Your internet connection, web sites and services.
Internet and Web
Have I Been Scammed?
Episode 1733
Bill fromBill thinks his network has been infected because his email won't let him send anymore. It's completely missing. Leo says to make sure the SEND port is correctly configured in the email client (in this case Thunderbird). It's the SMTP server and it usually runs port 587. The scam came from "Spectrum" and "Thunderbird Help" that said he was having a driver issue. Leo says that's a scam. Email doesn't use drivers. It just uses an internet connection.
Johnny Jet ... Rapidly tested
Episode 1731
The huge story in Travel news ... United Airlines is offering rapid testing at San Francisco Airport for $250 with results in 72 hours, or you can test ahead of time and drop off the package for $80. You'll still have to quarantine where you're going until the results are received, but why not? Hawaii Airlines is also offering rapid testing for $90 and it will take 72 hours. Lufthansa is offering rapid testing for only $12 in Europe. Johnny says that until COVID goes away, this is the new normal if you want to travel.
How Can I Adjust Audio Sync On TV While Streaming?
Episode 1731
Bruce fromBruce is having issues with audio sync on his TV and home theater/DVD player. Leo says that sync is often built-in and should be in the settings for the device. Bruce gave up on his FireStick. Leo says that a lot of people have. There are some tricks like turning off encoding (or on). Look at the TV settings as well. Maybe a better HDMI cable would help.
From the chatroom - check the manual for AV Sync. https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00012347
What's a Good Way to Save Notes Online?
Episode 1731
John fromJohn's son is a student and he wants to know about long term cloud storage for all his university notes. How can he organize it and be able to access it when he needs to? Leo says that it comes down to how he likes to take notes and what form to store them. Many medical students take graphical notes, sketching, and the like. That's why an iPad Pro is really good for that. If on Windows, One Note is a good app for that, which has good handwriting recognition, and then it's saved to Microsoft One Drive automatically. Evernote is another option.
Is online banking through a browser secure?
Episode 1730
John fromJohn is worried that his identity will be stolen, along with his money, if he does online banking through his browser. Leo says that browsers are equally secure, as long as they keep getting patched on a regular basis. The issue isn't the browser, it's the system itself. The weak link in the chain is you. If you get an email that seems to be from your bank and you click on the links inside, it's likely a fake and your login has been stolen due to a phishing attack. That's the kind of thing that can happen. Banks will never email you. Keep that in mind.
Johnny Jet ... Aloha
Episode 1729
Johnny Jet is heading back to Hawaii after the state set a reopening date of October 15th. So far, it's only Oahu and you need to be tested within 72 hours of travel, and it's only through CVS or Kaiser Permanente. If you don't have a test, you will have to either turn around and go home or quarantine for five days. New York has also reopened to six states, including California.
American has transcontinental deals from California to New York for as low as 12,000 miles per seat.
How Can I Clean Up and Manage My Personal/Business Contacts?
Episode 1729
Rich fromRich has a need to remove contacts from his personal contacts account and then replace it in his business account. Leo says that he doesn't know any automated way to do that. The only real way is to do it manually. He recommends turning off syncing. Then export contacts as a CSV file. Clean up that contact list, then make a copy of the cleaned-up version. He can also use an app like Contacts+ to merge duplicates. Do this for both personal and business contact lists, then import them. Rich will likely have to do this periodically. But keep sync off.
TikTok To Stop Working by Nov. 12th With No Deal for US Sale
Episode 1729
The popular social media video platform TikTok may stop working in the US on November 12th if a deal isn't made to sell it's US operations to a US company by then. Leo says that while Oracle was reported to have agreed to purchase the platform, the company has said they would only have a vested interest in the company that would route all traffic to their servers. Walmart is also believed to be interested in investing in a new arrangement, Leo says probably for eCommerce rights. But it's all for naught if a deal isn't reached that will meet presidential approval.
NBC/Peacock and Roku make up. App to Appear Soon
Episode 1729
Caught in a battle for months, which culminated with NBC threatening to pull content from all eleven of its streaming channels, both streaming platforms have come to an agreement that will put Peacock on the Roku platform soon. Maybe within weeks. Leo says brinksmanship is becoming the norm, with a battle having to be waged before parties come together with a mutual agreement.
How Can I Stop Zoom From Dropping?
Episode 1727
Amy Rose fromAmy is a second-grade teacher and they are getting ready to head back into the classroom for doing zoom calls to her student. The problem is, her wifi hubs keep dropping the internet signals. She's told her cordless phones are causing the problem. Leo says it could be, depending on what frequency the phone is operating at. 2.4 GHz is a very congested spectrum and cordless phones operate on that, so it could be interfering.
But Leo suspects there could be other problems as well.
