Downloading Videos
We had a brief chat about downloading videos from various sources including catch-up services. There are some web extensions that claim to help with this, but I don't have experience with any I could recommend. Ideally, the service would provide a Download button if they make the option available. For example, the BBC iPlayer (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer) does offer a download option for some of its programmes.
iPad Battery
Linda asked about an iPad battery issue. All Li-ion batteries fail after a period of time, with the usual symptom being that it will not hold its charge for long. The official Apple information on iPad repairs can be found here:-
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/ipad/repair/service
John suggested trying a "soft reset" before seeking a repair. This is done by holding down the Power and Home buttons until the screen turns off - the Apple logo will then appear and it will restart.
A trusted local phone repairer may able to replace a battery for you at a modest price. Li-ion batteries can be extremely dangerous if they are not manufactured correctly, so I would recommend only using branded replacement batteries from the product manufacturer, even though there may be cheaper options on eBay or Amazon.
Scams Again
Margaret had a message saying she needed to update her Direct Debit for her mobile phone contract. This was an attempt to acquire her bank details. As with all such calls or messages, do not follow any links in the message. Use a known phone number or web address to contact the company and check with them.
Zoom Backgrounds
We had another brief discussion about using Zoom Virtual Backgrounds. You can find out more about this here:-
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/210707503-Virtual-Background
All the main points are covered in the video, including how to change your virtual background during a meeting on a PC. You can also do this on an iPad:-
- Tap the screen to see the buttons
- Tap More (top right)
- Tap Virtual Backgrounds
Margaret raised this issue. If you use the Windows 10 Mail app, it will, by default, pop up a notification for new emails. To change this behaviour:-
- Launch the Mail app.
- Click on the Settings Cog (bottom of left-hand column).
- Notifications.
- Turn off Show notifications in Action Centre.
Margaret had this issue. If you open a Word document in the online version of Word, it will not show all the formatting. It will, for example, not show headers and footers. However, all the formatting still exists and will appear if you print the document. You can access Word online by going to:-
https://www.office.com/
2020
What a year! I’ve looked back and picked some of the topics
we discussed over the year. We have had
18 Computer Club sessions this year (including this one) which is a new world
record! Don’t forget that you can access
all of the blog posts at:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/
Use the Computer Club Date menu at the top to select any particular session, or use the search box on the right to find a blog by keyword.
8th January
This was the only ‘live’ event we held this year!
Topics included:-
- Windows 10
clipboard history – Windows
Key+V
- Emojis in Windows 10 – Windows Key+Full-Stop
11th March
Although this session didn’t happen, I still
published a blog covering the issues I had hoped to discuss which included:-
- iPad’s 10th birthday – it was released on 3rd April 2010.
- Checking suspect web sites.
I listed the following web sites where you can check if a web address (URL) is a known
scam site:-
www.scamfoo.com (recommended by Which?)
https://global.sitesafety.trendmicro.com (Run by security company Trend Micro)
www.phishtank.com (Run by OpenDNS)
https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search (Run by Google and using the same safe browsing technology used
by Chrome)
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/url (Virus Total can also check files for known viruses)
AVG,
the security company well-known for their anti-virus products, provides this
article on “How to Check if a Website is Safe”:-
https://www.avg.com/en/signal/website-safety
While discussing the above today, this reminded us that you can check if your email address has been stolen. We talked about this in detail on 12th Dec 2018:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/search?q=haveibeenpwned
This site (https://haveibeenpwned.com/) curates information on data breaches and you can check if your details are contained in any of these data breaches.
As John pointed out, you need to be sure you can trust sites such as the above, as you are entering your details into them. For example, the 'Have I Been Pwned' site is recommended by the National Cyber Security centre:-
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/passwords-passwords-everywhere
8th April
After a test session a week earlier, this was our
first online meeting using Google Hangouts and topics included:-
- Contact Tracing App – we first discussed it here in April but it did not materialise until September!
- Google “Your Timeline” – Google Maps tracks and stores your every move. If you are not happy about that, you can turn it off.
