To find out how big a drive you need to backup your data, right click on the folder C:\users and left click on ‘properties’. The hard drive should be at least twice as big as the number you see under ‘properties’, according to Paul. <He never did explain why>.

He mentioned some of the things under ‘Users’ that you don’t need to backup: temporary intenet files, profile for Firefox, the folder under ‘applications data’ called ‘Chrome Temp’ if you use the Chrome browser

Flash drives are very handy for doing backups, but get brand name flash drives like San Disk, the cheap ones are not worth the savings. You can get a 32gig flash drive on Amazon for under $20, Paul said.

Doing a backup is not as simple as dragging the ‘Users’ folder to the backup drive. There are always some files that are open and are being used by an application program or Windows itself. Dragging the Users folder to the flash drive will copy files just fine until it gets to one of the open files, at which point the whole operation stops and you’re back to square one. The solution is to use a backup program.

Some hard drives, like the ones by Seagate, come with reasonably good backup software. And in the past Paul has recommended programs like Syncback, and Cobian. He now suggests using freefilesync (be sure you don’t go to freefilesync.com). It lets you manually configure what gets backed up.

To configure freefilesync look for the red funnel-shaped icon. It’s the filter for selecting what gets backed up. Paul mentioned some files that Windows keeps open all of the time: ntuser.dat and userclass.dat. Set it so the program does not try to back these up.

Not all flash drives are created equal. Paul suggested getting the fastest drive compatible with your computer. Userbenchmark.com has software to test solid-state hard drives; hard drives, USB flash drives, RAM and graphic processors. <They also aggregate data from the public who’ve used their software and make it available on their site. If you’re thinking of buying a certain drive, check its specs first.>

Paul suggested buying 2 flash drives for backups. Label one A and the other B. Then do a complete backup to each and thereafter alternate doing backups to each. Be sure to keep the drives in a secure place <in separate areas of your residence, in my opinion>.

After you do a backup, <or any time you write to a flash drive> don’t just pull the drive out of the USB slot, eject it first. There’s usually an icon for external media in the system tray (lower right) to ‘eject’ a portable drive. Or you can look under ‘computer’ to find the flash drive in question and then right-click it and then click eject. This will make sure all of the files have finished writing and are closed. Shutting off the machine will do the same thing. This is good to know if you keep getting a warning that the drive can’t be ejected due to it being in use and you can’t figure out what’s using the drive.

After the backup, Paul said take the flash drive to another machine and make sure the backed up data can be read from it.

The USB socket is a bit fragile, he said. Don’t keep anything plugged in if it’s avoidable, especially in laptops. They can get banged around, which can result in a broken connector.

Getting back to anti-viruses, Paul said none of them get any better than about 95% and catching malware because the malware keeps changing and they just can’t keep up. Ransomware is especially pernicious. It encrypts the files on your hard drive and makes them unavailable until you pay a ransom to have them decrypted. This is where it’s important to keep backups. Ransomware can’t touch a flash drive that isn’t plugged into your computer. And if it does get to your A drive backup, there’s always the B drive.

Though this will likely be on the Fleamarket show tomorrow, Paul said someone has a jukebox for sale. If interested call 916-215-6230.

Nick called to suggest that USB drive encryption be a topic on a future show. Nick said he buys USB drives that come with encryption software. The drive brand is Cruzer Micro. He said another one is the San Disk Ultra 3.0 flash drive. He thought encryption is a good idea because the small drives can be easily lost. Paul added that the encryption won’t save you from ransomware. Once you plug in the flash drive and type your password to open it, the ransomware can read and write to it just like any program.

Ron called. He has dead iMac and wants to get the hard drive out of it. Paul said he’ll have to pull the face glass off of it. Paul suggest suction cups which you can get at Grocery Outlet as part of towel hangers: the type that you can suction-stick to a wall. They’re not ideal, use a bit of soap to help them stick. Put one on the front face of the iMac and one on the back face and pull at one corner. He also said to go to ifixit.com to get instructions on how to disassemble the computer.

Scott called from Southern California. He has a Macbook Pro that he got in last December. He said the screen sometimes goes a dark gray and he has to do a “hard stop with the power button” to get it working again.
– It a hardware problem not software
– I may have bad memory chips. Take out the chips and put them back in. Check the site ifixit.com on how to do that.
– Reset the PRAM (programmable random access memory).
– Google the words: reset smc. Follow the instruction to reset the System Management Console.
– Disconnect any peripherals that aren’t vital.
– Scott said he has Apple Care (a warranty program). Both guys agreed it’s a good idea to check with Apple before doing anything.
– Google the words: mac video error. On the results screen click the Google tag called ‘images’ and see if any of the images match what you’re getting.
– Take a picture of problem you see on the screen. The picture with a time stamp will prove to Apple that you’re still within the warranty period when the problem happens.
– The other thing to try is to blow out the computer with compressed air. It may be an overheating problem.

