Data Doctors Tech Tips

If you're into hiking as much as I am, discovering new trails to explore wherever you go can become a bit of a travel obsession. And just because it's getting a little chilly all around us, that doesn't mean we have to give up hiking as a regular form of exercise. While there are a plethora of useful resources on the Internet for discovering new hiking trails, I always start with one site in particular: AllTrails.com With over 700K members and 50K hiking trails, the wisdom of the crowds from this single source is pretty amazing. Search for trails that range from kid or dog friendly to those that include a waterfall or accommodates mountain biking. You can get the vital information such as the approximate distance and time of each trail as well as the difficulty rating and user reviews. It's super simple to find the best hikes nearby based on your location which is great for travellers or it will help you find those hidden trails where you live and work. The depth of quality info you can acquire on any potential trail is second to none at http://AllTrails.com and their mobile app makes discovering great new adventures everywhere you go easy to achieve.

It's the time of year that you find the best deals on virtually any kind of electronic gadget you might have on your holiday shopping list. But beware: the lowest price is often not the best deal. When you shop for electronics only based on the price, that plays right into the hands of companies that are moving less desirable products. The only way to be the cheapest in just about any category is by cutting corners because the profit margin on electronics are so razor thin. The result can be batteries that don't stay charged as long, compatibility problems with software or apps and in some rare cases, major security issues with the device. You should stick to buying name brand products from resellers that you know that will allow you to return it if it's unsatisfactory. The rule of thumb with cheap electronics is the cheaper they are, the more research you should to do before making a decision. It's really easy these days to find user feedback on any gadget; just do a Google search for the item followed by 'review'. If for some reason, you can't find any online reviews, pass on the device or risk becoming a guinea pig!

You've probably noticed strange items just seem to pop-up on your computer over time and it's most likely the result of installing new apps or programs on your system. A common way to sneak third-party programs onto your computer these days is through other programs like a printer installation program or utility such as Java. The best way to catch these unwanted programs and unnecessary changes to your system is to pay very close attention to the installation routine. Software companies are relying on you not to pay attention and just keep hitting next, next, next, I agree. Another way they try to trick you into allowing junk programs on to your computer is by persuading you that the standard installation is the recommended one. They make it appear that you've got to be some sort of rocket scientist in order to select the custom installation, but that's the only way that you'll get to see what they're trying to put on your computer. From now on, make sure you always choose the advanced or custom installation button whenever you're installing any new program on to your system so you can avoid the sneaky junk. Following this advice is the key to keeping your browser from being messed up with extra toolbars or the irritation of having your default search engine or start page changed.

Google has given us all a boost in the ongoing battle to protect yourself online. Since it's very likely that you have a Google account of some kind, seeing when and how the account has been accessed is a really good way to check for unusual activity. Google's Dashboard for Devices and Activity makes it simple to review the complete list of all the devices or computers that have had access to your account in the last month or so, including devices that are currently logged in. Whenever possible, they'll include location information as well to assist in determining if the access is from an authorized device. If you see any suspicious devices or logins, there's an option to quickly take steps to secure your account by changing the password. Even if you aren't seeing anything unusual, you should take the extra step of clicking on the 'Secure your account' link at the top. It will review five ways to secure your account including a display of all the apps, websites and devices that currently have access to your account. The direct link to the Google Security Dashboard is posted at DataDoctors.com/radio https://goo.gl/F1IEeJ

Once again the holiday shopping season is upon us and most of us are buying as many gifts as we can online to avoid the crowded stores. But, when you do buy items online, they're often delivered to your front door while you are away, which has led to a new concern: Porch Pirates. Porch Pirates will follow delivery trucks around to check out the best packages to steal when they figure out no one's home. To help fight this growing problem, try to have your gifts sent to a friend or neighbor that you know will be at home or if possible, send it to your place of work. You can generally provide special delivery instructions when you're making the purchase or post a note on the front door if there's a safer place for the delivery to be made. If packages get delivered to your house on a regular basis throughout the year, think about installing a motion-sensing webcam that can automatically record activity and sends you an alert whenever it detects someone at your door.

