Google Street View – Back in Time
You may have used Google Street View on Google maps to see pictures of an area. These photos are taken by one of Google street view cars which have been roaming the world taking pictures since about 2007. Initially you will see the latest pictures, but you can also go back in time and see previous photos where these are available.
To do this, you will need to access the Street View from a browser (rather than using the app):-
maps.google.com
Drag the yellow pegman from the bottom right corner and drop him where you want to view.
Once you are in Street View, near the top left-hand corner, click on the clock icon. You will then see a time-line giving access to any previous photos of the same location – click on the preview photo to see it full-screen.
For for details on how to use Street View on a PC or in the Android or iOS apps, go to:-
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3093484?hl=en-GB&ref_topic=6275604
Deleting Cookies
Cookies are small data files associated with specific web sites. In general cookies are good things and help to make the web work better. Each web browser on each device stores its cookies independently.
The only cookies you might not want are “third party cookies” also know as “tracking cookies”. These don’t relate to the main web page you are viewing, but to the various adverts that appear on that page. The settings in the browser allow you to block third-party cookies, if you wish.
If you delete cookies, next time you visit a web page, it will behave as if you are visiting it for the first time. For example, it will display the cookie banner requesting your permission to store cookies - this is required by an EU regulation. Banking web sites might ask you for extra security details on that first visit.
If a web page is not behaving as you would expect, it is possible that its cookie has become corrupted. In that case, you can delete that cookie and then re-visit the page and a new cookie will be created.
You can delete all cookies by going into the browser settings as described below.
To clear all cookies this in Chrome:-
Click on the 3-dot Menu symbol (top right)
Select Settings
Select Privacy and security
Select Clear browsing data
Select Cookies and other site data, and the required time range
Clear Clear data
To clear all cookies in Safari on an iPad:-
Tap Settings
Select Safari (on the left)
On the right, scroll down and tap Clear History and Website Data
Tap Clear
However, if you are only having problems with one website, you can just delete cookies relating to that site.
To do this in Chrome:-
Click on the 3-dot Menu symbol (top right)
Select Settings
Select Privacy and security
Select Cookies and other site data
Select See all cookies and site data
Click the Bin symbol to the right of the appropriate web address
To do this in Safari on an iPad:-
Tap Settings
Select Safari (on the left)
On the right, scroll down and tap Advanced
Tap Website Data
Tap Edit (top right)
Tap the “-” symbol to the left of the appropriate web address
Tap Delete
Other browsers will have similar settings – google for instructions if you have difficulty finding them.
Ad Blockers
While discussing cookies, we also mentioned Ad-Blockers. These are extensions to a web browsers that can stop many of the adverts being loaded onto a web page. This makes pages load more quickly and reduces the amount of bandwidth you are using. UBlock Origin is my recommendation for an ad-blocker. We discussed this at the Club back in April 2018 and you can read about in the relevant blog here:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2018/04/
There was also a discussion in the April 2018 meeting about Tracking Cookies (or Third-Party Cookies) which we mentioned again today with a description of how to block them in Chrome.
Pop-Ups
John asked if it is possible to block pop-ups in web browsers. This Google help page explains how to do that in Chrome on PCs, Android or iOS devices:-
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2765944?hl=en-GB&ref_topic=7438008
This Apple Support page explains how to block pop-ups and ads in Safari:-
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203987
Privacy-Focused Browsers
The discussion on third-party cookies led to talking more about privacy. The advertisers use other methods to track your interests, even if you block third-party cookies. There are privacy-focused browsers which do more to prevent tracking by advertisers. Brave is a Chromium-based browser that is available for Windows, Android, iOS, Mac and Linux. DuckDuckGo has been around since 2008 as alternative privacy-oriented search engine, rather than using Google (or Microsoft's Bing) which you can use from any browser by going to:-
duckduckgo.com
More recently, they have introduced a privacy-focused browser for mobile devices, although not yet for desktop systems.
You can download Brave on a PC by going to:-
https://brave.com/download/
To install Brave or DuckDuckGo on a mobile device, go to the App Store.
This is a brief article which compares the two browsers:-
https://www.republicworld.com/technology-news/other-tech-news/brave-browser-vs-duckduckgo-which-is-the-best-privacy-browser.html
Anti-Virus
A common question is “do I need to buy an anti-virus package for my computer/smartphone/tablet?”. The most authoritative source of cyber security information is the National Cyber Security Centre, a division of GCHQ. Here is their answer to the question:-
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/what-is-an-antivirus-product
Basically, the answer is “No”. Windows 10 and 11, and Apple Mac computers have perfectly adequate anti-virus software built in and smartphones and tablets (and Chromebooks) do not need it.
