Update 12/02/2023: Fixed broken link to Apple Support page under "Changing Your SIM PIN"
Apple Numbers
Tony asked about using the Numbers spreadsheet app on his iPad to run Excel spreadsheets from his PC. John confirmed that Excel sheets should open in Numbers, although he found that very complex ones could not be edited. After the session, John provided the following step-by-step guide:-
1. Email the Excel Spreadsheet to yourself.
2. On a Mac open the email and download the Excel Spreadsheet to your Apple device.
- You can use Quicklook to view the Spreadsheet – select the file in Finder and press the spacebar.
- Open Numbers, a window will open, click on the file you have just downloaded in Downloads.
- The Excel Spreadsheet will open.
- You may find some missing fonts and some (more complex) formulae may not work - SUM etc are OK but 1/COUNTIF(…) did not work on my Mac.
- The Spreadsheet can be modified and saved in Numbers format.
3. On an iPad open the email and click on the attachment, if you have the Excel App on your machine the Spreadsheet will open.
- Use the Share button and select Share File. Select the Save to Files option, select Downloads and click Save.
- Open the Numbers App and select Downloads and the Spreadsheet you have just downloaded.
- The Spreadsheet will open in Numbers, ensure you click EDIT in top right and you can make changes.
Equally, the Apple Pages word-processing app can open Microsoft Word files with a reasonable degree of success.
The Excel/Word files can be transferred to the iPad by emailing them as an attachment (as in John's guide above), or by uploading them to cloud storage such as iCloud (icloud.com), Google Drive (drive.google.com), OneDrive (onedrive.com), etc.
Note that you can run Microsoft Office apps including Excel and Word on an iPad. If you have an iPad Mini or an older iPad with a screen size below 10.1", these apps are free to use. iPads with a screen larger than 10.1" can still run the apps, but you cannot Edit/Save unless you have a paid Microsoft 365 subscription.
Amazon Smile Ending
Amazon is bringing an end to is Amazon Smile program which I think we first discussed at the Club back in November 2019. It donates 0.5% of your Amazon purchase value to a charity of your choice, at no extra costs to the user. It was available on the web by simply using the smile.amazon.com address instead of just amazon.com and could also be used on the mobile app. The scheme has been running since 2013 and has donated more than $377 million* globally.
The scheme will end on 20th February. Here is Amazon’s announcement which they published on 19th January:-
https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/company-news/amazon-closing-amazonsmile-to-focus-its-philanthropic-giving-to-programmes-with-greater-impact
(* Source: https://www.aboutamazon.com/impact/community/amazonsmile)
Window 11 Automatic Update to 22H2
Microsoft started automatically updating Windows 11 users to 22H2 from 26th January. See this Microsoft notice:-
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-11-21h2
WhatsApp on Windows
If you use WhatsApp and would like to use it on your PC, you may know that you can go to:-
https://web.whatsapp.com/
and then, in the WhatsApp app on your phone, tap 3-dots, Linked Devices to scan the QR Code to connect your PC’s browser to your WhatsApp account.
However, there is now a separate app on Windows which you can download and install from the Microsoft Store. You link this app with your phone in the same way.
I believe an app for MacOS is also on the way.
Microsoft Invest a Further $10 Billion in OpenAI/ChatGPT
We demonstrated some of the impressive capabilities of ChatGPT at the Club last December, and you can try it for yourself. Just refer back to the December blog for more on that:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2022/12/
Microsoft invested $1 Billion in 2019. On 23rd January this year, they announced a further $10 Billion investment over several years. Microsoft are adding some of ChatGPT’s advanced language capability to their Office products and the Bing search engine. This could make Bing a much more attractive search engine and help it to compete with Google which currently has 85% of the search market. See this Observer article on 25 Jan 2023 for more:-
https://observer.com/2023/01/microsoft-openai-deal-chatgpt-office-bing/
Also see this Microsoft blog from yesterday:-
https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/02/07/reinventing-search-with-a-new-ai-powered-microsoft-bing-and-edge-your-copilot-for-the-web/
And you can sign up to a Wait List to
access the new Bing at:-
https://www.bing.com/
However, Google has its own AI chatbot called Bard which is currently being tested and may be available to the public soon. So, the battle of the Search Engines, Bing vs Google, could get interesting!
Learn About Quantum Computers
Quantum Computing cropped up in conversation at the last meeting when we were talking about their potential for cracking passwords, a subject which arose while we we discussing the LastPass data breach. Quantum computers currently only exist in a fairly primitive form in research labs and it will be many years or even decades before they become commercially available. However, as this very recent article from the BBC shows, discussion on them is starting to appear in mainstream media such as the BBC:-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64492456
For any one interested in learning more about Quantum Computers, George recommended this online course from Future Learn:-
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/intro-to-quantum-computing
It is currently available for free (with some limitations) until 8th March 2023. The purchase price is £54.
As we just mentioned ChatGPT, I asked it to provide a simple explanation of Quantum Computing, and this is what it said:-
ChatGPT's answer probably dosen't help you much(!). Maybe it just makes you wonder what "superposition" and "entanglement" are, so I asked ChatGPT what they are:-
ZIP File Compression
Linda asked about ZIP files. There are a number of different file compression formats, including ZIP, 7-ZIP (7z), Rar, Tar, etc. Compressing a file, as the name suggests, means that it will take up less space. Also, if you want to send files over the Internet, perhaps as an email attachment, reducing the total file size may speed up the transmission. There are limits to the size of file which can be sent by email, so you may be able to attach the compressed file, while the original would have been too large.
