Data Doctors Tech Tips

Trying to remember all your passwords continues to be one of today's biggest tech issues that we all face. Password management tools to help with this problem are being developed by a large number of companies. You can add Google to the list with their 'Smart Lock' feature that works on Android devices, Chromebooks and with Chrome browsers on your various devices. You have been able to save a password in your computer's browser for years, but when you pick up your smartphone to access the same site, you'll have to remember your password again. The 'Google Smart Lock' option is designed to give you a way to sync up your passwords, so when you save passwords on your smartphone, they will be saved on your computer as well and vice versa. Their Android app is also designed to keep your phone unlocked when it is in a safe place by recognizing variables like location, your other trusted devices or even from your voice and then lock things down when it appears that it may not be safe. It can help reduce the frustrating forgotten password scenario on your regularly used devices. Learn what it's all about at http://google.com/smartlock

Most of us have been in a public setting working on our laptops, tablets or smartphones with the creepy feeling that someone may be snooping to see what you have displayed on your screen. Lot's of sensitive information can be seen by nosey people nearby if we aren't careful; it even has a name: Visual Hacking. Whether you are dealing with a nosey passenger sitting right next to you on an airplane or the questionable guy sitting behind you at a coffee shop, there's something you can do to protect yourself. They're called 'privacy screens' and they've been around for a long time to protect your laptop, tablet or smartphone from snooping eyes. The way they work is by darkening your display unless you are directly in front of it, keeping those off to your sides in the dark. When it comes to your portable devices, they also provide an extra layer of screen protection for your glass in case you drop it. They are simple to put on and remove, so if you're one of the millions that spends tons of time working with your tech in public spaces, take a look at 3M's protectors which I've linked to at DataDoctors.com/radio http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3MScreens_NA/Protectors/Privacy

If you're like me and find that you're using a smartphone for productivity tasks these days, you have probably already realized the biggest bottleneck: the keyboard. While today's on-screen keyboards are great, they can be a bit of a challenge even for those with small hands when trying to type a large amount of text. An alternative that's effective is using the voice recognition option as an input, but so many of us are still too keyboard concentric. If you have to type a lot of text or work within a spreadsheet, a full-size keyboard is just more useful, so you can make it so! Most tablet users are already familiar with connecting a wireless Bluetooth keyboard to their large devices, but haven't thought about connecting it to their phones. The setup process is much the same as with all Bluetooth devices, so it is easy to get connected. Virtually any Bluetooth keyboard has the ability to attach to any mobile device, so if you've already bought one for another device, now you know you can use it on your smartphone as well!

The Web is an incredible tool for researching comparisons between products and services, but what can you do when you aren't sure what to compare? Here is what I learned to do when I know of at least one product but don't necessarily know about the competitive items. I just type the letters ' S' (as in versus) after whatever it is that I am searching for. For example, if I'm shopping for cars and want to see the comparisons to Honda's Civic, I would put 'Honda Civic vs' as the search condition, then hit the enter key. I find this approach really helpful when I'm for mobile apps in just about any category. Once you know of one app, you can quickly discover lots of others you didn't know existed using this tip. It's especially effective with anything in tech, since there are so many resources online comparing gadgets, software and websites from around the world. Now, this isn't a fool-proof method for every item, but I've found that it's pretty useful lots of times because Google's algorithm uses the keywords you're typing with their powerful popularity ranking. Try it for yourself!

"If you come to fork in the road, take it!" When you hear or read a 'famous quote' and wonder who said that, this tip is for you. A handy web resource called Quotery.com has compiled a comprehensive database of famous quotes in an easy to use interface. You can now search over 125,000 quotes and proverbs directly, by author or topic. Whether you are researching something, working on your presentation or updating a blog, Quotery.com is a useful resource for accurate quotes. It's billed as an encyclopedia of wit and wisdom, so it can be fun just to randomly snoop around in the database for interesting quotes. What I like about this resource over so many others is that they provide sources and context around the quote and author. They also allow users to suggest edits to keep the resource as accurate as possible. Here's fun suggestion: read all of the rest of the amazing quotes from the great American philosopher 'Yogi Berra'. You aren't going to need Quotery.com that often, but when you do, it's an invaluable tool!