The Internet is once again abuzz about how holiday lighting systems can cause problems for your WiFi network. While it is technically possible, it's highly unlikely that you'll actually experience any WiFi problems with standard lighting strings. Just to play it safe, avoid plugging your light strings into the same outlet or power strip as your WiFi router and if you still think you have an interference problem, there's an easy way to figure it out. Simply test your Internet connection speeds without them plugged in and with them plugged using something like http://speedtest.net. The reality is that you WiFi network is much more susceptible to interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, baby monitors or typically a neighbor's WiFi router that's a short distance away. You're WiFi router should have the ability to automatically find the least congested channel, but if it doesn't, the best channels to manually set it are 1, 6 and 11 to avoid overlap. Android users can also use an awesome free app called WiFi Analyzer to check your connections.

It's highly unlikely by now that haven't heard about the controversy surrounding hover boards as they have been exploding and catching fire around the globe. The most likely reason is that cheap Chinese manufacturers are using shoddy assembly processes with untested products and dumping them on the world markets in hopes of cashing in on a hot fad. Mismatched charging systems coupled with lithium ion batteries is a recipe for disaster and that appears to be the primary reason these hover boards are exploding. The lesson you can learn from this situation actually applies to every device you charge with a lithium ion battery: make absolutely sure you are using the proper charger. We constantly see damaged laptops with a number of problems because the owner purchased a cheap what claimed to be a 'universal charger' when the original charger went bad. Mismatched chargers can cause both overheating and a shortening of overall battery life. Should you ever detect excessive heat or bulging on any of your batteries, especially while you're charging it, you should discontinue using them and have them inspected or replaced.

Electronic gadgets always the most sought after holiday gift items, but often times, the good stuff is pretty expensive. If you are seeking an amazing tech related holiday gift that doesn't cost a fortune, but will amaze both techies and non-techies, checkout something called Google Cardboard! I've featured this wondrous way to experience virtual reality before and if you still haven't seen it in action, I guarantee, it'll be the hit of any holiday gathering. Google Cardboard is simply a small kit that can turn just about any smartphone into a powerful virtual reality headset. There are numerous Cardboard apps that will amaze you that range from concert videos with Paul McCartney to virtual field trips with the Expeditions app. You can even experience the 360 degree YouTube videos in a totally immerse way that really makes you feel like you're in video you're watching. At between $15 to $30 you won't find a better all around gift or if you're the creative type you can make it yourself at https://google.com/cardboard.

If you're holiday shopping is going to be online this year, I've got a tip that will save you both time and money! We all know how much a coupon code can save you money, but you have to find the right code for items you want. Websites such as http://RetailMeNot.com can make it easier to search for coupon codes, but often times the codes may be no good which can turn into a major waste of time. I've got a much easier suggestion for saving money and it's free and easy...it's a browser add on called Honey. Once you install it in your browser, Honey will automatically search for and apply coupon codes whenever they are available without ever having to the leave the web page you're shopping in. A greyed out H is the Honey icon which appears in the upper right corner of any browser that it's added to. Then whenever you are shopping at a site where Honey knows of special deals, the H icon turns orange to let you know. Add the Honey plug-in to any major browser so you can start shopping smarter faster at https://www.joinhoney.com!

Don't you hate when your computer takes what seems like forever to shut down? While you may be tempted to force it to shutdown by hitting the power button, it's understandable but a really bad idea. Your computer generates a lot of temporary files through its normal operation which are tagged for deletion when you shut your computer down. Windows computers have an especially extensive housekeeping procedure that it needs to perform whenever you shut them down, which is reflected by the flashing hard drive light on your computer. When you don't allow this process to finish, you can fill your hard drive with junk files. When your computer starts to get low on hard drive space, it will dramatically impact your performance. So, if you're guilty of impatience and have done shut your system down before it could finish, you can track down the unnecessary files and clear them out with the built in Disk Cleanup utility. This is one of those many times that patience is both a virtue and a benefit. By the way, if you're a Mac user, you should heed this same advice to keep things running smooth.