Last Updated 12:10 AM 4-14-2016

Paul announced that a dog has been found on Fri 3-25-16 at the South Yuba Club in Nevada City. The dog is a neutered male about 12 to 15 lbs. He’s an older black & gray Chihuahua mix. He has a microchip but “the numbers that are on it aren’t working” and he has no tags or collar. The person to call about this dog is Bill at 530-414-8711

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 limited time, the podcast of today’s show is here. Recent shows are here.

The intro music was by Pentatonix:

Paul was in the studio. We didn’t hear from Glenn.

Paul talked about microchips used to identify animals. This is a type of RFID chip that beams back its stored information when a scanning beam is aimed at it. A good signal can be obtained up to about 6′. There are a few different types of scanners, which aren’t compatible with each other. Most veterinarians have a complete set of scanners.

Older versions of these pet chips only contained a number that you used to query a database to find out who the animal belongs to. Newer chips contain more info such as a phone number. Paul speculated that the Chihuahua had an older chip and the database containing the number may no longer exist.
< Info on microchips.
An FAQ about pet chips.>

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) applies not only to physical access but also to websites. They’re supposed to be designed to make it easy for screen reading software to convey what’s on the screen in an audible form for people with limited eyesight. Many operating systems now come with the ability to read the screen.

Paul took us thru the steps to activate one of the accessibility options on an Android device. Go to settings -> accessibility -> Talkback. When it’s turned on, it provides spoken feedback to help blind and low-vision users. When it’s on, you can touch a function or application on the Android the first time and be told what it does (a good way to learn about your device). A second touch will perform the operation. Doing it on-air, Paul used an example from his appointment calendar — the voice read out that he had a Zen Tech show to do today.

Paul also noted that you can talk to your Android (for the PC a Mac you can install Dragon Naturally Speaking). There are 2 modes of talking to your machine — commands and data. You can tell it what to do (command) or input data, like dictation.

New Macs have built-in dictation but it’s not turned on by default. Paul thought that it’s under system preferences -> dictation -> speech. He said you can get more info at support.apple.com article ht203085.

Next, Paul spent a lot of time talking about trust on the internet. Can you trust a website that claims it belongs to the IRS or your bank? There is no absolute trust, only relative trust, he said — some things are relatively more trust worthy than others.

The example he used was finding out how to file your taxes for free, and he did a search for the words: irs free tax file. You’d expect to be taken to a an IRS website but he got at least 4 ads to places like Turbo Tax. Most looked legit but there’s only one that looked promising. It began with ‘https’ — meaning it’s a secure website. And the domain was .gov (irs.gov), so it’s supposedly a government website. He said he would trust this website more than the others, but still not completely.

Another issue of trust comes up with a site like Wikipedia. Paul read an entry about origin of the title of Paul Simon’s song ‘Mother And Child Reunion’ and wondered how much to trust it. Wikipedia is a collaborative effort with many people contributing to the various entries, any one of whom may skew the info to suit their agenda.

Paul mentioned an activist group called the Yes Men. They would go to press conferences as representatives of a petroleum company and apologize for the environmental damage ‘their’ company had done, illustrating, again, the issue of trust. Are they really who they claim to be?

Paul noted that even secure websites are only relatively secure. The ‘https’ in a URL means the owner of the website submitted an application for an electronic certificate to be issued for use on the website that would only work if the website was “delivering content according to the domain”. If the certificate was used on different website, the internet user will get a warning that though it’s a good certificate, it’s being used on the wrong website, and it will tell you the name of the site it’s supposed to work on. Sometimes this happens because the server is misconfigured — the domain is right but the host isn’t — e.g. it may be registered to secure.kvmr.org but it was being used on www.kvmr.org. The various companies that can issue a certificate, like Verisign, go to the trouble to verify the organization (e.g. KVMR) it’s being issued to.

Paul reminded us that even if we are using a secure session, malware, like keyloggers, can intercept our activity. And there is special equipment that can sense the variation in the electromagnetic radiation coming from a keyboard or the computer itself as you type, revealing the content.

