Passwords
We had a brief discussion on passwords before everyone had arrived. Although it is best to use a different password for everything you sign in to, this gives you many passwords to remember or record. You can use a password manager such as LastPass or BitWarden to do this. However, it is really important that you do not use the password for your email account anywhere else - it must be unique just for your email account. So, if a password for any other account gets compromised, the bad guys would still be unable to sign in to your email. This is particularly important as your email is often the route for resetting passwords on other accounts.
Setting Up Email Apps
Email apps (aka clients) on PCs or mobile devices need to know a number of things when you first set them up. This includes:-
- The incoming server (IMAP) address and Port Number
- The outgoing server (SMTP) address and Port Number
The email app will usually try to look up this information in a database based on the email service you are using (e.g. gmail.com, aol.com, etc). Sometimes, for the less common email services, the details in the database are missing or incorrect. You will then have to enter them yourself.
You can look up the email settings on the help pages of your email service. For example, this page gives you the required details for setting up an AOL email:-
https://help.aol.co.uk/articles/how-do-i-use-other-email-applications-to-send-and-receive-my-aol-mail
The simplest way to access email is always to use the web via your browser. This only requires your email address and password, and a 2FA code if you have set up 2-Factor Authentication.
Windows
10 – 21H1
As
most of you know, there are 2 “feature updates” to Windows 10 each year. The version numbering system for these
updates used to be YYMM, i.e. the last 2 digits of the year followed by the
month. The last update that used this
numbering system was version 2004, which implies it was released in April 2020
– except it was actually released in May!
Microsoft just seemed to have problems sticking to the release month. So they came up with a new numbering system –
we now have YYH1 for the Spring update and YYH2 for the Autumn update. The first version to use this system was the
current version – 20H2.
21H1
is nearing release and will start to roll out later this month. It is a very minor update and only contains a
handful of small fixes and improvements.
If you want more detail, have a look at this article:-
https://pureinfotech.com/windows-10-21h1-new-features
Windows
10 – News & Interest Widget
One
new thing you may see, even before you get the 21H1 update, is the News and
Interests widget on the Taskbar.
This will start to appear on versions 1909 onwards. The idea is to provide news and weather
information on your desktop, so you don’t need to look at your phone to keep up
to date. You can right-click on the
Taskbar and de-select it if you don’t want it.
See this article for more:-
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-news-and-interests-taskbar-widget-windows-10
Windows 10 Taskbar
Having discussed the above widget on your Taskbar, we had a brief discussion on other Taskbar features.
If you right-click on a blank area of the Taskbar, the resulting menu allows you to turn several items on or off, including:-
- The Cortana icon
- The Search box/icon
- The Task View icon
- The People icon
- The Ink Workspace button
- The touchscreen keyboard button
So, if you don't use the above feature, you can turn off the icon. For example, the Search Box takes up a lot of space, so you could turn that off. You can still search by using the Start Search function which has existed since Windows Vista. Just click the Start Button and then, even though there is no visible search box, just begin typing and the results will appear. This is an easy way to find and launch any app, even if you don't have a shortcut for it on the Desktop or Taskbar.
To the right of the Start Button, you will have icons for any open apps (these will be underlined) and other icons which are pinned to the Taskbar. When an app is running, you can right-click on the relevant Taskbar icon and click Pin to Taskbar if you want the icon to remain on the Taskbar. A single click on any of the pinned icons on the Taskbar will launch the corresponding app. Similarly, right-clicking a Taskbar icon and selecting Unpin from Taskbar will remove the icon.
Pinning an app's icon to the Taskbar just provides an easy, one-click way to launch it.
At the right-hand end of the Taskbar, you will find the Notification Area (aka the System Tray). This includes the date/time, and to its right, the Show Notifications button. Clicking this will show all the notifications that have popped up in the lower right corner of the screen.
To the left of the date/time, you will see icons for things such as the volume control, the network connection or Windows Security. Just to the left of these icons is an up-arrow which will reveal the hidden icons. You can control which icons are visible and which are hidden by going to:-
Start, Settings, Personalisation, Taskbar
Then scroll down on the right-hand side to the Notification Area heading. Click on Select which icons appear on the Taskbar to select which notification items are permanently visible and which require you to click the up-arrow to see.
NHS
App – Vaccination Status
From
next Monday (May 17th) patients in England should be able to see
their Covid-19 vaccination status on the NHS app (NOT the NHS Covid app). This should happen automatically without the
need to contact your GP. Currently, some
medical records may be accessible via the app, if this has been activated by
the GP. This new vaccination status will
be separate from that, as I understand it.
