Rick Daily Tips

Question from Luisa:  I’m hoping you can clear something up for me.
I’ve heard some people say we need to stop using Windows 7 now that Microsoft has stopped updating it because it’s no longer safe.

Others are saying it’s perfectly fine to keep using it as long as the computer has an antivirus on it.

This is really confusing to me.

My HP laptop is old but it still works fine even though it has Windows 7 on it. I really hate the thought of having to replace it, but I will if it’s really unsafe to use.

Rick’s answer:  Luisa, it seems that everyone has an opinion about this, and I certainly have one as well.
My short answer to your question is no, Windows 7 is no longer safe to use.

And yes, that includes machines with high-quality antivirus programs installed on them.
Now, here’s my long answer…

Whether your Windows 7 laptop is safe to use really depends on what you use it for.

If you use your laptop for all the normal everyday things that most people use their computers for (banking, bill paying, online shopping, social media, etc.), then the answer isn’t just no.
It’s a resounding NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

The reason I say that is malware is only one of several dangerous threats facing every computer that’s connected to the Internet.

Hackers also seek out and exploit security flaws in a computer’s operating system itself.
And trust me, there are always plenty of flaws to find, and it’s only a matter of time before the next serious one is discovered and exploited by the bad guys.

No antivirus or other type of security app is perfect. The best of the lot routinely miss some malware infections, usually right after a new virus or other exploit is released onto the Internet at large.

What’s more, even if someone were to magically come up with a security app that was indeed perfect and fully capable of detecting and stopping every nasty coming its way that still wouldn’t prevent a hacker from exploiting a serious security flaw in the operating system.
Think of this in terms of a home security plan.

Let’s say a company were to develop a home security/ home monitoring system that’s so good that it would be literally impossible for a burglar to break into your home and steal your stuff without getting caught red-handed. That would be some pretty awesome protection, right?
But here’s the thing.

Even the best security system and home monitoring service in existence wouldn’t be able to protect your home (and possessions) from loss or damage if there was a dangerous flaw in its wiring or the structure happened to be sitting on a fault line that’s prone to frequent earthquakes.

Likewise, even the best antivirus and anti-malware protection can’t prevent a hacker from exploiting a security flaw that’s present in your computer’s software. And since Windows 7 hasn’t been updated with security updates in years, there are plenty of existing security holes for them to sneak into your system through.

Now that I’ve explained why just having a good antivirus program running on a Windows 7 PC won’t make it safe to use for everyday computing activities, I’ll tell you when that same machine would be perfectly safe to use.

You didn’t mention what you use your Windows 7 laptop for so I can’t really give you a definite answer that applies to your specific situation.
I can say this however.

If you use your computer for banking, paying bills, online shopping or accessing any website that require you to enter any type of sensitive information (including usernames, passwords, email addresses and phone numbers) then I would strongly recommend against using that machine as long as Windows 7 was installed on it.

However, if all you do is visit websites anonymously, play games or do most any other activity that doesn’t require you to log in or enter any type of sensitive information, then you can safely use that laptop all day long.

Why? Because if there is no sensitive information for a hacker to steal, you don’t really have to worry about the machine being hacked.

It’s really that simple. And now, one final thought.

Just because it might be unsafe for you to use your laptop with Windows 7 on it (again, depending on what you use it for), that doesn’t mean you necessarily have to buy a new computer with Windows 10 on it.
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You do have a much cheaper to consider: You can replace Windows 7 with Linux (and it won’t cost you a penny).
I hope this helps, Luisa. Good luck!

By Rick Rouse
Rick's Daily TIps

Begin soapbox speech…
The Internet is truly one of the most fascinating (and most useful) inventions in the history of the world.

A research project that in times past would have required a time-consuming visit to a library can now be completed in a manner of minutes, if not seconds – right from your favorite easy chair.

But there’s a problem with all the info that’s currently available on the Internet: much of it is either incomplete, misleading or even downright false.

As you surely know, the Internet is the greatest of equalizers. Anyone possessing a computer or smartphone can upload any information they want to the web and make it available for the entire world to see. And unfortunately much that info tends to be low-quality garbage that could well be dangerous to the reader.