Paul mentioned a great article by Dennis Ritchie “On Trusting Trust”.
<Maybe he meant – Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompson>

He also said the information leaked by Edward Snowden revealed it’s possible to subvert the security of a certificate so that a website, run by the NSA, can impersonate another website.

Brian called. He assumes that the internet provider hosting his website is secure. And he says his daughter and wife have their own accounts on the same domain. Also, he’s been careful not to open unknown email <to avoid malware, I assume>. Brian wondered if his account is safe if his daughter is not so judicious and opens malware in her account.
– No, not if she uses the same machine, Paul said. If something like a keystroke logger gets on that machine, then it will affect anyone using the machine.

Brian also asked about the FBI attempting to break into the San Bernardino iPhone. <More info in the 2-24-16 show> Paul said the FBI claimed they had succeeded in breaking in, but can you trust what they said? Brian said he’s heard that 12 companies have tried to break in that and one succeeded — Cellebrite.
<FBI Worked With Israel’s Cellebrite to Crack iPhone
The Apple-FBI Whodunit: Who Is Helping The Feds Crack The Locked iPhone?>

Joshua called. He was in Berkeley recently and opened his iPad in preparation for a conference call. He looked for some documents he had prepared and everything before March 1 2016 was gone. He just upgraded to iOS 9.2.1 at the beginning of March. He wondered if it was just the case of the new iOS not being able to read the older documents.
– Paul thought that’s not likely the case. It’s more likely something happened on iCloud — where the documents are stored online in the cloud.
– Visit iCloud at icloud.com. Login with your Apple ID. See if the documents are there.
– It’s possible Joshua never had the synchronization configured correctly on the iPad.

Ross called. He has a 5.1 unibody MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard. What he wanted to know is that if he wiped his hard drive clean and did a fresh install of the operating system from a disk, can he be sure that no malware survived.
– Paul said the level of assurance would be higher than doing it any other way. It’s a matter of how much you trust the CD is not infected — usually pretty high.

Last Updated 11:34 PM 3-30-2016

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 limited time, the podcast of today’s show is here. Recent shows are here.

NOTE: There’s one more Zentech show scheduled for this month on 3-30-16.

Paul was in the studio. Glenn called in later in the show.

Paul talked about keeping his 7″ Nexus Android tablet updated. Many of the apps in the Google Play Sore are free. They are sometimes supported by sponsorship using Adwords.

One of his favorite apps is Gasbuddy for finding the cheapest gas near his location. It’s a crowdsourced database of gas prices around the nation.

Another free app he likes is for weather and comes from Wunderground. It’s one of many free weather apps.

Using Adwords, many of the free apps provide useful and generally unannoying ads for products in your area. Google knows where you are unless you have locations services turned off.

About once a year Paul goes thru his collection of apps to see if there are better versions. For instance, his previous weather app started giving wrong temperatures, so he switched over to using the Wunderground app.

When using the Play Store app, Paul said you can check for app updates by ‘clicking’ the menu icon in the upper left (the 3 striped lines). He said that though there’s some wisdom to ‘don’t fix what ain’t broke”, he hasn’t seen a case where there wasn’t a marked improvement by upgrading an Android device — including, he said, the Android operating system itself.

Upgrading the Android operating system itself is not done thru the Play Store. Instead, click the settings icon (gray cog wheel) and at the bottom you’ll see either ‘check for updates’ or ‘about the Android’. He said Android has gotten sleeker and faster and it’s usually a good idea to do the upgrade unless you have really old hardware.

Paul noted that to uninstall an app, it’s not enough to delete its icon from the home screen. Instead, click the app icon (circle with the dots inside), find the target app and hold your finger on it. An uninstall option appears at the top to which you drag the app. <Or you can do it thru settings -> apps -> all apps. Click your choice & select ‘uninstall’.>

The show preceding Zentech apparently failed to give out the web address to Animal Place. It’s animalplace.org. Paul got a chicken from them years ago that lived to an incredible age.

Marilyn called. She got an older Dell Optiplex, aka lunch box, and installed Windows 7 on it. She now needs a wi-fi adapter. She wondered why it didn’t come with wi-fi and wanted to know what she should get.
– Laptops do come with wi-fi. An Ethernet cable connection is preferred, if it’s available — the performance is better. Marilyn said that could work for here as her laptop is using an Ethernet cable.
– You can get a Realtek USB wi-fi adapter from Amazon or Ebay, Windows 7 will automatically recognize it because it’s so common. It’s a product of China and is pretty cheap — about $5.