In my many years of helping people with their tech, one recurring issue seems to persist; every user knows that they should back up their critical data, but they just never seem to get around to doing it. If you are one of the masses that have this important task on their "to-do" list, but haven't been motivated to getting around to it, see if this helps: The very real threat of ransomware, which is when malicious hackers gain access to your system and lock down all your critical data, including any attached backup drive is getting worse. The latest versions are even spreading themselves in ways we have never seen before. If you do become a victim of this attack and you don't have a verified off-site copy of your data, your choices are to lose everything or pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get your sensitive personal files back. Online services like Carbonite's unlimited backup are one of the best ways to avoid ever having to pay any ransom, because your actual backup isn't connected to your computer when it's attacked. You should consider this a wake up call, especially if you don't have any kind of secure off-site backup in place! Home Products: http://partners.carbonite.com/datadoctors?product=Home Office Products: http://partners.carbonite.com/datadoctors?product=Office

There is a recurring thread that has surfaced from practically every major breach or breakin you have heard about these days. Most of them started with a simple, but targeted phishing message sent to someone in the breached company. Cleverly crafted e-mails that appear to be an inter-company message, also known as spear-phishing, are also snaring many victims of ransomware. An effective way to trick someone is by creating fake messages that appear to be from a fellow employee in the same company. This means you need to start paying very close attention to all messages that appears to be from others in your company. If your organization wants to test it's employees by running a spear-phishing test, checkout the tools at http://KnowBe4.com. The offer a free phishing security test that can be used to test up to 100 employees to see how if they'll fall for a message that appears to be from the IT department at your company. You will quickly learn how vulnerable your company may be to this growing threat. I've posted the link at DataDoctors.com/radio. https://www.knowbe4.com/phishing-security-test-offer

These days, when we want to get info on anything we generally do a search using Google but when you're searching for info when a problem pops up on your computer, you need to be extremely careful. A growing issue with Google search results is with misleading tech support ads posing as legitimate companies in an attempt to victimize unsuspecting users. For instance, if you search 'Norton Antivirus Tech Support' you'll get lots of companies posing as the official tech support site but they actually have nothing to do with the real company. Another trick they employ is posting toll free phone numbers in the ads knowing that a lot of people will just call the number when it comes up in a search without ever clicking through to the ad's landing page first. For all intents and purposes, you can't trust companies just because they show up in Google search result because scammers have figured out a way to game the system. Here's how to make absolutely sure you are getting the legitimate support resource from any company you do business with: just type their address in with a /support at the end. For example, for Norton you would type Norton.com/support which will take you directly to their support page. I've posted more tips for avoiding this growing scam at DataDoctors.com/radio http://www.datadoctors.com/help/columns/22031-Beware-the-Latest-Tech-Support-in-Search-Scams

You probably know how important maintenance is for keeping things working smoothly, when it comes to your car, pool or your own physical fitness. But when it comes to computers, for some reason, the concept of maintaince has never hit the general public. Imagine how expensive (and painful) owning a car would be if you never did anything to keep it maintained! With that in mind, I'm hoping to encourage you Windows users to take a simple first step in maintaining your PC by using the free built-in utility known as the 'Disk Cleanup' tool. The tool pretty much does what the name implies, which will help to free up valuable disk space and make your computer run a little faster. The utility resides in the 'Programs' menu under Accessories and then System Tools. If you've never run the tool before or it's been a long while, it'll likely take a bit of time for the program to do its job, so be patient. I highly recommend that you start doing this at least once a month!

Anyone that has to work in an office of cubicles, a.k.a a cube farm, you know how easy it is for the wandering eyes of co-workers to see what you're working on when you step away from the desk. It can really be annoying if you happen to work with a bunch of pranksters when you don't take the time to lock your computer down before stepping away. You should get into the routine of locking your system down using a simple keyboard-shortcut before walking away, which will keep those snooping eyes off your screen and prevent the grief from your prankster co-workers. Windows simply need to press the Windows Icon key and the letter "L" (as in lock) to make it happen. If you're a Mac user, just press Control+Shift+Eject at the same time to lock down your desktops. If you're Mac doesn't have an 'Eject' key, just use Control+Shift+Power instead get it done. This tip only makes sense if you've setup a login password, so make sure you remember this important step. Parents can also use this process to keep young children from using the computer when they aren't supposed to be on it.