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Approaches to Passwords

Yes, passwords are a pain, but we’re stuck with them until we all get some great biometric solution. When that day comes—when we all can log into anything anywhere with our face, retina, voice, fingerprint, or whatever—passwords will still be important as an alternative access to our accounts. Even if some program is remembering your passwords for you … know them and/or record them. (This includes email passwords!) Treat your passwords like the keys to your car: keep them safe, don’t lose them, and don’t expect to get anywhere without them.

With that in mind, here is a brief password refresher.

  • Avoid recycling passwords … if one site gets breached, all your logins would be compromised
  • Don’t use simple passwords like “Password123” or “Bailey1!”
    • Longer/random passwords are better, but human memory is fallible, so record your passwords in a book or an encrypted password app
    • Most passwords are breached by online hackers; the chance they have access to your password book is low, so write them down
    • Any good password app (local or online) will keep your passwords in an encrypted form, so is very unlikely to be breached
  • If you don’t have quick and easy access to a password book or an app, or even if you do, consider using a password method like the Dana-Marie Password Method

Google the Dana-Marie Password Method for the details, but basically it is a memorable pattern you use for all your passwords. Her method is best explained with examples; the two she uses are acaTon1963? and ccaTic1963? which break down as follows:

  • first letter = a for amazon (example 1) or c for cbcmusic (example 2)
  • next 3 letters = your master password key (caT in these examples)
  • next 2 letters = on for amazon or ic for cbcmusic (last 2 letters of site)
  • next 4 digits = your chosen number (1963 in these examples)
  • final character = your special character (? in these examples)

Of course, adjust this method for your own use: choose your own master password key/number/character, number of letters/numbers/characters, and even pattern.

All of this is to avoid being hacked and to avoid needing to reset your password. It is still very important to register a current email address and/or phone number with each account so you can reset your password if necessary.

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How to Avoid Underpowered Computers

You may have experienced the frustration of using an under-powered computer … where, even after a good cleaning, your computer just isn’t keeping up. It is a frustration most people would like to avoid.

The best way to avoid this kind of frustration is to buy a new computer before your old one gets too slow, and to buy one that will serve you well for a long time (i.e. until it is 5-10 years old). This article will help you decide when to replace, what to look for, and what you can do to speed up your computer.

The perceived speed of your computer depends on many things, but the big ones are: processor (CPU), memory (RAM), hard drive (HDD/SSD), and graphics processor (GPU).

You have limited (or no) choices in replacing a computer’s CPU, so it is important to get a computer with a good one. You can’t accurately judge a CPU by its make, model, or GHz … the best way to judge it is to look it up on cpubenchmark.net. That site will give you a relative benchmark score (which they call CPU Mark) so you can compare it with others. These days, you are looking for a CPU Mark that is well over 1000, even if your needs are basic.

RAM isn’t typically an issue, as long as you have at least 8GB (non-gamers) or 16GB (gamers). It’s also good if you have a computer that allows you to upgrade the RAM, if you decide to later.

Hard-drive speed can make a big difference in computer speed. Hard drives come in five general categories (in increasing order of performance): 5400 RPM, 7200 RPM, SSHD, SSD, and M.2. If you can, avoid any computer with a 5400 RPM main hard drive … it’s inconceivable that new computers (including Macs) still come with them. Even a 7200 RPM main hard drive feels slow these days. An SSHD (hybrid drive) is a compromise between a spinning disk and a solid state one, but a true SSD (solid state drive) will likely be your best choice for a primary drive. M.2 drives are even faster SSDs, so opt for one (if you can) for your primary drive.

Definitely avoid PCs and Macs with solid state hard drives with a 64GB or smaller main drive as they will quickly fill up and frustrate you.

GPU doesn’t make a big difference for most people, but it is a big deal for gamers and others doing heavy-duty graphics. Use www.videocardbenchmark.net to compare benchmark scores (which they call G3D Mark).

If your current computer feels slow even after a thorough cleaning, it’s either time to upgrade it or replace it. If you’d rather upgrade it, check your Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Manager (MacOS) to determine if it is your CPU, RAM, HDD, or GPU that is the bottleneck. If it is your RAM or HDD, you can probably upgrade. If it is your GPU, you may be able to upgrade. If it is your CPU, you likely cannot upgrade.

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Operating System Versions

The main operating systems, roughly in order of popularity, are Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iOS, Android, and ChromeOS.

Over the last 19 years, Mac OS has moved from 10.1 to 10.15, and in the coming months we should see 11.0. The changes thus far have been evolutionary rather than revolutionary; there have been ups and downs, but the biggest gotchas have been when newer releases refuse to be installed on older hardware.