Also, Marilyn tried to install an 2002 version of Microsoft Office and it wouldn’t let her do it.
– Paul wasn’t sure why that was happening but suggested she insert the CD containing Office and immediately stop it from autorunning. <Hold down the left shift key, if I recall correctly>. Then browse the CD looking for a program called setup.exe, startup.exe or install.exe. Right click on the program and change it’s properties to run in compatibility mode.
– Instead of using Office, use the free LibreOffice or OpenOffice suite. Paul doesn’t expect compatibility issues except for something minor like a font being used that’s slightly different from the original document.

Ward called. He wanted to know what phone to buy that’s just for calling. He didn’t want to deal with ads.
– Paul suggested a flip phone — somewhere between a smartphone and a dumb one. You can find them on Ebay. Or you can go to a big box store and get a Trak Phone for about $23/mo for voice & text but no data.
– Many people have stashed away their old flip phones after they’ve upgraded. Check with people you know to see if they have one lying around.
– Ideally, find a phone not made by Verizon. Look for one that can take a SIM card <GSM>. You can then get a SIM card on Ebay and buy airtime as needed.
– If you don’t want ads following you around on the web, you can browse anonymously in incognito mode. Most browsers have the feature.

Pinky called. She has an iPhone 6S. She is no longer able to delete email messages. When she tries to trash it, her only options are to ‘archive’ or ‘cancel’. Paul said ‘archive’ is now the same thing as a recycle bin. First do the archive then find the recycle bin and empty it to completely delete the email messages. And remember, the trash folder an email program uses is usually separate from the system trash.

When Glenn finally called in from the Bay Area, Paul played him a recording of phone call he got the other day purporting to be from his bank. The caller asked Paul to call back to an 800 number regarding his credit card. Paul then asked Glenn what he thought of that. Glenn suggested using the phone number on the credit card, not the one given over the phone. That’s what Paul did and when he called the bank he strongly suggest they not give out a phone number during their calls, but to ask people call the phone number on their credit cards. The bank agent seemed perplexed.

Paul also warned people to be leery of websites that show a secure lock in the browser and/or a Better Business Bureau logo on the webpage. That stuff can be easily faked. And when you get an email from, say, your bank, don’t click on any provided links. Instead, type in the link you definitely know is correct.

Paul went on to warn people that phone numbers of incoming calls, the ones that show up in caller ID, can be faked, too. The FCC imposes a $10,000 fine for faking a phone number.

A related security issue is when a bank, for example, uses caller ID to identify customers when they call in. Since phone numbers can be faked, someone using your phone number can impersonate you. Banks should always use other means to identify you. Paul said.

Glenn said he’ll be in the Bay Area until Sunday and that he may be gone for the next Zen Tech show on 3-30-16, as well. Paul will host the Flea Market tomorrow.

Paul talked a bit about Windows 10. He said he’s not encountered any major issues. As true with previous versions, commonly used functions have been moved around. This will be the last iteration of the operating system <it will just be updated>. It’s somewhat faster as the code has been tightened up. He hasn’t seen it crash yet in the few weeks he’s used it.

The deadline for a free upgrade from Win7, Win8 or Win8.1 is approaching. It’s in April, Paul thought.
– It’s a 2 or 3 gig download.
– Be sure to back up your important files before upgrading.
– The menu system in Win10 is “hokey”, Paul said. It’s just a little better than Win8.
– You can get some of the functionality of Win7 or even make it look like XP by using classicshell.net. It’s supposed to work on a Win8 machine, too.
– Microsoft’s goal is to sell you apps for Win10. That’s part of what’s responsible for the crappy interface.

Glenn asked if the Win10 upgrade will work on his ASUS touch screen laptop. Paul said it would, The touch screen interface is just some drivers similar to a mouse driver.

The only people who aren’t eligible for the free Win10 update are those who currently have anything higher than the pro version of Win7 or Win8 (like the enterprise version). Pirated versions of Win7 or Win8 won’t get the upgrade. Those with versions of 7 or 8 that haven’t been activated may have problems after the upgrade. Paul didn’t give details and just said that it will ask you to activate.

To find out more about your computer click the Start button -> right click on ‘computer’ -> left click on properties. Toward the bottom of the screen it will tell you if it’s been activated. If you have an OEM version of Windows, it may not say that it’s been activated but it will say ‘OEM’ and it should be upgradable.

