It doesn’t matter if you’re a cord cutter or are paying for cable, satellite, etc. , streaming video online is a staple of life now! Watch on your TV, laptop, desktop, phone, and fridge (assuming you have one of those fancy smart fridges). Streaming! https://www.polygon.com/2019/11/7/20903616/best-streaming-service-netflix-hulu-amazon-disney-plus-hbo-comparison-shows Also, the Maui County is offering hard drive destruction on Saturday, November 23rd! From them: The County of Maui will be holding a free, drive-through hard drive and backup tape destruction and disposal service in the lower parking lot behind the Kalana O Maui County Building on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019, in observance of Cyber Security Awareness Month. The free service will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, with access to the parking area under the County building from Kaohu Street (just below the intersection with High Street). But before you destroy it, consider wiping it first! https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-wipe-a-hard-drive-2624527
Before you go… (11/16/19 Part 2)
A good friend of the show had a family member pass away. We offered our condolences, but he did say something to his friends and family that caught our attention. What We Leave Behind https://www.facebook.com/help/1070665206293088 https://lifehacker.com/one-day-youre-going-to-die-heres-how-to-prepare-for-i-5992722 https://www.pcmag.com/feature/366465/how-to-prepare-your-digital-life-for-your-death
Are you ready for the Transit of Mercury? (11/9/19 Part 1)
Mercury will be passing between the Sun and the Earth! Are you ready for this? We talk with our astronomical guests Dr. Armstrong, Dr. She, and Tag! Transit of Mercury! https://www.space.com/32819-mercury-transit-how-to-watch-safely-equipment.html https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-blogs/imaging-foundations-richard-wright/how-safely-photograph-sun/
“Is this a con?” “Why no, of course not!” (11/2/19 Part 2)
Con artists and scammers will never admit they’re bad guys. So will stores and sales people for that matter! Don’t Get Fooled! https://ideas.ted.com/dont-get-fooled-or-conned-again-here-are-the-5-tactics-to-look-out-for/ https://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-techniques.htm
Its solar talk with SUN KING SOLAR! (10/19/19 Part 1)
Paul, President and CEO of Sun King Inc, here on Maui is joining us today to talk about solar power! Its a great and growing place in the economy both here and world-wide. Hawai’i is great for solar, and we are very excited about it! All Things Solar – Part 1 Solar water heating, solar electric, solar air condition, and more! Sun King Hawai’i is online! https://www.sunkinghawaii.com/ https://www.facebook.com/SunKingInc/ https://www.yelp.com/biz/sun-king-kahului Unhappy with the tax credits going away? https://www.seia.org/defend-solar-itc Green energy! Its big business without oil’s BIGGER subsidies! https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/10/us-green-economys-growth-dwarfs-the-fossil-fuel-industrys/
Paul Spencer from Sun King Solar talks on hot topics! (10/19/19 Part 2)
Tax credits, MECO programs, how to start the process to get solar, and more! All Things Solar – Part 2 Sun King Hawai’i is online! https://www.sunkinghawaii.com/ https://www.facebook.com/SunKingInc/ https://www.yelp.com/biz/sun-king-kahului Unhappy with the tax credits going away? https://www.seia.org/defend-solar-itc Green energy! Its big business without oil’s BIGGER subsidies! https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/10/us-green-economys-growth-dwarfs-the-fossil-fuel-industrys/
Web Browser Extensions – making your browser better! (10/12/19 Part 1)
The humble web browser is probably one of the most commonly used pieces of software out there. It works hard running web apps, playing videos, music, and just getting stuff done. But, did you know you can make it better? Browser Extensions Jonathan, LD, and Sam talk about web browser extensions: what they like, and more! Now, where do you get them? The browser’s OFFICIAL STORE. Its much safer than downloading from random websites! NoScript blocks scripts, only allowing what you want! Lightbeam shows you where your internet cookies are going for any given website. Where is your data going? AdBlocker+ helps keep obtrusive (and sometimes dangerous) ads from driving you crazy! NewsGuard is Sam’s favorite and only extension which helps him get initial gauging of websites. Flash is one of those most popular plugins, but its dying! We mention this so you know. Password managers abound, but get one from a reputable service. The Mercury Reader is a Chrome extension that will let you have a “Reader Mode” for websites! Adobe Reader for PDFs! Privacy Badger helps keep trackers from tracking you! It tells them “stop!” and if they don’t? It’ll block them!
Botnets: badware getting better and smarter… grrr… (9/21/19 Part 1)
Don’t call it a comeback! Emotet has been going to the gym and on a diet. What is Emotet? And what is a botnet? Bad Botnet! Bad! No Biscuit! How to recognize Emotet – https://blog.malwarebytes.com/botnets/2019/09/emotet-is-back-botnet-springs-back-to-life-with-new-spam-campaign/ Deeper reading – https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/worlds-most-destructive-botnet-returns-with-stolen-passwords-and-email-in-tow/ What is a botnet? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botnet
Backups, Protection, and a New PRIZE for our DRAWING! (9/21/19 Part 2)
Our friends at OfficeMax/Office Depot in Kahului have given us a family sized prize for our next drawing! Protecting your PC! Why is this relevant? Why, we’re talking about backups and protecting your computing devices!
Books have Chrome! Chrome of Books! (9/14/19 Part 1)
Today we talked about Chromebooks! They’ve come a long way over the past few years. Tune in as we talk about: Is the ChromeBook for me? Chromebooks pros: Websurfing and webapps! Android apps! Chromebooks can run Android apps now! Relatively inexpensive for modest machines, although better machines in terms of build quality and specs are available (even up to $999!) for serious/professional users. Chromebook cons: You can’t buy and download big, full-professional programs like Adobe Creative Cloud, Final Cut Pro, FULL Microsoft Office, etc. You’re stuck with web apps or Android apps. You can’t buy and download Windows or Mac games. You’re stuck with web games and Android games. Chromebooks generally do best with wifi or an internet connection. Without internet access you lose access to a lot of functionality. Things to consider Design. Is it a laptop or a convertable/2-in-1? Touchscreen? How well is it made? Stylus support? What sort of ports? USB? HDMI? How much RAM? 4g is minimum recommended for light use. 8g or more for heavier use, demanding Android apps/games, etc. 16g is going to be overkill for most users. CPU. Many will have Celerons or similar low-end CPUs which is okay for casual browsing and light use (Celerons, ARM, m3’s), but the nicer ones can have i3, i5, and i7 CPUs. Storage! 32g is probably a safe starting point, but if you want to keep files locally, download Android apps, etc., consider 64gb to 128g. If you plan to do photo editing or video editing then look for more. Budget. Be …