Currently, there are no special “editions” of MacOS. To determine what version of MacOS you are running, simply click the Apple and choose “About This Mac”.

Over the same time 19 years, Windows has moved from XP to Vista and then from 7 to 8 to 8.1, and now to 10. Since the release of Windows 10 in 2015, it has been nice not to have to learn an all-new version of Windows every 3-5 years. Thankfully, there is no plan for a Windows 11.

Windows 10 is still evolving; once or twice per year, we get a major update identified simply by the year and month (YYMM) of its release. So far we have had 1507, 1607, 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, and 2004. You can check which version you are on by running “winver” from the Start Menu, Run dialog, Command Prompt, or PowerShell. If you are running 1903 or older, you should update.

Sidebar: If you would like to get the latest major Windows 10 update, simply go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10, click “Update now”, run the download, and follow the prompts.

Because Microsoft doesn’t like being pinned down to a particular month for a software release date, the latest release that just came out in October is called 20H2, denoting “the second half of 2020”. This will be their naming convention, moving forward.

As of this month, all but Windows 8.1 and the last few versions of 10 have been fully retired. Win10 1909 and 2004 will be retired sometime in 2021, while 8.1 won’t be laid to rest until 10Jan2023.

There have been many “editions” of Windows over the years, but Windows 10 basically comes in five: S, Home, Professional, Enterprise, and Education. Windows 10 S is locked down to only allow installations via the Microsoft Store. Home has everything that most people need. Pro, Enterprise, and Education are virtually identical and have only a few extra features over Home. (For details on editions, I defer to the Wikipedia entry for “Windows 10 Editions”.)

I won’t go into the multitude of “distributions” of Linux, but their version numbers tend to follow the year, so many of them are on version 20 or 21 with cute names like Groovy Gorilla or Hirsute Hippo. ChromeOS is now up to version 88. iOS is up to version 14. Android is up to version 11.

Keeping current is a never-ending game.

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Why Rebooting Helps

Most of us know that rebooting, resetting, or power-cycling, any piece of technology has a good chance of fixing whatever technical issue you may be facing … but not everyone knows why.

There are two main reasons why rebooting can help: it can get the device out of a bad “state”, and it can clear up memory issues.

Technological devices are, in the simplest terms, state machines. Just like washing machines that go sequentially through different wash cycles, computers, smartphones, routers and other devices are running processes. As a result of conflicting software, hardware glitches, or outside interferences, devices can get into invalid states: infinite loops, or reading/writing/running in invalid areas of memory. A reboot or reset typically puts the processes back at the start, into a valid state.

Computer programs often dynamically allocate memory as needed. Whenever a process needs memory, it allocates a certain amount for itself. When it is finished with that memory, it is supposed to deallocate or release the same amount of memory. In the case of a glitch or bug, memory may not get released, which results in a “memory leak”. Over time, small leaks can add up and use all available memory. A reboot starts the memory allocation process from zero, and so clears the issue. That’s why so many devices respond well to being rebooted from time to time.

There are computer chips in so many devices now, that rebooting has become second nature to us. Before you spend too much time on a tech problem, or call for help, be sure to reboot!

There are issues, of course, that aren’t fixed by a simple reboot. If there is a faulty line of code, piece of hardware, or power source, a reboot won’t fix the issue, although it may avoid it long enough to find a pattern or otherwise help you troubleshoot the problem. We don’t have the ability to dig in and fix programs, so the best things we can do are reboot, reset, power-cycle, or update.

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Good-bye Internet Explorer

Browsers. They are windows through which we see our world, especially in these days of COVID-19.

Browser features and choices don’t vary much, but when they do, it is newsworthy. This year’s biggest browser news is that Microsoft will be passing the torch from Internet Explorer to Edge.

The world has come a long way in the 25 years since Internet Explorer was first released in 1995 with Windows 95. (That was the same year, coincidentally, that the term “smartphone” was first used, although it took another 12 years before we had anything that resembled what we have today.)

In 2015, Microsoft introduced us to the Edge browser; it was billed as a successor to IE, but did not fill its shoes. Then in 2019, Microsoft released a new version of Edge with a Chrome engine and a new logo. We appreciated the improved browser, but not the pushy release tactics.

One feature of the new Edge that will be appreciated by those who need IE, is “Internet Explorer mode”: in Edge, under “Settings>Default browser” you can turn on a feature that “When browsing in Edge, if a site requires Internet Explorer for compatibility, you can choose to reload it in Internet Explorer mode”. This will be handy for some old web pages, especially for old surveillance camera systems that are only compatible with IE.