On the Microsoft site there’s supposed to be a link to a downloadable version of Win10. It’s about 3.5gig for the 32bit & 64bit version or 5.6gig for both. Paul didn’t recommend Win10 for 32bit machines. It will work but will be sluggish. You really should have a 64bit cpu, “2 brains in the machine if you can”, 4gig of memory and about 10gig of hard drive space (100gig or more total hard drive storage).

If you currently have an underpowered computer and you’re running, maybe, XP, you can install a version of Linux called Ubuntu.

In versions of Win7, 8 & 10 that are above the home version have Bitlocker. It’s a way to encrypt the content of a hard drive. It’s hard to tell that it’s running in the background. One of Paul’s clients didn’t even know it was running on their computer as they got it used. So, when the manufacturer (Dell) suggested a firmware upgrade the client went ahead and was locked out the hard drive, The firmware upgrade made Bitlocker think it was suddenly running on a different machine. If the client had the chance to turn off Bitlocker before the upgrade, it would have gone smoothly. Paul said that unless you have a compelling reason to use Bitlocker, don’t. Also make separate backups.

Glenn gave us an update about his health situation. He doesn’t have cancer, as first thought. He does have a problem with his liver, which is being treated. So, he plans to be with us for many years to come.

Last Updated 12:10 AM 3-24-2016

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart.
– They’re tagged with #Zentech.
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For a limited time, the podcast of today’s show is here. Recent shows are here.

Both Paul & Glenn were in the studio today.

Glenn started off by thanking the loyal listeners & supporters of KVMR. If you’d like to become a supporting member, please visit kvmr.org.

Paul noted Beatles music producer George Martin has died at age 90.

He went on to say that session musicians were hired to add orchestral music to the Beatles albums. These days sampled music can be bought and mixed in as needed. Apparently, copyright issues are worked out for each use, according to Paul.

Paul went on to say that you no longer have to write ‘copyright’ on what you create — you just have to “make sure it’s witnessed in some form”. The law changed some years ago and using the letter c in a circle along with the date doesn’t have the legal weight that it used to.

Paul brought up the question of “who has the right to your face if your picture is taken in public”. Common law says you must reasonably your picture to be taken in public “even if it’s a compromising picture, as long as you’re not doing something illegal”. Paul clarified that if the picture shows you doing something illegal, you’re out of luck. <Sounds to me like you have no rights to your public photo.> Paul disclaimed legal expertise.

Paul talked about Getty Images where webmasters go to obtain images to adorn their websites. The images come with a variety of limitations on their use. In the Free Web Art portion of their website, they have images that are free for you to use.

Paul said there are companies that scour the net looking for images that are used with out permission. A friend of his was caught using such an image and was sent an email trying to impose a penalty of $500. But it’s hard to know if an email like that is legit or a scam. Paul said that on the internet you’re supposed to get cease & desist order first with no threat of a fine, and you’re given a chance to delete the image. <He didn’t say what his friend did next.>

Glenn mentioned a website called Webshots that makes images and screen savers available. Paul said that they were very popular about 10 years ago, and were rated #5 in web traffic. Webshots lets the public submit pictures for a chance to win prizes, but the pictures become the property of Webshots.

The guys speculated that Webshots’ screen saver will work with the latest operating systems Windows 7 and Windows 10. Their program is called webshots.scr. Paul was impressed by the beauty of their images but he doesn’t use it anymore.
<What is webshots.scr?
More info about it here>

Ron called. He’s experienced theft of images from his website by entities in India that pass them off as their own. He wanted to know what he could do short of spending a lot of money on an attorney.
– Paul didn’t think there are readily available resources to deal with this on an international level. If it were just in the U.S., it would still be expensive.
– You can try to find out who is behind the Indian website with a whois search. You can also use domaintools to get similar info.
– The next step is to find out who is hosting the Indian website and complain the he hosting service that one of their clients has copyrighted material.
– You can also ask Google to not display that company in their search results. Do Google search with the words: google dmca take down.
<I found a couple of webpages to get you started.
Removing Content From Google
Legal Removal Requests
How to Remove Copied Content From Google Search using DMCA>

Glenn gave out the contact info for this show.
You can call during the show at 530-265-9555
Or write to zen@kmvr.org
The website is zen.kvmr.org

Originally InterNIC was a government entity that registered domain names. Registering is done to associate the URL <like xyz.com> of a website with an ip address <so, for example, New York Magazine (nymag.com) will have the ip address 23.235.33.204.> Now, there are many companies that can register your website — such as namesheet.com and godaddy.com. Sometimes, as with godaddy.com, the process is complicated.

