August 3 & 4, 2024 Show Notes
ViVa! Victoria Latin Fest / TorqueMasters Sidney Car Show / Cadboro Bay Fest / Victoria Symphony & Pacific Opera Victoria Summer Festival / Weekend Edition
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Saturday: 10:05am-Noon
š Rebroadcast
Sunday: 1:05pm-3pm
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Your crew this weekend:
Charles Martin
Co-host
Victoria Mac and iOS Users Group Program Director and AppleInsider.com Weekend News Editor
Phone 1-888-718-4598
1) Critical security updates released for iPhones and iPads
Apple has released iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6 ā large and very important security updates for iPhones and iPads.
The updates fix 35 security holes in the operating systems, including a hole in the Kernel at the heart of the iPhone operating system as well as several flaws in WebKit, the engine that underpins the Safari browser.
The updates are almost 1GB in size, and as a result, will take a while to download and install, but will not visually change anything significant on your device.
If your iPhone or iPad is too old to be able to run iOS 17 or even iOS 16, because of the severity of these security holes, Apple has released two sets of security updates for older devices, which provide as many of the security patches as those older devices can handle:
- iOS/iPadOS 16.7.9 for iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPad 5th gen, iPad Pro 9.7", and iPad Pro 12.9" 1st gen
- iOS/iPadOS 15.8.3 for iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, iPhone SE (1st gen), iPad Air 2, iPad mini (4th gen), and iPod touch (7th gen)
If you have one of the unsupported iPhones or iPads listed above, be aware that the security updates only partially protect you, and also be aware that if you're scammed, banks, credit card firms and insurance companies are within their rights to refuse to reimburse you for losses if you continue to use an unsupported device. Please get a newer supported iPhone ior iPad!
To get the updates without waiting for them to automatically download and install, plug in your device and go to Settings, General, Software Update.
2) Critical security updates released for Macs
If you have a Mac made within the past 10 years, Apple has released critical security updates that patch literally dozens of holes.
macOS Sonoma 14.6 patches the most security issues ā 69 ā while macOS Ventura 13.6.8 patches 45 holes, and Monterey 12.7.6 patches 41 security holes.
As with the updates for older iPhones and iPads above, be aware that if your Mac cannot run macOS Sonoma, the special updates which have just been issued will only partially protect you. Please get a newer Mac that can run Sonoma!
4) Watch out for a new batch of scam Shaw emails
The emails claim (as shown in this screenshot) that due to security upgrades, Shaw email users will not be able to access their emails if they do not click a button to confirm their accountā¦
The emails are coming from addresses @vnr1.com (highlighted in yellow), which is a Texas-based web service provider, and are addressed to "Dear Esteemed User".
The "Confirm Now" button they want you to click on or tap takes you to a fake Shaw webpage hosted on Google Docsā¦ (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQgYG2NUjaO
ā¦and the "Upgrade Now" button they want you to click-on or tap, takes you to a fake Shaw Webmail log-in page hosted on Weebly.comā¦
If you provide an @shaw.ca email address and password and click/tap on "Sign In", you're giving overseas hackers direct access to all your emails. They'll almost immediately start forwarding a copy to themselves, and then start triggering password reset codes for your bank accounts and other accounts so they can steal your money and identity. NEVER click on links in emails or texts like this!
5) If you get an email or a text about a package delivery problem, it's almost certainly a scamā¦
Here's one shared by astute "Tech Talk" listener Gordonā¦
The email is from an address in Brazil (.br), and the "Reschedule delivery" button takes you to a fake website (also hosted in Brazil) for EVRI, which is a British-based international courier company (they used to be known as 'Hermes UK').
They'll ask you for a ā¬1.5 "redelivery fee", and if you give them your credit card info to pay that, within minutes, your card account will be maxed-out with scam charges.
NEVER click on links in emails or texts like this!
If you ordered something from the UK, and want to know when it'll arrive, check the tracking link supplied by the online merchant.
6) We've created a separate set of "Common Online Scams to Avoid" Notes, which you'll find on our Show Notes home page, and also in the menu-bar at the top of any Notes page.
Feel free to bookmark that page, as we'll keep updating it with screenshots of the latest scams!