On 09Mar2021, support for “legacy” Edge will cease, and on 17Aug2021, Internet Explorer 11 will stop being supported by Office and OneDrive. I expect many other apps and services will quickly drop their support as well, so if you depend heavily on IE, you have lots of time to play the field with other browsers such as Chrome, FireFox, Safari, Edge, Opera, and others.

Every browser makes it easy to transfer IE favourites to their bookmarks. (Fun fact: All browsers call your saved websites “bookmarks”, except IE that uses/used the term “favourites”.)

Microsoft Edge is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Edge has a long climb ahead if it wants to rise from its single-digit market share to Google Chrome’s 66% market share.

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The KIS Principle

Most of us are familiar with the KIS (Keep It Simple) principle. In a time of ever-increasing complexity, it applies more than ever … especially to technology.

KIS applies to developers: those people who create the devices, apps, and webpages for the rest of us. Please hear us: we don’t want to be overwhelmed with options that we don’t use, or don’t use often. Please keep the interface logical and uncluttered, and put the settings in a place we can easily access. Default settings are just as important as any other aspect of your design.

KIS applies to heavy tech users. You may not be overwhelmed with tech complexity, but keeping it simple now will reduce your tech headaches in the future. Is some of your tech redundant or underused? Some redundancy is critical (e.g. backups), but otherwise, it can become clutter.

KIS applies to light tech users. Keep it to one or two operating systems (Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, Linux, Chrome): they may be compatible with each other, but each one works with a different set of rules and apps. Consider task-specific gadgets like a Roku or Chromebox rather than a full-blown multimedia desktop.

KIS may look different to different people. For some, a print-only USB printer may be the simple answer, but for others, a wifi multifunction printer may tick all the boxes. In some cases, a computer is needed; in others, a tablet is sufficient. Get the right tool for the job.

A debatable example is Mac vs. PC: Macs limit your options, which some would consider KIS-friendly. However, non-Mac users (note that Mac accounts for less than 10% of the operating system market) frequently find the Mac environment overly restrictive and controlling.

If everyone keeps the KIS principle in mind in everything we do, maybe we can slow the exponential growth of the complexity of our world, and reduce the anxiety of its inhabitants.

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Please Don’t Email Pictures or Videos

One of the best technical skills you can learn is how to send links via email.

Email was never designed to send big files. It’s great for sending a few words, small documents, small pictures, or links, but it can get bogged down or fail if you try to send large attachments.

Here are a few things that can happen if you try to send attachments that are too large:

  • Your email storage (local or online) can get filled up
  • Your recipient’s email storage (local or online) can get filled up
  • Email servers can bog down, or may simply refuse to handle your email if it is larger than their maximum accepted size (anywhere from 5MB to 30MB per email)

Note that every email you send passes from your email server to your recipient’s email server, via any number of intermediate servers … so the size of the emails you send affects others around you.

So what can you do to avoid causing issues when you send email?

Teach yourself, or have someone teach you, how to send LINKS to your large files rather than the files themselves. Sending links falls into two categories: links to things that are already online (i.e. in the cloud), and links to things that are on your computer/device. If there’s something online that you want to send, simply grab the link from the address bar of your browser and paste it into your email. (I can’t emphasize this enough …) You do not have to download a video from YouTube in order to send it to others!

As for sending files from your own computer/device, The best way to do this is to save your files to a cloud storage, and simply send links to them. This is both easy and secure.

If you aren’t using cloud storage yet, it’s a good time to start. Sign up for a free (or paid) account on Dropbox, Google Photos, iCloud, OneDrive, or similar, upload the files you want to send, and either read the instructions, or watch a YouTube, on how to share the files using that service. It’s not that difficult, and when you get used to doing it this way, it will become second nature.

There are also file sending services like WeTransfer.com, HighTail.com, and WeSendIt.com, but before you do, be sure to read the fine print as to what those services may be doing with your personal information.

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A $14.24 Computer

Yes Virginia, there is a $14 computer. It’s a recent version of the Raspberry Pi, a favourite among electronic tinkerers since the first one was released to the public in Feb2012.

The $14 computer’s full name is “Raspberry Pi Zero W”; the Zero refers to it’s stripped-down profile, and the W refers to its built-in wifi. The other major models of the Raspberry Pi are (you guessed it!) 1, 2, 3, and 4 … and there are variations on each one. (You can check out the whole family of Pi and accessories at BuyaPi.ca)

And, as you may have guessed, you will need some accessories to make this credit-card-sized computer functional. With those necessary accessories, and shipping, and taxes, the kit will cost you at least $110. That is, assuming you already have a TV or monitor to use as a display.