That’s why it’s very important to always take steps to verify everything you read online with at least a couple of other trusted sources.

And when I say “trusted” sources, I don’t mean two additional sources that only (and always) publish things you agree with.

I say that because it’s extremely easy to get caught up in a “bubble” in which the only sites we visit are the ones that match our own world view. While it’s fine to hang out online with people of like minds, always remember this…

If you’re caught up in a bubble everything you read or watch while you’re in that bubble will likely be shaded with the same type of slant. And if that slant happens to be wrong or misleading you can rest assured that most everything you read will be wrong or misleading.

My recommendation is to make it a point to venture out of your bubble on occasion. See what “the other side” is saying about a topic that’s in the news or whatever is on your mind at the time.

I’ll admit that I sometimes fall victim to this bubble effect myself. I believe we all do because it’s simple human nature.

Now, I’ll just finish with this…
Take everything you read or watch on the Internet (and on broadcast media for that matter) with a grain of salt. Treat everything with a healthy dose of skepticism until you’ve had a chance to verify it by checking other reliable sources.

When I say everything, I do mean everything. And yes, that includes the info I provide on my own blogs and in my newsletter.

After all, as hard as I try to provide accurate information, I’m human and I do make my mistakes at times. When you see that I’ve made one I’ll greatly appreciate it if you’ll hit the “Reply” button and tell me about it so I can set the record straight.
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That’s it – I’m all out of soap for now. Thanks for listening…
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By BD Bondy

​I’ve noticed a lot of art shows coming up in the Abiquiu News. There are not only art shows, but classes, classified ads, and other things that will require a transfer of money. Cash is always great, but sometimes, it’s not convenient.

While we are not hosting at the Abiquiu Studio Tour this year, in the past, we have supported many delightful artists and they needed to be able to accept credit card transactions. Typically, our artists used the Square App. This app acts as a simple credit card terminal, point of sale device, and allows someone to create an invoice and take a credit card, right from their phone or tablet. 

Read about the Square App HERE. 

There are many such apps, if you don’t want to use Square, such as Clover, PaySimple, and Google’s ProPay. They generally all work the same, though they may have different fees. You need to check that part out. You shouldn’t need a device to read most cards, but they may provide a card reader for free, or for a fee. Again, you need to check that out.

We use Square at our house. It allows entering card info manually if you don’t have a reader, and it allows for storing sales if you don’t have an internet connection at the time.  Improvements to Square also allow you to accept 'tap to pay' credit cards without a reader if you have a smart phone capable of that.   All these apps will eventually require communication with the mothership to process your CC Transactions.

If you decide to do this, I highly recommend preparing for it well ahead of time. You will need to download the app, setup your account, tie your account in with your bank, and TEST IT! Get familiar with how it works and test it out a few times so you know how to do it when the time comes, including issuing a refund or cancellation.

Square can setup an inventory, insert the tax amount for the sale, and generally read a CC on your phone or tablet. Obviously, you will need a smart device new enough to read a 'tap to pay' CC, or else you will need a separate reader. Androids and iPhones will usually work, and most of these apps will function similarly, so read up on them.

There are other ways to send people money, like Zelle, VenMo and PayPal. Those aren’t PoS systems, but they are ways to pay or get paid, without handling cash. And don’t forget Apple Pay and Google Pay. A list of these types of money transfer methods is HERE. 
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Tech Tip Provided Rick's Daily Tips

Have you ever noticed how ads for products or services you recently checked out online start following you from website to website as you browse the Internet?

If so, you know how Interest Based Advertising works even if you weren’t aware that it exists.
In a nutshell, Interest Based Advertising is a technology that allows advertisers to keep showing you ads for products and services you’ve shown an interest in even after you’ve moved on to a different website.

For example, if you were to spend a few minutes researching hotels for an upcoming Hawaii vacation and then head over to Facebook to check up on your friends’ latest activities, guess what you’d see?

That’s right, Facebook would show you ads for hotels in Hawaii.

