 Asheville Digital Lifestyle's founder Jensen and his spouse Beth are expecting a baby! With the little one due in September, Jensen & Asheville Digital Lifestyle will go on sabbatical to concentrate on supporting the new family member.
At this time we continue to operate normally. If you are considering future projects with us, we recommend engaging our services prior to September to ensure that we are available to support you. You are welcome to ask questions, and we will provide resources on tech support alternatives prior to the sabbatical.  Changes to text messaging are ramping up lately, and we're here to explain.
The basic text messaging format, around since the days of the flip phone, is SMS (if it includes a photo or video, it's called MMS). Virtually any phone connected to a cellular carrier can send texts via SMS, and low-quality (sometimes blurry) photos & videos can be sent via MMS. Because of the limitations of SMS/MMS, several years ago Apple created iMessage (iPhone users, you know you are sending iMessages when the messages are colored blue). In the years since, a competing format used by Android smartphone users was created called RCS. Both RCS and iMessage have benefits including indication of whether the message was received by the recipient, whether the other person is currently typing, and the ability to send/receive higher-quality (less likely to be blurry) images & videos, along with files such as PDF or Word documents. RCS used to be an Android-only affair, but iPhones & Androids can now communicate via RCS if the carriers of both phones support it. Yes, it can be a confusing mishmash, but the upshot is that manysmartphone users can now communicate more easefully regardless of whether they are on Android or iPhone. However, some of our clients have seen reliability issues with sending and receiving SMS messages since the cell phone carriers shifted their focus to RCS. If you have any problems sending or receiving SMS or RCS messages, the first troubleshooting step is to contact your cellular carrier.  Our favorite free adblocker, Malwarebytes Browser Guard, has recently been updated to protect users from malicious websites that modify your web browser settings. "Search hijacking" can change your web browser's behavior to redirect legitimate searches to bogus or malware-ridden results. It's always a cat-and-mouse game when it comes to effectiveness of such tools, but we like that this automatic protection is now built into Malwarebytes Browser Guard. It's available at no cost for web browsers including Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. Click here to check it out.
 We've noticed over recent years that phone call quality is getting worse, as networks optimize more for internet usage and less for calling. Considering much of our business revolves around voice calls, and desiring the clearest calls possible, we've come up with alternative solutions for when phone call quality isn't up to snuff.
For iPhone users, the clear choice is FaceTime Audio technology. It allows for a high quality voice call (we use the audio-only version of FaceTime). A big bonus of FaceTime is the option for easy screen sharing or remote control (always permission based), should you need tech support for your iPhone or iPad during the call. Please add our email address to your contacts list on your iPhone/iPad to ensure the smoothest FaceTime Audio experience. For Android users, we can provide a Google Meet link for higher quality audio. We also offer TeamViewer QuickSupport for Android to allow permission based remote control for many phones. We are always happy to call you the old fashioned way, but having other options gives us the flexibility to make your experience better.  TV maker Vizio is in hot water after showing political advertising to households who leave their televisions idling. Since your TV is the biggest screen in the house, advertisers are finding unsavory methods for getting ads in front of eyeballs, tracking what people watch, and selling that data. Click here for details.
The old adage "you get what you pay for" is true with TVs, where low-cost TVs are subsidized with advertising and tracking. Our favorite smart TV streaming system is the Apple TV which plugs into your existing TV and, though expensive, does not run intrusive ads, and is both powerful and easy to use. Recently, we've found that Google TV based televisions, such as Sony Bravia, are also easy to use. However, the jury is still out regarding ads and tracking in those systems, considering that Google is first and foremost an advertising company. We've traditionally been a fan of Roku's easy-to-use systems, though additional advertising is beginning to crop up in those systems. We recommend against Amazon Fire systems, which are known to include heavy amounts of advertising.  If you recently signed into your Google, Microsoft, or Amazon account, you may have seen a message asking you to setup a passkey. In theory passkeys are simple, using something like your phone's fingerprint or face ID sensor in place of a password. However, the trick is in the details. If you set up a passkey on your phone, it may be difficult to use that passkey when signing into an account using your computer. Or, perhaps you use multiple password managers (a common faux pas that we can help with), which leads to problems accessing passkeys. You can read more about the saga of passkeys by clicking here.
Right now, our advice is to pass on passkeys. If you want better security, turn on 2-factor authentication for important websites so that they send you a text message to confirm it's you when you log in for the first time on a new device. For the strongest security, instead of receiving a code via text message, you can have your password manager automatically generate these codes (known as one-time passwords). Our favorite password manager, 1Password, can do this with ease. Click here for instructions for 1Password.  The IRS is directly offering free tax filing software for the 2024 tax year via IRS Direct File.
The IRS also has partnerships with other companies provide free tax filing, called IRS Free File. This Citizen-Times article has more info on your tax filing options.   Now that the calendar has turned to 2025, two more widely used software systems have been discontinued.
Apple has discontinued security update support for MacOS Monterey, meaning that over time, users on Monterey will become more vulnerable to security issues and glitches. Some new software may not work at all on Monterey. For people still on Monterey, it is highly recommended to discontinue use of the Safari web browser, and switch to a browser that still receives security updates on Monterey, such as Firefox or Chrome. Microsoft has discontinued updates for Office 2019 for Mac. It is no longer getting security improvements, and may stop working properly over time. Upgrade options include Office 2024 and the Microsoft 365 subscription.  Thank you WNC for 12 great years! It has been a privilege to support the community since 2012. Here's to the next chapter of our journey together! 🎉
Jensen Gelfond Founder Asheville Digital Lifestyle  People have started using artificial intelligence, but there are reasons to be cautious, starting with your personal information. Artificial intelligence startup WotNot, which helps companies create chatbots for their websites & apps, left data typed into their customers' chatbots out in the open, ripe for being heisted. Exposed information included passport info, medical histories, employment records, and more. Click here to check out the sordid details.
The exposed info could be used by hackers to stage more believable scams, or for identity theft. It makes us wonder how well other companies are shepherding the data that AI is siphoning up. Even well-resourced companies like Microsoft are creating systems that leave customer data vulnerable while implementing AI that records everything that happens on your screen. Just in case your personal data is leaked, one of the most meaningful steps you can take to prevent identity theft is to freeze your credit. Click here to check out our post with instructions on how to check and freeze your credit. Bonus tip as we approach tax season: you can lock down your social security number to prevent it from being used to file a fraudulent tax return by creating an Identity Protection PIN. Click here for instructions from the IRS. |
AuthorJensen Gelfond is the Founder of Asheville Digital Lifestyle. He helps people use their technology more effectively and joyfully. Categories
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