You need to have the same technology at the receiving end to decompress the file as was used at the transmitting end to send it. Windows, iOS and Android can all process ZIP files, making this a very common compression format. Other compression formats might need additional apps to handle them.
Note that some files, such a JPEGs, are already very compressed, so trying to compress these further with something like ZIP, will have very little effect on the file size.
These links give you more detail on handling ZIP files in Windows, iOS and Android:-
Windows - https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/zip-files-windows
iOS - https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211132
Android - https://support.google.com/files/answer/9048509?hl=en-GB
To actually understand how it is possible to compress a file, take a look at this (rather wacky) video:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpdcWwkRD5c
QR Code Scams
Thanks to Linda for referring me to the Channel 5 programme mentioned below. As a result of this, I thought it was worth saying a few words about QR Code scams and changing your SIM PIN (see below).
QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) were invented way back in 1994. They have gained popularity in the age of the mobile phone due to their convenience – just pointing your phone’s camera at a QR Code can open a web site, without the need to type in the web address (URL). There are many free QR Code generators, including this one from Wix, the web site development platform:-
https://www.wix.com/tools/qr-code-generator
You may have noticed that this blog has a QR code on the right-hand side (in the web version) which takes you to my documents website.
During the pandemic, use of QR Codes to record your entry to a building became very popular. However, the popularity of QR Codes also makes them an attractive new target for the scammers. It would be easy for the scammer to create a fake QR Code and perhaps stick this over the code on a public display (e.g. a parking sign), or put it in an email.
This website from Aura, a digital threat protection company based in Boston, MA, USA, has an article from December last year on fake QR Codes:-
https://www.aura.com/learn/fake-qr-code-scams
Alexis Conran has a 3-episode series on Channel 5 all about scams called “Don’t Get Caught Out” – you can find it on My5 at:-
https://www.channel5.com/show/phone-scams-don-t-get-caught-out/season-1/episode-1
or via the My5 app on your mobile device or smart TV.
Changing Your SIM PIN
As Alexis Conran mentions in the first of his C5 programmes, changing your SIM PIN can help protect you from a SIM-swap hack. This happens when a phone is stolen and the thief removes the SIM and uses it in their phone to receive your 2FA codes.
To protect against the SIM-swap you can lock your SIM card. SIM Lock is off by default, but you can turn it on in your phone’s Settings. Note that this sets the lock on the SIM card, so even if the SIM is removed and inserted into a different phone, it would still need to be unlocked before it could be used.
Once you have turned on the SIM Lock, you will need to enter the SIM PIN every time you turn your phone on or restart it. However, it is not required when simply waking your phone from Sleep.
First, you need to know the current SIM PIN. You cannot enable SIM Lock without the current SIM code – usually a 4-digit value. Typically, this will be a default value depending on your network – you should be able to find this from your carrier’s website. For example, the default for EE is usually 1111, Vodafone and Three is 0000, and O2 is 0000 or 1234. Take care when entering the SIM PIN – after 3 incorrect attempts, the SIM will be locked and you will need a PUK (PIN Unlock Key) from your carrier to unlock it.
You will need to use your phone’s Settings to enable the SIM Lock, and then you can change the default value to a number of your choice. I would suggest that you do NOT use the same number for both the SIM PIN and the phone’s Unlock Code.
This Apple article explains how to do this on an Apple device:-https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201529
This article explains how to enable/change the SIM PIN on an Android device:-
https://www.digitalcitizen.life/how-change-or-remove-sim-pin-android-2-steps/
As Android Settings menus vary, it may be simpler just to go to Settings and search for “SIM Card Lock”.
Note that this does NOT protect you from "SIM-jacking". This is a process where the hacker contacts your network provider and cons them into sending a new SIM for your phone to his/her address. We just rely on the security checks made by the network providers being adequate to ensure they only send a SIM to the genuine customer.
Tony raised the question of some phones being "locked". This is totally different to the SIM lock discussed above. It means that the phone was originally sold by a network provider (e.g. EE, Vodafone, etc) and you can only use their SIM. If you later want to switch to a different carrier, you will have to get the phone unlocked. iPhones are locked by having their serial number and the carrier recorded on a database, which only the original provider can change. Other phones can be unlocked by any phone shop for about £15. After a period of time, the original carrier may do it for free. Since the meeting I have found this article on the subject by Uswitch:-
https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/guides/how-to-unlock-a-phone-a-guide-to-unlocking-mobile-phones/
Cookie Messages
Tony asked if it was always OK to accept cookies when you first visit a web site. Personally, I would say yes. Some people may prefer to click the option to choose only essential cookies if they are concerned about ad tracking. I think a better and easier option to control ads is to use an ad-blocker in you browser - my favourite is UBlock Origin.
Next Session
Wed 8th March 2023 at 2pm by Zoom
Possible topics:-
Resetting Windows, iOS and Android devices.
Clearing individual site cookies in your browser.
