Now that the storm has passed and recovery is underway, there is a lot of information out there, and not all of it is reliable. Here are some sources that have been steadfast.
Helene Response & Rebuild: - WNC Resource Guide Buncombe Resource List Buncombe Updates from City Council & NC Legislature (click on the highlighted "PDF daily newsletter") We have reconnected with the Asheville Poverty Initiative and 12 Baskets Cafe since the storm, and are back to offering tech support and teaching on Tuesdays from 11am-1pm, at 12 Baskets, at 610 Haywood Road. Join us in this currency free cafe for tech support & teaching provided by Jensen Gelfond, a delicious hot meal, and a box of groceries if you need one.
12 Baskets offers no-cost diner lunches and groceries from 11am-1pm every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Click here to donate and support the mission of 12 Baskets Cafe and the Asheville Poverty Initiative. In this time of acute water need, mother nature has come to the rescue of many people looking for water, especially for flushing toilets. Our own backyard stream on the West Asheville Hill has provided ample water for many uses during this municipal water outage.
Plus, with the aid of an advanced water filter that removes bacteria, viruses and impurities, it's been easier and safer to wash dishes, and has even provided a potable drinking water option in a pinch. It's best to consume the highest quality drinking water you have access to, which is bottled water for most WNC residents right now, but our little stream has done quite the job at providing water during this tough time. With easy access just a few feet away, it's one of the factors that has allowed us to return to the business of supporting you with your technology. Is there a stream near you that could support your need for water? It's a question worth asking. Have you ever called someone and received the dreaded "this voicemail box is full" message? Here are some tips to make sure that your own phone's voicemail service works as smoothly as possible.
1. How to check your voicemail: While many smartphone offer a "visual voicemail" app for easy access, you can also check your voicemail by calling your own phone number from your phone. You can even access your voicemail from someone else's phone by calling your phone number and then pressing either star (*) or hash (#) when you hear your voicemail greeting. Enter your voicemail password when prompted, and you're in (If you don't know your voicemail password, contact your cellular carrier to reset it). 2. Delete voicemail messages regularly. Voicemail boxes only hold a few messages before they get full and stop allowing callers to leave a message. 3. If your voicemail isn't working properly, first call into your voicemail box and make sure there aren't any messages that need to be deleted. As a last resort, you can contact your cellular carrier and ask them to reset your voicemail box. While there are alternatives to voicemail such as sending text messages, the truth is that not everyone uses texting, and leaving a voicemail continues to be a communication method that many people rely on. Have questions about using your smartphone to communicate? We love teaching people how to use their phones more effectively. The internet's worldwide reliability has been shaky lately. It's not only the recent problems with Microsoft Windows computers caused by a flaky antivirus update from the CrowdStrike company. Natural phenomenon like solar flares can also cause computers to temporarily lose internet access.
Regardless of the cause, it's a good idea to have offline access to your critical files so that when the internet goes down, you can still access the information you need. Fortunately, the major cloud platforms such as iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, and others all offer options for offline access. So, whether you're struck by an outage, or simply want to access a hiking map when you're outside of cell range, there are solutions. We're always happy to help ensure that the right information is at your fingertips when you need it most. We've noticed that some companies are simply better at customer service than others. Here's a space for them.
Kudos Apple provides straightforward support for customers (even those who don't pay for an extended warranty) via their AppleCare support line. While there's never a guarantee of getting great support from a company as large as Apple, they typically do a good job of answering basic questions, providing tutorials, and offering options for replacing faulty equipment. Yahoo, surprisingly, is another shoutout. They are one of the only consumer-oriented tech companies that provides easy access to account recovery over the phone phone when clients are locked out of their email accounts. A straightforward process of verifying your identity with a snapshot of government ID can help folks regain access to their email accounts (make sure you're talking to Yahoo and not an imposter before doing this. We can help). Yahoo has been through the wringer over the years, getting acquired by various companies, but at least they provide this service. They charge a small fee for people who don’t use their premium subscription in order to go through the account recovery process, but for clients who were otherwise locked out, it was well worth it. Hall of Infamy In today's world of corporate cost cutting, many companies are unfortunately asleep at the wheel or even actively hostile against their customers. Microsoft's software, especially Outlook, is failure prone and frequently requires troubleshooting. Unfortunately, reaching out to Microsoft for help is a difficult process, requiring lots of hoop jumping to get to a real person, with phone support not always a possibility. If you find a glitch with Microsoft's software, a fix often means waiting weeks, months, or longer while the issue ping pongs around Microsoft's vast corporate structure. The complexity of Microsoft's products also leads to security problems, as recently reported on (not to mention the recent "CrowdStrike" issue with Windows computers that led to airports around the world grounding their flights). It's just one thing after another for this ungainly company, and it's unlikely to get better anytime soon. Facebook deserves special mention for having no customer service at all. We've found it impossible to talk to a real person at Facebook. If you get locked out of your Facebook account, Facebook may ask you to submit your sensitive identity documents, but they typically never respond, failing to actually help people get their accounts back. If there were ever an argument to made for regulating technology companies and requiring them to offer real person-to-person tech support for account recovery, Facebook would be the prime exhibit. Love them or hate them, using a computer or smart phone usually means having to work with some of these companies. We've got the experience and patience to make things as easy as possible on you if you need to cross that bridge, or help you find an alternative. Don't hesitate to reach out to us if you need support. Corporations continue to suffer data breaches and leaks of customer data. Recently we have seen Ticketmaster, Rite Aid, and ATT suffer intrusions.