See:-
https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/coronavirus/nhs-app-to-display-covid-vaccination-status-without-gp-involvement/
The NHS app is one of several apps, including Patient Access and MyGP which can access your GP data. All of these apps are accessing the same database of information and the services and features which have been enabled by your GP.
The Covid vaccination status information which will appear on the NHS app from Monday is new and different as it does not require GP intervention or approval. I do not know whether the other apps, such as Patient Access, will get the same feature to display Covid vaccination status.
Screen
Casting
Brian
asked me about casting a Zoom meeting window from a PC to a TV using a Google Chromecast
dongle. The Chromecast plugs into an
HDMI port on the TV and also requires power from a USB port or charger. The Chromecast connects to your wi-fi and is
set up by using an app on your mobile device.
This article explains more about the set up:-
https://www.tomsguide.com/uk/us/chromecast-how-to,review-1811.html
Once
set up, you can cast from your PC or mobile device to your TV screen. This covers that process for various
devices, specifically for casting Zoom:-
https://googlechromecast.com/how-to-cast-zoom-meetings-to-chromecast/
Some Google apps on mobile devices have a Cast option built into the app, e.g. YouTube.
On a PC you need to use Chrome to initiate the cast by clicking 3-dots, Cast. When you click on Cast, there is a "Sources" button in the dialogue box - click this first and select Desktop. Then click on the Chromecast device (mine is called "Main TV") and start casting. The important thing is to select the source before starting to cast.
In response to a question from Brian, I have experimented a little further with Chromecasting from a PC to my TV since the Club meeting. Provided you initiate casting as described above, you can switch in and out of apps on your PC and everything is mirrored to your TV. However, you must keep Chrome open, although you can minimise it, as it controls the casting process on the PC.
Linda asked if casting was possible to a Roku - I didn't know the answer to that. It turns out that the Roku supports a system called Miracast. I have now tried this out by mirroring my PC to the Roku which worked very well. To do this on a Windows 10 PC:-
- Click on the Notifications button (far right on Taskbar)
- Click on the Project button (you may need to click on Expand to see all the buttons)
- Click Connect to a wireless display
- You should see your Roku in the list - click on it
If you don't see the Roku in the above list, going into the Roku Settings, System, Screen Mirroring and ensure it is enabled.
Trying to cast my Android phone to the Roku was less successful.
The Chromecast with Google TV is a new device which includes a remote control and on-screen menu to select streaming services such as Netflix. So you might be able to use this instead of a Roku to give access to streaminmg service plus the ablilty to cast from other devices.
If you have an Apple device, the simplest approach is to use a device which is Apple AirPlay compatible. Many modern smart TVs and the latest Roku devices are AirPlay compatible.
Sign
Out of Dead iPad
Linda
asked how to sign out of a dead iPad.
You
could try:-
Hard
Reset – Hold down the Power and Home buttons until
the iPad restarts. (Devices without Home
button – press Vol Up, then Vol Down, then press and hold the Power button)
iTunes/Finder
– Launch the latest version of iTunes on a PC (or Finder on a Mac). Connect the iPad while holding down the Home
button (or the Power button on devices with no Home button) until Recovery Mode
begins.
iCloud.com – Sign in to iCloud.com in any browser. Select the device and click Erase. After the device has been erased, click Remove from Account. You could do this, even if you no longer had the device in your possession.
If
the battery is completely dead and the iPad will not power up at all, none of
the above will work. Apple suggest
changing your Apple ID password in this case, which would still leave your data
on the device (although your Password/Passcode would be needed to access it), but would prevent any new owner/user from deleting your iCloud
data. See:-
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8499119
It turned out that Linda's iPad was not completely dead, but seemed to have a dodgy Lightning connector. Perhaps using a small folded peice of paper or card dipped in isopropyl alcohol could be used to carefully clean the connectors in the iPad.
BorrowBox
Linda was using BorrowBox on her PC to listen to audio books from the library. This did not flow on from one chapter to the next. The suggestion was to use the BorrowBox app on a mobile device which John and others found worked reliabably.
Ancestry
Margaret found that her family tree on Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) seemed to be accessible publicly, having used their DNA function. I did find this page which discusses (un)linking your DNA test to a Tree:-
https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/Linking-an-AncestryDNA-Test-to-a-Tree
I'm not sure if this addresses the specific issue, but it might be worth a look.
Also, this page explains how to set/change the privacy settings of your Tree:-
https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/Family-Tree-Privacy
Next Session
Wed
9th June 2021 at 2 pm by Zoom.
