Nov. 9 & 10, 2024 Show Notes
Remembrance Day Long Weekend Edition
🎙️ Show airs live
Saturday: 10:05am-Noon
🔁 Rebroadcast
Sunday: 1:05pm-3pm
🎧 Podcast
Anytime
Your crew this weekend:
Aitan Roubini
Guest Co-Host
Victoria Mac and iOS User Group (VMUG) President and MacZen.ca owner
eMail: Support@MacZen.ca
iPhone 250-813-1323
Join Aitan, Charles, and me for the November VMUG meeting, on Zoom, at 7pm this coming Wednesday, Nov. 13. If you're not a VMUG member, you can take part as our guest using this link:
Zoom Video
Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, conference, huddle, and training rooms, as well as executive offices and classrooms. Founded in 2011, Zoom helps businesses and organizations bring their teams together in a frictionless environment to get more done. Zoom is a publicly traded company headquartered in San Jose, CA.
On behalf of the Vancouver Island chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, you're invited to join us this coming Wednesday afternoon, as I present a free "Staying Safe Online" workshop.
You can join us either in-person in Sidney, or online via Zoom.
It's free, but please register to save a spot at VancouverIslandCARP.TicketLeap.com/chapter-meeting
1) If you had a Rogers Yahoo email account between 2012 and 2018, you qualify for up to $375 in a class-action settlement
Canadian Yahoo and Rogers account holders are eligible for a share of a $20 million class-action settlement related to data breaches between 2013 and 2016.
The lawsuit claims Yahoo had "inadequate data security measures in place" during that period, leading to breaches that impacted account holders' personal info.
If you had a Rogers account during the period from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016, inclusive, you may qualify for compensation, as Rogers' client emails were handled by Yahoo.
To receive your benefits, you must submit a claim form by December 27, 2024.
The claim form is available below, or at YahooClassAction.com.
2) Watch out for an expected flood of scam "package can't be delivered" emails
As we head towards Black Friday shopping — and lots of online purchases — scammers are starting to pump out all sorts of fake "package can't be delivered" emails, all designed to trick you into giving the scammers your credit card info so they can buy stuff which they can sell for quick cash.
These scam emails all have several things in common…
- They come from (usually overseas) email addresses that don't belong to the courier company
- They're not addressed to you by name
- They don't say who the sender is
- they don't usually say what the package contains
If you mouse-over or hold your finger on the button they want you to click or tap on, you'll see that it takes you to a fake website often hosted overseas. The one above, for example, take you to xuhaga.exclusivepromosurveys.com/wefoThat's in China.
They ask for your correct address and contact info, and then want a small 'redelivery fee", and to pay that, they want you to supply your credit card info, including the three-digit CVV on the card back.
If you supply that info, within minutes, the scammers will be using it to buy stuff online on your card.
NEVER click or tap on links in emails like this!
3) Watch out for scam emails that say you've been selected to get a free $500 airline gift card
This screenshot is for one that pretends to be from Flair Airlines, but others are circulating that claim to be from Westjet, Home Depot, Petro-Canada, Walmart, etc.
If you click on the button, it takes you to a fake web-page (hosted on an overseas website) for the company in question, where you have to answer three basic demographic questions and then pick a prize box. No matter which box you pick, you won't "win". But, they'll give you a second chance, and no matter which box you pick, you will "win" the gift card. They'll then ask for your contact info and mailing address, and then you'll be asked to give them your credit card info to pay a $5 "shipping fee".
If you give them your credit card info, within minutes, the overseas scammers will be racking-up fake charges on your card. But even if you don't fall for that, by that point, you've already given them your contact info and mailing address, which they'll use to try to steal your identity.
NEVER tap on buttons in pop-ups like this! Just force-close the app or web-browser, or if necessary, restart your device.
4) VicPD is warning again about a disgusting sextortion email scam
We've covered this before, but in case you missed it, or know someone who might fall for it, here it is again, as Victoria Police say several people here have reported getting this email lately…
The emails are addressed to you, and come from an address that includes part of your name, and may also be accompanied by a Google Maps screenshot of your address, and read like this…
From: "I hacked you!" <alanperry107@peoplepc.com>Hello pervert, I've sent this message from your iCloud mаil, and I have included a picture of where you live, so you know that I know who you are.I want to inform you about a very bad situation for you. However, you can benefit from it, if you will act wisеly.Have you heard of Pegasus? This is a spyware program that installs on computers and smartphones and allows hackers to monitor the activity of device owners. It provides access to your webcam, messengers, emails, call records, etc. It works well on Android, iOS, and Windows. I guess, you already figured out where I’m getting at.It’s been a few months since I installed it on all your dеviсеs because you were not quite choosy about what links to click on the intеrnеt. During this period, I’ve learned about all aspects of your private life, but оnе is of special significance to me.I’ve recorded many videos of you jerking off to highly controversial роrn videos. Given that the “questionable” genre is almost always the same, I can conclude that you have sick реrvеrsiоn.