You can also download (and share) a printable copy of the current version of these notes belowā¦
(click on the underlined down-arrow icon in the upper-right below to download)
Tech Deals This Weekend
Last few half price refurbished Epson Eco-Tank printers now at London Drugs Tillicum and Harris Green stores
Epson last month partnered with London Drugs to sell two models of refurbished Eco-Tank all-in-one printer/copier/scanners for half price, and they were very popular! The last few have now arrived from the warehouse at the Tillicum and Harris Green (Yates Street) London Drugs stores.
Both models come with bottles of ink for liiterally two years of printing. These machines look brand new, and come with a full Epson one-year warranty, and are eligible for a reduced-price London Drugs extended warranty, which we recommend. (If you're an LD Extras member, you'll also get an additional 20% off that extended warranty)
The ET-2850 feeds paper from the top so you can print on photo paper or card stock, and is now just $200. The ET-4850 is designed for small business or office use; it has a larger internal paper tray, and an ADF (automatic document feeder) which you can use to scan up to 20 pages at a time, as well as scan legal-sized documents. It's $280 ā so both models are now half the price of a brand-new one.
Get a $50 gift card on new phone activations this weekend at Staples
Staples has partnered with Bell and Virgin+ on BC Day long weekend specilas, which include an iPhone 15 Pro for $55 a month on a $60/month 100GB Canada/USA plan, which is a $129 saving plus you get a $50 Staples gift card. If you prefer a Samsung phone, the Galaxy S24 is $24.30/month on the same $60/month 100GB Canada/USA plan, with the $50 gift card bonus ā a $500 saving.
Freedom Mobile is offering new, cheaper 'Back To School' rate plans for as low as $5 a month!
Their three new mainstream 5G plans all now include Canada/USA/Mexico calling and data roamingā¦
The 75GB plan with "Roam Beyond" now includes 10GB of data and unlimited talk and text good in 89 countries beyond Canada/USA/Mexico, while the 100GB plan includes 20GB of data and unlimited talk and text good in 89 countries beyond Canada/USA/Mexico. You have to be on those plans for a minimum of three months and then you can drop down to a cheaper plan.
In addition, Freedom is now offering three new budget plans, all of which include Canada, USA and Mexico, with far-and-away the best deal being the $29/month 10GB planā¦
In response to the new Freedom plans, Fido and Virgin+ have now both added USA calling to new plan activations, but NOT data-roaming, and not Mexico calling eitherā¦
The best deals on surge protection
Tech News Of The Week
Items start at #10, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more security items above!
Tip: if an item in these Show Notes has the icon on the right in the upper-right corner, you can click/tap on it to make the additional info open in a new tab.
10) Microsoft Edge is now offering free 5GB of secure VPN service
This free VPN beta-test is ideal if you need to access insecure websites, or use public WiFi to do online banking or purchases, or to access sensitive personal info.
A VPN is a Virtual Private Network that routes your internet traffic through servers in another country, to keep your activity more secure and private. VPN service is usually much slower, though, and it's often hard to determine if a VPN provider is protecting your privacy.
That's why it's great to see Microsoft offering a free beta-test of VPN service within its Edge web-browser in partnership with CloudFlare.
You can turn the Edge VPN on and off within the Browser Essentials setting in the Edge Browser.
Info and easy-to-follow instructions are in this linkā¦
11) With Google in its sights, OpenAI unveils SearchGPT
OpenAI may have designs to get into the search game ā challenging not only upstarts like Perplexity, but Google and Bing, too.
OpenAI has unveiled SearchGPT, a search feature designed to give ātimely answersā to questions, drawing from web sources.
UI-wise, SearchGPT isnāt too far off from OpenAIās chatbot platform ChatGPT. You type in a query, and SearchGPT serves up info and images from the web along with links to relevant sources, at which point you can ask follow-up questions or explore additional, related searches in a sidebar.
