By Rick Rouse

Did you know that Google keeps a record of everything you have ever searched for via the Google search engine?
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Well, they do, and unless you have already deleted your Search history at some point in the past it dates all the way back to the very first search you made on Google!

Truth be told, Google has always provided a way to delete your Search history IF you knew where to look.  The thing is, it was always very hard to find.
Luckily, Google has now made it a lot easier to delete your Search history.
Just follow the steps below for the device you’re using.

If you’re using a laptop or or desktop computer:
Important: Following the steps below will delete EVERYTHING that Google has stored about you. I recommend that you take a look at the categories listed in step 8 to make sure you really want to delete everything you see there. If you want to retain one or more categories simply uncheck the boxes beside those items.

1 – Visit www.Google.com and log into your Google account (if you aren’t logged in already).
2 – Click the Settings link in the lower right-hand corner of the window.
3 – Select Your data in Search from the pop-up menu.
4 – Scroll down and click Manage your search History.
5 – Click Saving to Web & App Activity.
6 – Click the Turn off button and then select Turn off and delete activity from the drop-down menu.
7 – Click the Next button.
8 – If it isn’t checked already, click on the box beside Select all to select everything in the list below it.
9 – Click the Delete button to confirm that you really do want to delete your entire search history.

If you’re using a mobile device:

Important: Following the steps below will delete EVERYTHING that Google has stored about you. I recommend that you take a look at the categories listed in step 7 to make sure you really want to delete everything you see there. If you want to retain one or more categories simply uncheck the boxes beside those items.

1 – Visit www.Google.com in a mobile web browser and log into your Google account (if you aren’t logged in already).
2 – Tap your little avatar photo in the top-right corner of the screen, then tap Search history.
3 – Tap Saving to Web & App Activity.
4 – Tap the Turn off button and then select Turn off and delete activity from the drop-down menu.
6 – Tap the Next button.
7 – If it isn’t checked already, tap on the box beside Select all to select everything in the list below it.
8 – Tap the Next button.
9 – Tap the Delete button.

That’s all there is to it. Your Google search history should now be gone.
And always remember my motto:  It’s usually best to err on the side of safety when it comes to privacy.

Bonus tip: This fantastic resource will teach you everything you need to know about Google Workspace (covers Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and every other app from the suite). It’s truly beneficial for everyone, from beginners to advanced users.

By Rick Rouse

Did you know malicious apps on your Windows 11 machine could be sending spam and virus-laden emails to other people, in your name?
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This is taking place right now on unsuspecting users’ PCs, and it’s happening on a massive scale.

And guess what? If people are receiving malicious emails that were sent from your computer they’re almost certainly thinking it was YOU that sent them.

By default, Windows 11 allows apps to use its integrated email system to send out emails listing your email address as the sender.

This feature can actually be quite handy if you intentionally use a mail app to send legitimate emails on your behalf, but if your system becomes infected with malware you could end up being labeled a spammer and have your email address added to various email blacklists.

And as you can imagine, that wouldn’t be good.

Luckily, you can easily prevent this from happening by simply disabling email access for any apps that are installed on your Window 11 machine.
There are two approaches you can take to accomplish this:

1 – Disable email access to all apps in one fell swoop as well as the Windows installation itself. In other words, disable email access for the entire system.
In my opinion this is the best method to use if you use a cloud-based email service like Oulook.com or Gmail.

2 – If you use the Microsoft’s Outlook or some third-party email app you can disable email access to all currently installed apps except the one you use for your email.

​First, I’ll explain how to disable email access for everything on your system in one fell swoop if you don’t want to allow ANY app to send or receive emails:
1 – Right-click the Start button and select Settings from the menu.
2 – Over on the left, click Privacy & Security.
3 – In the right-hand pane, scroll down and click Email.
4 – Toggle the “Email access” setting to Off.

That’s all there is to it. Email access is now completely disabled on your PC.

Now I’ll explain how to disable email access for every currently installed app except for your email app:
1 – Right-click the Start button and select Settings from the menu.
2 – Over on the left, click Privacy & Security.
3 – In the right-hand pane, scroll down and click Email.
4 – Leave the radio buttons for both options on this screen set to On.
You should see a list of all installed apps that currently have access to your system’s email service. If you don’t see any apps listed on this screen that means none of your installed apps currently has email access (which is awesome). If that’s the case I recommend toggling both options mentioned in step 4 to Off.
5 – If there are apps listed here, toggle the setting for all of them to Off except for the email app that you currently use.

That’s all there is to it. The only app that should now have email access is the one you actually use to send and receive emails.

Important: While the second option is definitely safer than allowing unrestricted access to email by any app, it won’t prevent newly installed apps or malware from accessing Windows’ email service. Therefore, I strongly recommend disabling ALL email access unless you use a locally installed email app.

I also recommend that you bookmark this post and repeat the steps listed above every time you install a new app.

Bonus tip: This post explains why you should cancel all of your unused email accounts.

Courtesy of Rick Rouse Daily Tech Tips

<rant>
One of the most irritating things about computers is how they stutter, freeze up or simply crash altogether, usually at the worst possible time.

