Wednesday 12th October 2016
News
HTTPS Web Sites
There is a push, largely from Google, to encourage all web sites to be
encrypted using the HTTPS protocol, rather than the unencrypted HTTP
protocol. A lot of sites have switched
to this more secure approach and Google wants this to be regarded as the norm,
which is probably a good thing.
Currently, web browsers indicate secure (HTTPS) site with a locked
padlock symbol, but there is no indication for an insecure HTTP site. Starting early next year (2017), Google wants
to reverse this, so that users will be notified of insecure sites. Initially
they will do this in Chrome by warning users if they load an HTTP site which
asks for passwords or credit card information. Gradually, these warnings will be extended to all unencrypted HTTP sites. See Google’s statement on this:-
It seems likely that other browsers such as Edge, Firefox, Safari and Opera
will do something similar in due course.
Dangers of Googling for Web Sites
We briefly discussed the issue that many people only go to web sites by googling for them first. While this is OK for general research, it can be dangerous if you are going to, for example, your bank's site. It is possible for fake sites with very similar addresses to be listed in the Google search results and you might click on one of these. The best way is to type the actual known web address for your bank, which can be found in their literature, directly into the browser's Address Bar and press Enter. Having done this once, you can bookmark this page in your browser to save having to re-type the address every time you visit it.
Dangers of Googling for Web Sites
We briefly discussed the issue that many people only go to web sites by googling for them first. While this is OK for general research, it can be dangerous if you are going to, for example, your bank's site. It is possible for fake sites with very similar addresses to be listed in the Google search results and you might click on one of these. The best way is to type the actual known web address for your bank, which can be found in their literature, directly into the browser's Address Bar and press Enter. Having done this once, you can bookmark this page in your browser to save having to re-type the address every time you visit it.
Chromebooks
A cheap, simple alternative to Windows PCs for users who can mainly
work within a web browser. Coming soon
to Chromebooks, the Google Play Store, allowing Android apps to be used on
Chromebooks. This could enable thousands of apps to run on a Chromebook, just as they do on an Android phone or
tablet, making Chromebooks a significantly more attractive option. This site
and the video within it explain more:-
I used my Acer Chromebook to briefly demonstrate some of the features. I issued my draft handout on Chromebooks and you can find a copy of this in the Computer Club documents for this month (see link on right).
Q&A
Recovery Drive
Ray asked for more explanation about using a Windows Recovery Drive. A Recovery Drive is only needed if you cannot boot from your hard drive. For example, if your hard drive has completely failed and needs to be replaced with a new one. The new drive will be completely blank, so you cannot boot from it. In order to restore the Image Backup which you have previously done, you need to boot from the Recovery Drive. My document on Full Hard Drive Backup explains this in more detail and I have placed a copy in the Computer Club documents for this month (see link on right).
Next Session
Wednesday 9th November 2016 at 1:30pm.
Next Session
Wednesday 9th November 2016 at 1:30pm.