22nd April
- Contact Tracing App – In the couple of weeks since we first mentioned it, Apple and Google had announced their system which would be built into all Apple and Android devices.
- Making Calls from Smart Speakers.
- Disabling Your Timeline in Google maps
13th
May
- Disabling “Your Timeline”/delete Location History on the mobile app.
- NHS contact tracing app – being trialed on the Isle of Wight.
27thMay
- Windows 10-2004 to be released 28th
May.
- John explained how to install Linux on an old PC. [Linda said she had since tried this, with some success, on an old XP laptop].
- Contactless payments by smartphones/smartwatches.
- Pinning Tabs in a browser.
- Microsoft new Edge browser based on Chromium.
10th
June
First
meeting by Jitsi. Some things we
discussed were:-
- New Edge being distributed. Also available on W7, Mac, Android, iOS.
- Backing up iOS devices using iTunes.
- Amazon Smile.
- iPad Control Centre.
- How to pronounce Linux!
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_rspo_laas_aas
In fact, you can put things in your basket on amazon.co.uk, then go to smile.amazon.co.uk and look in your basket and those items will be there.
24th
June
- Windows 10S.
- Windows 10X.
- More on track and trace app.
- Reporting suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk
8th
July
- Passwords saved in browsers.
- Stay signed in.
- iCloud Photo Library and Google Photos.
22
July
- Bequeath your Google data using the inactive account feature.
- Reminder of Google Take Out (discussed at Nov 2019 Club).
- Opening additional instances of a program on a PC by dragging a browser tab or using Shift+click to launch.
- Scams - https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/
12th
Aug
- Accessing my documents using https://bit.ly/rogersdocs
- More on iPad Control Centre (also
covered on 10th June).
- Windows 10’s 5th birthday –
actually 29th July 2015.
- Use Disk Clean-up to make space
on a W10 PC.
- LibreOffice.
26th
Aug
- Microsoft Duo to be released on 10th
September.
- 2FA.
9th
September
- Android 11 released (on 8th
Sept).
- Windows Start Search.
- Signatures in emails.
- Windows clipboard history (Windows Key+V), first mentioned at January Club.
23rd
Sept
- iOS-iPadOS 14 – released on 16th
Sept.
- New features - widgets on Home Screen and App Library on iPhone
14th
Oct
- Support for Office 2010 ended on 13th
Oct.
- Concentrated on scams, 2FA, stolen usernames/passwords, public wi-fi risk, etc.
28th
Oct
- iPhone 12 released on 13th
Oct.
- Windows 10-20H2 released on 20th Oct.
11th
Nov
- Windows clipboard history again
(mentioned in January and 9th Sept).
- Browser autofill.
25th Nov
- More on scams and reporting them.
- Google Photos no longer unlimited from
1st June 2021.
- Windows 10-1903 end of support on 8th
Dec.
- Yahoo ending free auto-forwarding from 1st Jan 2021.
More On Scams!
We had a further general discussion on scams, noting, in particular, that the increase in online shopping caused first by Covid-19 and now the Christmas rush, has opened up more opportunities for scammers. Currys had a Black Friday computer glitch which meant some people did not get products they had ordered. They have now issued a statement promising to honour any special price deals:-
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-9035187/Currys-PC-World-customers-Black-Friday-orders-cancelled.html
Zoom - Mirror Image
Linda noticed that her image on Zoom was reversed. This is the normal setting, although you can change it in Video Settings. This is only the way you see your own image on Zoom - other participants do not see the mirror image. Read more here:-
https://www.pocket-lint.com/apps/news/152025-why-is-zoom-video-backwards-and-how-to-fix-it
Windows PIN
John raised the topic of a PIN on Windows as his system had popped up a box suggesting he create one. The PIN differs from the account password in that it only applies to the specific machine. So you can have a relatively simple PIN for ease of use without compromising the overall security of your Microsoft Account. Here is an article which explains more:-
https://www.howtogeek.com/232557/how-to-add-a-pin-to-your-account-in-windows-10/
Next Session
Wed
13th January 2021 at 2 pm by Zoom.