That happened to one of my friends this morning, and it really got me thinking…
Why is it that after all these years computers still crash at all? 

Software engineers have been designing programs and writing code for decades, and the tools they use are more powerful than ever.

Why then does expensive software that was designed using millions (and sometimes billions) of dollars of research and development funds cause us so much grief?

I believe expensive, but buggy software is released to the public because the huge software companies are more interested in making the next billion dollars than in creating the best possible product. Take Microsoft for example…

It takes the folks in Redmond years to find and squash most of the bugs in any given version of Windows, yet when they finally get it “fixed” to the point where it is somewhat stable, they replace it with a new version that is filled with a brand new batch of bugs and other irritations (such as forcing a completely new user interface that no one likes or wants onto consumers).
So why can’t they just leave well enough alone? I’ll tell you why…

There is relatively little profit in “leaving well enough alone”.

Literally billions of dollars are to be made with every release of the next version of Windows. I believe that’s why Microsoft reversed their decision to make Windows 10 the last version of Windows ever and release Windows 11.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-capitalist in the least. I’m all for companies making a good profit from their R&D investments. After all, capitalism is the engine that has kept our great country great for two and a half centuries.

But that being said, I also believe companies should deliver the highest quality product to the public that they possibly can. And when it comes to software, it seems like they’re really missing the mark.

Consider this: Would hospitals and patients settle for medical devices that crash and freeze up in the middle of a serious operation? Would drivers settle for automobiles that stalled in the middle of the road every 80th trip?

The answer to these questions is no, and we shouldn’t have to settle for computer systems that crash at the worst possible times either.

Bottom line: Computers have been around for well over half a century now. It is not an immature industry.
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At this point in the game, the only time a computer (or smartphone, tablet or printer) should ever crash is when a critical piece of hardware fails. In my humble opinion, modern computers and other devices that are powered by chips and software code should rarely (if ever) fail from a software glitch. Just sayin’.
</end of rant>

By Rick Rouse

Most folks love upgrading to a new smartphone at every opportunity, and chances are you have several unused, but working phones tucked away in a drawer somewhere.

​If you’re like me, you probably hate having a perfectly good portable computer (that’s really what a smart phone is) doing nothing more than gathering dust.

I’ve written several posts in the past explaining how to give an old smartphone a new life by turning it into something useful simply by installing an app. I have another such tip for you today.

Believe it or not, by downloading a free app you can turn your old iPhone or Android phone into a fully functioning metal detector.

In a nutshell, the metal detector apps instruct your phone to detect the magnetic fields of metal objects. I gave one of them a try with one of my old Samsung phones, and it works like a charm!

To be sure, your smartphone metal detector isn’t going to help you find a buried treasure that’s covered by two feet of soil, but it works great when searching for something like a screw you accidentally dropped in the grass or a ring you lost at a campsite.

To turn your old iPhone into a metal detector, just download the free app from this page and install it. If you have an Android phone, you can download the app for it right here.

If you’re the industrious type, you can mount your new “smart phone metal detector” on the end of a stick so you can use it without bending over.

Bonus tip: In a pinch, you can use your current phone as a metal detector as well. If you really need to find something you can simply install the app on your phone and use it to find the item you’re looking for. When you’re done just uninstall the app!

Of course if you ever have a need for a full-blown metal detector, you’ll find plenty to choose from right here

Question from Lois:  I use a computer all day at work and it’s gets pretty boring. I’d like to listen to music while I work.

My boss said he doesn’t mind if I listen to a radio but I don’t really have room for one on my small desk.

Is there any way to listen to my favorite radio station on my computer?

It’s an HP desktop with Windows 11.

Thanks in advance for your help!
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Rick’s answer:  Lois, there are several ways to listen to local radio stations on a a PC, but the options available to you will depend on the station you want to listen to.

Most stations can be accessed online in one way or another these days, but my preferred method is to use the station’s own live streaming feed if they provide one.

To check to see if your station has a live stream simply visit their website and look for a button labeled “Listen Live”, “Live Stream” or something similar.

If your station isn’t available via live streaming directly from their website you can try using an awesome free app called TuneIn Radio.

TuneIn comes pre-installed on some Windows machines, but if it isn’t already on your

PC you can follow the steps below to install it for free:
1 – Click the Start button.
2 – Click the Microsoft Store tile. (Note: If that tile isn’t displayed on the Start Menu simply press the Windows+S key combination and search for the word store.)
3 – Once you have the Windows Store app on the screen, type the word tunein into the search box.
4 – Click TuneIn Radio.
5 – Click the Install button. Windows will now download and install the app on your PC.
6 – After the TuneIn app has been installed, click the Open button to open it.
7 – Click the Search link and type your desired station’s call letters into the search box. For example, if you wanted to listen to WSM radio in Nashville you would search for WSM.
8 – If your station is available via the TuneIn app you should see it listed at (or near) the top of the search results. Click on the station’s call letters to listen to its live stream.

That’s all there is to it, Lois. Hopefully you’re listening to your favorite radio station at this very moment!

Bonus tip: This post explains how to use an old smart phone as an emergency radio scanner.

Update from Lois:  Thanks, Rick! I installed TuneIn and it works perfectly for me!