What's a concerned individual to do? 1. Use a password manager. If a company you do business with is hacked, you can should change your password and check to see if you used that same password on any other websites. Want to be proactive? Most password managers offer to check your current password list to see whether you are reusing any passwords, or if any of your current passwords are already known by hackers. In 1Password, it's called Watchtower. Using a password manager also means it's easy to randomize your passwords so that if one site gets hacked, it will not affect your other logins. 2. Be wary of scams. They could come via phone call, email, or text message. If you're not sure what to do, we can check any email or text message for authenticity. You can forward suspicious messages to us (remote support via email or text message starts at $50). Ultimately, if a service you use reaches out and you're not sure whether it's legitimate, login to your account directly at the company's website by typing their website into your web browser. Don't click the link in a message. Yesterday Apple announced their latest operating systems for iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Watch that will be released this Fall. As always, the announcements herald an end of support for some of their older devices. Check the graphics below to see if your device made the cut. For devices that are no longer supported, Apple continues releasing basic security updates for 2 years after the device stops receiving major updates. Are you interested in the new features that Apple announced? Check the links below for a preview of what's coming next.
MacOS Sequoia iOS 18 for iPhone WatchOS 11 iPadOS 18 We frequently work with people who have been targeted by scams. It's not surprising, considering that nearly half of US consumers have inaccurate information in their credit reports, which can be damaging to your credit score, and can sometimes be a sign of fraudulent activity. While many scammers are just trying to convince you to pay them for something you don't need, sometimes scams go deeper, and lead to identity theft.
Identity theft can occur when scammers gather identifying information about you, such as your social security number or banking information, and then pose as you in order to open new financial accounts in your name, leaving you on the hook for fraudulent charges. It can take months or even years to recover from identity theft, so an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Here are the two most effectives defenses against identity theft: 1. Check your credit file on at least an annual basis to ensure it's accurate, and that no false information has been planted. You can do this at no cost via AnnualCredit Report.com, which is legitimate source for free credit checks. Check your credit with all 3 credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. If you find inaccurate information, dispute it. 2. Freeze your credit by going through the credit freeze process on each bureau's website (phone and mail-in options are also available). When your credit is frozen, neither you nor scammers can open new financial accounts in your name, because companies can no longer run credit checks on you. When you are ready to undertake a major financial transaction, you can thaw your credit, either temporarily or permanently, by going to the same websites you visited when you froze your credit. The bureaus promise to thaw your credit within 15 minutes after you make the request. Freeze your credit at all 3 credit bureaus for maximum effectiveness. Click each link below to begin the process: TransUnion Equifax Experian Do you need help going through the online process of checking or freezing your credit? We can support you every step of the way, over the course of an appointment, by phone or in the comfort of your home. What does it take to make your iPhone more secure? iPhones are designed from the ground up to keep the sensitive parts of their operating system hidden from your apps, so it’s impossible to run a conventional antivirus app on your iPhone.
The best way to keep your phone from being penetrated by a virus is to keep your phone up-to-date on the latest iOS operating system. iPhones are designed to update themselves a few days or weeks after updates are released, but you can install the latest updates anytime by going to the Settings app -> General -> Software Update. That’s not to say that security apps don’t exist for iPhones. They do, and they serve several important purposes. We love the Malwarebytes antivirus program for Mac & PC, and they make a great security program for iPhone & Android as well. Here are a few of the ways Malwarebytes keeps people safe on iPhone: - Blocks scam websites - Blocks scam calls - Checks that operating system has not been tampered with (jailbroken) - Checks that your phone has a passcode in place - Blocks advertising in Safari It’s also important to perform periodic checks of your digital accounts, such as your Apple, Google, cell phone carrier, and email accounts. Their security is tightly intertwined with the security of your devices. Last, for folks with technical knowhow who feel they are at greater risk than most people, Apple offers Lockdown Mode, which disables many features of the phone and makes it harder to browse the web, but provides greater security. Lockdown mode is not for the faint of heart, and requires training to use properly, as without the proper care it can prevent people from being able to use most apps and websites successfully. We can help you over the course of a phone or in-person appointment to ensure that your digital life is well-protected. |
AuthorJensen Gelfond is the Founder of Asheville Digital Lifestyle. He helps people use their technology more effectively and joyfully. Categories
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