Or if you were to spend some time checking out the latest Dodge Ram trucks you’d see ads for Dodge Ram trucks on the next website you visit.

That, my friend, is the absolute ultimate in “targeted advertising”.

Not only are the advertisers “targeting” folks who have shown an interest in their product or service, they’re targeting folks who literally just finished researching those specific products or services!

Some people like the concept of Interest Based Advertising because it helps them focus on the task of booking their hotel room, buying their new car, or whatever.

Personally, I find it just a bit creepy when ads for products or services that I’ve shown even a casual interest in start following me from website to website!

If you find it creepy too you’ll be happy to learn that you can easily turn Interest Based Advertising off for virtually all of the websites that use it.

Just be aware that disabling Interest Based Advertising won’t remove all the ads from the websites you visit. In fact, you’ll still see just as many ads as you saw before.
It’s just that you won’t see the same ads all the time and they won’t follow you from website to website.

You have the choice of opting out of Interest Based Advertising on each of your favorite websites individually or opting out of all of them at once.

For example, if you don’t mind Interest Based Advertising in general but you find them annoying when you’re using Facebook, you can disable Interest Based Advertising just on Facebook by following the instructions on this page.

You can find instructions for disabling Interest Based Advertising for most any website that uses it by searching Google for a term like disable interest based advertising on [website].
For example, to find instructions for disabling Interest Based Advertising on X (formerly Twitter) you would type this into Google:

disable interest based advertising on X

Pretty simple, right?

However, if you really dislike Interest Based Advertising in general it’s a lot better (and faster) to disable it on all sites that support it in one fell swoop.

Luckily, this is very easy to do by following the steps below:

Important: Interest Based Advertising uses browser cookies to decide which ads to show you. That means you’ll need to complete the steps below with every web browser you use and on every device you use.

1 – Visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ and wait for the “Status Check” to complete.
2 – Click Continue.
3 – Click the OPT OUT OF ALL button located at the bottom of the window.
4 – Visit http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/.
5 – Click the Manage My Browser’s Opt Outs button and wait for the “Status Check” to complete.
6 – Click the OPT OUT OF ALL button located at the bottom of the window.

That’s all there is to it. Although you’ll still see ads on the websites you visit, you should no longer see ads for the products and services you recently checked into following you around the Internet as you move from website to website.

Important: Again, since Internet Based Advertising uses browser cookies to determine which ads to show you you’ll need to complete the steps above with every web browser you use and on every device you use.

Bottom line: You don’t have to allow the same creepy ads to follow you from website to website. You can easily disable Interest Based Advertising by following the steps listed above for every browser you use on each of your devices.
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By BD Bondy
 
I’ve been very happy with my Starlink. It’s been stable, fast, and trouble-free. The folks that use it around here that give me feedback say the same thing. Downside is that it is pricey, and it belongs to Elon Musk.

I recently worked on a neighbor’s new Starlink, and it was different than mine. She received the Series 3 device, which has 2 built in ethernet ports. So, good job Starlink Engineers for adding those.

The issue I had with it was when I attached an AP to the Starlink, it only broadcast at about 40Mbps. The Starlink itself was reading over 300, which is fairly incredible, and nearly twice as fast as mine. I tried a brand new AP, same model though, and it still read about 40Mbps.

I thought that shouldn’t be the case, and that an Access Point added via the Ethernet port should read pretty close to the original 300Mbps. So, I googled it, because that’s how I learn things. And it seems that my presumptions were correct, so I bought a different, better AP, though it was a TP-Link like the other 2 I tried.

Bingo, that worked. So while the original APs said they could go up to 300Mbps, they only did 40. The new one I got is a Gigabit AP, supposedly able to go to 1200Mbps, and it did seem to do the 300Mbps the Starlink was putting out.
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Lesson learned.
If you’re interested, the new unit is a TP-Link EAP610-Outdoor, and it uses what they call the Omada software. Omada is TP-Links software to configure and control their APs, etc. It was an App I downloaded on my phone and was fairly simple to use. Also, very cool to be able to configure the unit on my phone.