12) Telus and Bell have hiked select 5G plans by $5/month
Telus and Bell have quietly upped the price on their 75GB/month plans by $5 to $75/month.
iPhone in Canada Blog ā¢ Leading Tech News for Canadians
Telus and Bell Increase Select 5G Plans by $5/month ā¢ iPhone in Canada Blog
Let the Telus plan pricing musical chairs continue, folks. Earlier this month, Telus lowered the price of all 5G+ unlimited plans, but now its basic 5G plans have increased in price by $5/month. The companyās 5G 75GB plans have increased by $5 per month. Check out the changes below: $35 talk and text $70/75GB (new
13) Microsoft OneDrive app on phones and tablets locks stops working after 30 days of you not accessing it
The Microsoft OneDrive app will automatically upload all the pictures and videos on your phone and/or tablet into a Windows or Mac computer.
It also gives you access on your phone or tablet to all the content stored on your computer.
To protect your privacy, the OneDrive app now stops that uploading and access after 30 days of you not opening it. You'll then have to re-type your Microsoft account password to re-enable it.
To avoid this, every time you return home after taking pictures and/or videos on your phone or tablet, just open the OneDrive app on your mobile device, and tap on Photos in the bottom-right. It'll then automatically upload them to OneDrive and download those pics and videos into your computer.
14) We've updated our collection of Travel Tech Tips!
There are now more than 40 of them, and they're in a separate Travel Tech Tips notes, which you can find on our Home Page, or on the toolbar at the top of any of our Notes.
You can bookmark them, as we update them often, at Tech-Talk.ca/travel-tech-tips.
The current Travel Tech Tips notes are also below as a PDFā¦
15) If a friend has lost their iPhone, how can you help them locate it?
If a friend loses their iPhone, you can help them locate it, either with your phone, tablet or computer.
1) Open a web-browser and go to iCloud.com.
2) Type in the email address which is their Apple ID, and their password.
3) Click/tap on "Find Devices" at the bottom of the screen, which will look like thisā¦
A screen will appear with a map showing where the device is ā or where it last was if it's not reachable, along with a pop-up that'll look like this...
That'll give you the option to play a radar pinging sound on the device, or mark it as Lost and type a message that'll appear on the screen of the device (such as who to call to return it), or if all else fails, to erase it so it cannot be reactivated by anyone other than the owner.
This brings up a very important point: make sure you know which email address is your Apple ID, and that you know your Apple ID password. If you don't know these, the process gets much harder.
16) What if you've lost your Android phone?
If youāve misplaced your Android phone, you can use Googleās Find My Device feature to locate, secure, or erase it. Hereās how:
- Using a Web Browser:
- Open a web browser on any internet-connected device and go to Google.com/android/find
- Sign in with your primary Google account.
- Click on the lost phone in the upper-left corner of the screen.
- A Google Map will appear, showing the approximate location of your Android smartphone.
- Using Another Android Device:
- On another Android phone or tablet, open the Find My Device app.
- If the other device doesnāt have the app yet, you can download it from Google Play.
- Sign in with the same Google account associated with the lost Android device.
- From the list of devices, select the one you want to locate.
- Youāll find the following options:
- Play sound: Rings your device at full volume for 5 minutes, even if itās set to silent or vibrate.
- Secure device: Locks your device with your PIN or password. You can also add a message or phone number to the lock screen to help someone return your device.
- Erase device: Permanently deletes all data on your device (note that this wonāt affect SD cards).
17) It's time to switch to the new Outlook Mail app
Microsoft has retired the Windows Mail app in Windows 10 and Windows 11, and replaced it with the Outlook Mail app, which has the same layout and appearance as the outlook.com web-interface.
It also brings several sought-after features, including the ability to block senders with one click, and also to report and block scammers.
If you've been using the Windows Mail app (a blue and white envelope icon), you'll see that clicking on it now opens the new Outlook Mail app, but you likely won't like the default layout.
To help you take advantage of the new and changed features in the new Outlook Mail app, we've created a handout which you can download and print and keep handy until you're familiar with all the changesā¦
18) Rumour: Apple may wait on folding iPhones, iPads until 2026
Current foldables have had reliability issues, and are very expensive.
Apple plans to work on increasing the durability of folding screen technology before releasing any folding iPhones or iPads, says a leading analyst.