What operating system does it run? Raspberry Pi OS; a Linux variant.

Is it a useful computer? Definitely NOT as a general purpose computer … it is too slow to effectively run office software or watch YouTube videos, and even typing can be tediously slow. (Sorry, bargain hunters.) So what is it good for?

It can do a lot of things very well. With the right accessories, it can play or record music, pictures, or videos … it is even fast enough to play high-def movies. Basically, like any computer, it can read inputs and control outputs.

It’s tailor-made for DIY projects. Want to make your own digital photo frame? Door opener? Robot controller? Do you need something to send you an alert via smartphone when an intruder is detected? There are hundreds of projects you can achieve with a Raspberry Pi (see projects.raspberrypi.org, or simply google for project ideas).

That’s what this $14 computer was made for.

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A New Generation of Printers

We’ve had personal printers nearly as long as we have had computers, but they have changed a lot over the years.

Initially, personal printers were mainly dot-matrix. Some shops still use this technology because it works with multipart forms.

Then in the 1980s we started seeing inkjet and laserjet printers. Inkjet offered cheaper printers—often with photo-quality prints—mainly for low-volume printing, while laserjet offered a cheaper “per-page” cost—with ink (toner) that didn’t dry out—for higher-volume printing.

In the late 1990s, we started seeing the next generation of printers which where chiefly multifunction: you could get “print/scan/copy” or “print/scan/copy/fax” with inkjet or laserjet, monochrome or colour.

Zoom ahead to 2020 and now we’re starting to see fewer laserjet and more inkjet printers. Why? Because inkjet printers are getting faster, with consistent print clarity that matches laser, printheads that clog less and wear out slower, and they use far less electricity than laser. The latest batch have air-tight systems so the ink doesn’t dry out, which allows them to offer larger ink tanks, bringing the per-page cost way down. Some even have “pour-in” ink tanks so you aren’t throwing out (or recycling) anything but plastic bottles.

These new printers come from several different brands and have names like Instant Ink, INKvestment, MegaTank, EcoTank, and SuperTank. Because manufacturers are making less on inks for these printers, they charge a bit more for the printers themselves.

If you are shopping for printers, you should also consider communication options. Most have USB and wifi communication, many have Ethernet, and some have NFC (near-field communication). For compatibility with Mac, you’ll want AirPrint capability; for Chrome devices, you may want Google CloudPrint.

Beyond that, other specs you might consider are time-to-first-page, pages-per-minute, and capacity of the input/output trays for both printing and scanning.

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Remote Technical Assistance

[This article is timely, since many people still need technical assistance during the COVID-19 outbreak.]

Getting technical assistance can be awkward.

Traditionally, one would disconnect all the wires, take the offending device to a service shop, describe the issues, wait until it is fixed, return to the service shop, take the device home, plug it back in, and then see if it was = fixed. If the issues were not fixed, you would repeat the process until they are fixed.

A preferred approach is to have a technician come to you and address the issues while you wait … but this can involve a lot of travel time for the technician, and tie up the technician for extended periods, keeping him or her from helping others.

This is why remote technical assistance is invaluable. It saves your time in to-and-froing. It saves the technician’s travel time, and allows them to (potentially) multitask during long fixes. It’s also very helpful if you are shut in, or self isolating, for whatever reason.

The three main requirements for remote assistance are that the device has remote access features, is booting up, and has Internet access. If these requirements are not met, a technician can still potentially help over the phone. But if they are met, there are many remote assistance tools that can be used.

Technicians often have their own remote access tools like ConnectWise or TeamViewer that work with (and between) many platforms. Windows has a built-in tool called Remote Assistance. Google has Chrome Remote Desktop that easily be accessed by browsing to remotedesktop.google.com on most devices that use the Chrome browser.

These tools are easy to use and yet are very secure. They must be initiated by the end-user, but can be terminated by the end-user or the support person at any time. Once the connection is terminated, it must be re-initiated by the end-user (i.e., no “back doors” are left open).

There are even remote access/assistance tools that don’t require a device to be fully booting. One is called a DRAC (Dell Remote Access Controller) which is specifically for Dell servers. Another is KVM-over-IP (keyboard-video-mouse over Internet Protocol). The advantage of these hardware devices is the ability to remotely access the BIOS as well as the operating system.

Note: Only give remote access of your computer to trusted and verified support technicians.