Paul said that Google is a good choice for registering your domain name. It’s $12 per year and there’s blogging service that comes with it. To check them out, go to googledomains.com or google.com/domains.

In the last 3+ years since he got his iPad & iPhone, Glenn hardly uses a desktop computer anymore, except if he has to do a lot of typing. Paul noted some of the differences between a traditional computer and a tablet…
– Not all applications run the same way on both.
– The tablet has less horsepower because the emphasis is on saving weight and energy.
– The tablet has less storage capacity and fewer choices for external media (like a CDROM drive).
– Some tablets lack an external port, though Android tablets generally come with a USB port. If it’s a OTG (On The Go) USB, you can get an adapter that allows you to plug in a USB memory stick <and other USB devices — keyboard, mouse, etc.>. So the USB, normally used for charging and transferring file, becomes like the familiar USB slot on your desktop computer. <Many Androids come with a microSD memory card slot, too — very handy>.
– The only way to know if a tablet will work for you is to get one.

One problem Paul’s found with iPhones is if people want to synch their contacts and calendar, they generally have to resort to the Outlook program on the PC, which he called a nightmare.

People may not generally be aware that if they have data on iCloud, it can be accessed from any computer.

Paul said Flickr will let you store up to 1 terabyte of photos for free. Be aware that it can take a long time to upload a terabyte of pictures.
– Other services that offer varying amounts of free storage include Skydrive from Microsoft, Google Drive, iCloud from Apple, Dropbox, Evernote and Flickr.
– If you want 1 terabyte on iCloud, it costs $10/mo.
– Paul likes Google Drive, he gets 15gig of free storage and the ability to edit files of different formats — like .pdf.
– Flickr offers you so much storage because it wants to sell you other services — hard copy prints of your photos, Christmas cards with your images, etc.

Microsoft came into the tablet market rather late with their Surface tablets. The RT version of the Windows operating system, which ran on an ARM prcessor, is officially dead, Paul said. The Surface tablets with RT can still be found for sale. You can replace the RT operating system with Linux.

Latest generation of LED flashlights put out a pleasant white light rather than the fluorescent blue light of older models. The truer white light due to the phosphor coating on the lens. The bluish light of the LED source hits the phosphor, which gets excited and reemits a longer, more pleasant wavelength of light.

Paul wondered how dangerous LED lasers are <laser pointers I assume>. His research turned up very few injuries from shining these 35miliwatt lasers directly into eyes (but don’t try it). However, he did discover that there is a chance of eye injury from the LED flashlights because they use a higher wattage. You may want to at least keep them away from children.

Karen called. She tried saving pictures from her iPhone to her PC and ended up with hundreds of folders with a couple of pictures in each. The photos were automatically deleted from the iPhone.
– First, backup the pictures, maybe to a flash drive, before trying to correct the situation.
– Manually go into each folder and drag each photo into one destination folder.
– Or, google for the words: windows utilities. It can automate the copying process.
– When you plug in the iPhone, Windows is supposed to treat it like a camera and offer to import the photos. It may not have done that in her case. Paul suggested she google the words: import pictures and videos using windows, to find out how to configure windows to do it automatically. <See Peter’s tip below>

Neal called. He has a PC and a Mac on a network and a printer directly connected to the Mac. He wants to know how to make the PC use the printer.
– Check to see if the printer can be connected to the router — does it say Ethernet or wi-fi on the front?
– The less preferred method is to share the printer from the Mac. Go to preferences on the Mac (the gray cog) -> printers icon (you should see a printer that says USB interface) -> click on the printer (the name of the one attached to the Mac) -> tick the check box that says “share this printer”
– Then on the PC look for the network printers and you should see it there if it’s been turned on.

Peter called with a tip for Karen (above) to make copying the pictures easier. He said go to the folder that has those hundreds of folder and do a search (control+F or F3 or whatever Vista OS uses). Search for just a ‘*’. That should bring up all of her photo files onto one screen. She can then select and drag a bunch of pictures at a time, instead of going into each folder individually.

Gina called. She got a 2007 iMac from a friend recently and wanted to know how usable it is and if it can be upgraded. She managed to find the serial number and would like to know more about it. Paul suggested she go to appleserialnumberinfo.com. Enter the serial number there and it will tell you all sorts of things, including whether there are any recall notices.

Last Updated 12:01 AM 3-10-2016

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