Chromecast Gen2 Problem - Update
The issue that stopped all 2nd generation Chromecasts working, as discussed at the last Club meeting, has now been fixed. An automatic firmware update has been rolled out as reported by The Register:-
https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/13/google_chromecast_fix/
Owners of a 2nd Gen Chromecast should have received an email on 18th or 19th of March stating that their device should have been automatically updated – provided it was online, of course. The authentication certificate, built into the firmware, which expired on the 9th March is now replaced with one that will not expire until 2045!
As I mentioned last time, if you have already factory reset the Chromecast, you will need to reconnect it to your network so that it can receive the update. I mentioned last time that you can do this by changing the date on your phone to the 9th March or earlier and then using the Google Home app to add the device to your network. However, as the email from Google states, they have now updated the Google Home app, so that it will allow a device with the old firmware that has been factory reset to be updated.
Skype Retirement Email
I mentioned last month that Microsoft are shutting down their Skype service on 5th May. Skype users should now be receiving an email from Microsoft announcing this and explaining that you can move to Teams instead - or you could use an alternative such as Google Meet. See this Microsoft site for details:-
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/skype/skype-is-retiring-in-may-2025-what-you-need-to-know-2a7d2501-427f-485e-8be0-2068a9f90472
Microsoft’s 50th Birthday
Microsoft just had its 50th anniversary. It was founded on 4th April 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop software for the Altair 8800. Now, Microsoft is one of the largest companies in the world with a value over £2 Trillion Pounds – see:-
https://companiesmarketcap.com/gbp/
Microsoft have released some wallpapers and other things to celebrate their 50th anniversary as this Ghacks article explains:-
https://www.ghacks.net/2025/04/07/microsoft-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary-with-a-free-set-of-windows-wallpapers-and-digital-goodies/
File Converter Malware
The FBI is the USA have issued a warning that some free online file conversion services can infect your PC with malware – see this article from Tom’s Guide:-
https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/malware-adware/fbi-issues-warning-over-free-online-file-converters-that-infect-your-pc-with-malware
For example, you might have a PDF file which you would like to convert into a DOC so that it is editable with Word or LibreOffice Writer. You might google for a way of doing this and find an online service where you upload the PDF file and then it is converted and you download the resulting DOC file. However, if you happen to pick one of these dodgy web sites, you might download malware along with the file. The above Tom's Guide article lists some of these dodgy sites.
In the past, I have suggested using such a site to convert a PDF file to Word format – see the blog for July 2017, under heading "Editing PDFs":-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2017/07/
However, that site belongs to Nitro PDF who are a widely respected and long-standing software company who I believe are trustworthy. To see all their free conversion tools go to:-
https://www.gonitro.com/
and scroll down to Free PDF Conversion Tools.
So, don’t just google for software without doing further research on the products or services.
Troy Hunt Phished!
We had a brief chat about Tony's email account being hacked which inspired the discussion last month about "Password Managers and Email Security" - see the blog at:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2025/03/
Allan mentioned the web site:-
https://haveibeenpwned.com/
We have discussed this site previously on a number of occasions, most recently in October 2023. You can read all the previous discussions about it by going to my web site at:-
bit.ly/rogersdocs
Select the Computer Club tab and then the document called:-
"Scams, Data Breaches & Have I Been Pwned"
The HIBP site is owned and operated by Australian security expert Troy Hunt. Somewhat embarrassingly, Troy fell for a phishing scam himself recently - see his article about the incident here:-
https://www.troyhunt.com/a-sneaky-phish-just-grabbed-my-mailchimp-mailing-list/
I feel sorry for Troy, but it shows that scams are getting more sophisticated and they can trip up even the best of us. Ironically, as he explains, he was in the UK for meetings with the National Cyber Security Centre at the time he was scammed!
Next Session
Wed 14th May 2025 at 2pm by Zoom
