I was having a chat on Skype the other day, and much to my surprise, a topic we were discussing popped up on my very next Internet search. Purely a coincidence you might think, but I somehow doubt that. My suspicions were increased after stumbling on the following YouTube video from Mitchollow who does a live demonstration of what I experienced the other day. Which reinforces my belief that we all need to be extra careful about what we discuss or wish for, when around Internet connected devices that have microphones on them.
Running your home network from a mobile phone
My office seems to be located in a high lightning strike area, and as a consequence we have been through 4 modems in just over 12 months. Each time this happens we spend days (or over a week as I write this) without Internet access. I recently discovered the following YouTube video from a chap with a channel called Network Advisor, who has discovered how to tether his mobile phone to a modem, which then provides Internet access for devices in his house. I had an old modem and I’m currently using this method with my Samsung mobile phone to provide Internet and Wi-Fi access for all the devices in my house, while I wait for a replacement modem to be delivered. It works and I don’t know why I haven’t done this sooner!!
Is your Wi-Fi running slow?
There are many things that can impact your home Wi-Fi performance, and I have previously written a self-help document in the Resources section of this web page to assist with boosting your Wi-Fi speeds and explaining why it is so important to use only the 2.4 Ghz band channels 1, 6, and 11. Then today I discovered a great article from MetaGeek that goes into far more depth about a whole raft of Wi-Fi topics. Discover more here.
Wi-Fi Security Risk when discarding your printers
PetaPixel have alerted us in an article about the Wi-Fi security risk you expose yourself to when discarding your Canon printers. I suspect the same could well be the case for other brands of Wi-Fi connected printers too. Read more about it and how to remediate the situation here.
Memory card brands ranked
If you are upgrading your computer, or perhaps building a new one, a recent article by Slash Gear will help you choose a good RAM brand. Read it here.
Installing Windows 11 on older computers
Many of us are still running on old faithful Windows 10, mainly because the computers we are using don’t pass the Windows 11 compatability test. Now, nearly 2 years after its release, there are ways to install the operating system on computers that don’t pass the test. See if your computer will now run Windows 11 and how to do it by watching the ExplainingComputers Youtube channel’s video below.
How to password protect your USB drive
Only today I read about a USB memory stick that was discovered in a local car park, demonstrating precisely how easy it is for your personal data and photographs to be potentially exposed to just about anybody. Then later in the day I read a very timely article from the MakeUseOf guys that discussed how to password protect USB drives. Read about that here, before it is too late.
Update your Android devices now
Google has recently patched 43 vulnerabilities; of which 3 are currently exploited zero-day vulnerabilities. Malwarebytes Labs have published an article highlighting this and explains how to ensure your devices are updated. Read it here.
Why is USB-C so significant?
The EU has set a deadline of December 28th, 2024 for all new phones to use USB-C for wired charging. Geeky Gadgets has posted an article discussing why USB-C is so important and how it compares to earlier versions of USB. Read more here.
Got a noisy laptop fan?
Getting tired of the noise emanating from your laptop? The MakeUseOf guys have an article here where they describe 7 things you can try to make your laptop computer’s fan quieter.
DIY Home Automation projects
The Raspberry Pi is a great platform for starting to explore and building your own home automation system. There are many companies providing purpose built home automation systems based on this hardware. In this month’s MagPi (the official Raspberry Pi) Magazine there is an article dedicated to the topic. Get a copy of the magazine here.
Have an old computer that won’t run Windows 11?
Microsoft’s Windows 11 will only run on recent computer hardware; so what do we do with all our older notebook and desktop computers? ZDnet have just published an article about a Linux distribution that looks and feels very much like Windows 11 and would be an ideal replacement for older versions of Windows, so now you can get some more mileage out of your old computers. I’m going to give it a go on some old notebook computers that I currently have sitting in a corner. Read all about it here.
What’s a USB Condom?
If you ever find the need to plug your mobile device into a public USB port to recharge it, be aware of the possibility of your device becoming infected with malware. Read this article by Lifehacker.com about how you can protect yourself from nefarious actors by using USB data blockers.
Looking for a new printer?
If you are looking for a new printer PC Mag have recently written a number of printer reviews. The link here is for Inkjet printers, however there are other links within that artcle to other categories of printers if you are looking for something different.
What’s (the) Matter
Matter is a new Home Automation standard that helps with the integration of Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. The Verge go into a great deal of detail about Matter in their article here.