Brian mentioned that, if you had installed an alternative anti-virus on a PC, they sometimes proved difficult to remove. It should be possible to uninstall them by going to Settings, Apps. If that fails, you can go to the manufacturer's web site where you may find a removal tool. Since the meeting, I have found this site which explains how to remove third-party anti-virus programs and it has links to the removal tools for many of the AV companies:-
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001402.htm
I.E. - R.I.P.
Internet Explorer is an out-dated browser on Windows which is finally reaching the end of its life on 15 June this year. IE is disabled when you upgrade to Windows 11, but it is still there in Windows 10. Anyone still using it should switch to Microsoft Edge or any other modern browser of their choice. Tom's Guide has an article on this from May last year:-
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/internet-explorer-is-dead-heres-when-microsoft-is-pulling-the-plug
2FA
It’s probably worth mentioning 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) again. When signing in to an account, the first factor is your password. As you probably know, a number of organisations around the world that hold usernames and passwords have been hacked and data stolen from them. Organisations should not hold your actual password, but rather a hash of that password which enables them to verify it is correct. However, usernames and passwords have been stolen in their millions and these are acquired by other hackers who use theses credentials to try signing in to your accounts.
To counter this threat, you should protect your most important accounts with a second factor. This can be a code sent to your smartphone, a code generated by an authenticator app, push notifications, backup codes or a physical hardware USB key. Usually, you will only need the 2FA when signing in for the first time on a new device or new browser or new app. You may see an options that says “Trust this device” which you can tick so 2FA will not be required again on this device.
Your main email account is often used by an organisation (e.g. a shopping site) to allow you to reset your password for that site if you have forgotten it. So it is vital that your main email account is protected by 2FA as it is the keys to your kingdom, being the route to reset passwords on your other accounts.
We mentioned back last November that Google is encouraging (even forcing?) users to enable 2FA on the Google accounts – see the blog for last November’s Club:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2021/11/
Also, at the Club this April, I mentioned the advice from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – see the April blog:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2022/04/
You can go directly to the NCSC advice at:-
cyberaware.gov.uk
We discussed the issue that some people do not have and do not want a smartphone. There are hardware devices, as mentioned above, which can generate the 2FA code, namely a Yubikey or a Google Titan Key. However, these devices currently cost about £50, so this would not be acceptable to everyone. Also, some services which allow the use of one of they physical keys also insist that you set up the SMS text method first!
The Future Without Passwords
Passwords are a problem for many users. A common problem is users forgetting their passwords. In spite of advice to the contrary, users need to record their passwords. Just writing them down is one solution. A safer and more sophisticated method is to use a password manager, but this may seem too complex for a number of users.
The whole concept of having a password (with or without a second factor) could be become obsolete in the not too distant future. A protocol called FIDO (Fast ID Online) has been developed by the Fido Alliance (https://fidoalliance.org/). This would mean that you never need a password in the first place, but it still uses a smartphone as the authenticating device, although it may be possible to use a Yubikey/Titan Key instead of a smartphone. Apple is introducing this technology under the Passkeys name. Microsoft and Google will also be introducing similar technology. Will they be cross-compatible? I'm sure we will be re-visiting this topic in the near future.
Google Photos
Brian asked about getting photos from an Android phone to a PC. Assuming you have the Google Photos app on your mobile device (Android or Apple), photos will be uploaded to your Google Drive cloud storage when your device is connected to wi-fi. You can then access these photos from a PC by going to https://photos.google.com/. You can then selectively download them to your PC. You can read more about using Google Photos here:-
https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6220402?hl=en-GB&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&oco=0
On Apple devices, you can also use Apple Photos which does a similar thing, with photos being uploaded to iCloud which can then be accessed from https://www.icloud.com/.
Note that you need enough space in the relevant cloud storage. Google provide 15GB for free, Apple only provide 5GB free. In both cases, you can purchase more storage for a small monthly fee.
Porting Landline Number to VoIP
Brian asked if he would be able to move his existing landline number if he moved to a new digital phone service from Zen. In general, I believe it should be possible to port your existing landline number when you switch to a new Internet-based phone system, as we will all have to do before the end of 2025. Always check with your new ISP/VoIP provider first. This article offers more advice:-
https://broadbandandphones.co.uk/guides/phone-systems/how-to-transfer-my-landline-number-to-voip/
Searching this Blog
Cherry asked about finding things in this blog site. The blogs date back to October 2015. You can click on the box at the top labelled Computer Club Date to select the date of any previous Computer Club meeting.
Use the Search This Blog box on the right-hand side to search for specfic words or phrases in all the blogs.
Next Session
Wed 13th July 2022 at 2 pm by Zoom.