Haitong Securities analyst Jeff Pu believes the company is not impressed with the folding-screen technology it has seen thus far, and is in no rush to bring out folding products at present. It's expected that the first folding iPad will be its smallest model, the iPad mini. The first iPhone model that could use folding technology would be the iPhone 18, due in late 2026, if the report is accurate.
19) You may be able to unlock future Apple devices with your heart
Passwords, Touch ID, and Face ID could all be a thing of the past, as Apple is working on a future where unlocking your devices is as easy as just holding a future iPhone or letting your Apple Watch sense your unique heart rhythm.
AppleInsider
You may soon be able to unlock your Apple devices with your heart
Passwords, Touch ID, and Face ID could all be a thing of the past, as Apple is working on a future where unlocking your devices is as easy as just holding a future iPhone or letting your Apple Watch sense your unique heart rhythm.
20) Microsoft is removing ads from Skype
Microsoft is making Skype ad-free in an update that will rollout to users across all platforms soon.
The removal of ads in Skype means youāll no longer see ads in the main chat interface, or in the channels section. Microsoft says it has listened to feedback around ads in Skype, and decided to āfocus on your chats without any ad distractions, making your Skype experience cleaner and more user-friendly.āThe update also includes improved AI image creation tools on Skype for Windows and macOS, and the ability to sign in automatically on iOS if youāre already signed into another Microsoft app.
21) Logitech wants to sell us a subscription mouse. Seriously!
Logitech is working on a "forever mouse" subscription plan that would, for an annual fee, supply you with a new mouse whenever yours dies or they release a new model.
22) The iPhone is continuing to dominate the list of the top smartphone sales, as Apple beat Q2 market forecasts in all areas
The iPhone is continuing to dominate the list of the top smartphone sales in the second quarter of 2024.
The list, generated by Counterpoint's Global Monthly Handset Model Sales Tracker, has the iPhone 15 as having the biggest share, at 4.1%, with the iPhone 15 Pro Max second with 3.7% and the iPhone 15 Pro third with 3.1%.
These strong sales helped Apple beat Wall Street's expectations in every sector in Q2, although iPhone sales have dipped a bit as users await a big leap forward in performance expected in AI-enabled iPhone 18 models this fallā¦
23) Spotify is giving song lyrics back to free subscribers
After removing the song lyric feature from free Spotify accounts, the company has finally announced that itās making lyrics free again for everyone.
Earlier this year, Spotify started only allowing free users to see the lyrrics for three songs.
24) Taco Bell is the latest food company to bring AI to drive-thrus
Your next order at Taco Bell could be taken by an AI assistant.
The fast food chain has announced that itās currently testing āVoice AIā technology at the drive-thru's of more than 100 locations across the USA, and plans to expand testing to āhundredsā of US Taco Bell restaurants by the end of the year.
McDonalds earlier this year shelved its own AI drive-thrus after it experienced a variety of issues with the tech, including difficulty interpreting accents and dialects.
25) An Apple Vision Pro has been controlled for the first time using a brain-computer interface
Synchron, known for its brain-computer interface technology, has set its sights on the Apple Vision Pro after previously testing out similar technology with the iPad and iPhone.
Synchron has successfully implanted a brain-computer interface (BCI) into the brain of Mark, a 64-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). With this BCI, Mark is able to control an Apple Vision Pro ā something he couldn't do before due to the loss of function in his arms and hands.
26) BC hikers saved from wildfire after using Apple Emergency SOS
As wildfires continue to burn across the Kootenay region, four women were helicopter-rescued off the Macbeth Ice Fields, northeast of Kaslo, after using the Emergency SOS feature on one of their iPhones when they became surrounded by smoke and burning embers from a nearby forest fire.
27) Apple TV+ might be the next streaming service to get ads
Apple is in talks to bring ads to Apple TV+.
Apple officials recently met with "BARB" ā the Broadcasterās Audience Research Board ā which is the UKās TV ratings organization, about options for tracking ads on Apple TV+.
Apple would be the third major streamer to insert adsā¦Netflix and Disney+ have lower-cost, ad-enabled subscription options, while Amazonās Prime Video requires everyone to pay $2.99/month to remove ads.
ā¦and finally, our "Sign Of The Week"ā¦
And so it goesā¦