I doubt you’d want your friends, family and co-workers to know about it. However, I can do it in a few clicks.Every number in your contact Iist will suddenly receive these vidеоs – on WhatsApp, on Telegram, on Instagram, on Facebook, on email – everywhere. It is going to be a tsunami that will sweep away everything in its path, and first of all, your fоrmеr life.
Don’t think of yourself as an innocent victim. No one knows where your реrvеrsiоn might lead in the future, so consider this a kind of deserved рunishmеnt to stop you.I’m some kind of God who sees everything. However, don’t panic. As we know, God is merciful and forgiving, and so do I. But my mеrсy is not free.Transfer 1400 USD to my Litecoin (LTC) wallet: ltc1qhelugumywjk7vwq3h3488j082mh4g242d0sl34Once I receive confirmation of the transaction, I will реrmanently delete all videos compromising you, uninstаll Pegasus from all of your devices, and disappear from your life. You can be sure – my benefit is only money. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be writing to you, but destroy your life without a word in a second.I’ll be notified when you open my email, and from that moment you have exactly 48 hours to send the money. If cryptocurrencies are unchartered waters for you, don’t worry, it’s very simple. Just google “crypto exchange” or "buy Litecoin" and then it will be no harder than buying some useless stuff on Amazon.I strongly warn you against the following:
* Do not reply to this email. I've sent it from your iCloud mail.* Do not contact the police. I have access to all your dеviсеs, and as soon as I find out you ran to the cops, videos will be published.* Don’t try to reset or destroy your dеviсеs. As I mentioned above: I’m monitoring all your activity, so you either agree to my terms or the vidеоs are рublished.Also, don’t forget that cryptocurrencies are anonymous, so it’s impossible to identify me using the provided аddrеss.Good luck, my perverted friend. I hope this is the last time we hear from each other.And some friendly advice: from now on, don’t be so careless about your online security.
This is a disgusting scam. Authorities are working to track down the senders, who are overseas and using VPN's to hide their identities and location.
You can forward the email to your local police so at least they'll see what they're saying, or you can just delete it. But who do you know that might be scared enough by this email to fall for it? Please take the time to copy/paste this Tech Talk note, and send it to anyone who you think might be embarrassed into sending the scammers money.
Tech Deals This Weekend
Logitech low-profile M340 mice: $10 off at London Drugs till Nov. 14
Logitech's low-profile (half the height of a regular mouse) M340 wireless mice, which come with a tiny nano-receiver which can be left in a laptop, are on sale for $20, which is $10 off, at London Drugs stores and online through Nov. 14. They're available in a variety of patterns.
Minelab Vanquish 340 metal-detector: $200 (save $180)
If you, or someone you know, is interested in hunting for treasure at the beach (or in a field!), London Drugs Tillicum Centre is clearing-out the Minelab Vanquish 340 metal-detectors which they brought-in this summer and were quite popular. These units get great reviews, and the last few are being cleared-out for just $200, which is $180 off the price at Canadian Tire. Here's a review…
85" LG QuantumDot LED 4K HDTV: $3000 off (not a typo!)
Quantum-dot TV's have the sharpest images next to OLEDs, and the prices have been coming down, especially on larger sizes.
If you've got the room, you can reap a huge saving on a stunning 85" LG 4K HDR model which is being cleared-out to make room for a new model for Christmas: the LG QNED85UQA is $2300 — a $3000 saving off the regular price — at the London Drugs store in Tillicum Centre. Other stores can order you one of the last few of these models from the London Drugs warehouse.
Save $20 on Malwarebytes Premium (3 devices) at London Drugs
We keep checking for a metter anti-malware software, but Malwarebytes Premium continues to outperform the others, and now you can get a one year licence good on any three Windows, Mac and Android devices for $35 — a $20 saving — at London Drugs stores or online till Nov. 14.
Black Friday sales are starting early because of the calendar
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the USA, and because US Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday in November, this year, that means Black Friday will be very late — November 29th.
As that doesn't give stores a lot of time to rack up big sales, and the holiday season is critical to their financial success, many stores — both brick-&-mortar and online — are starting early.
If you're going to take advantage of early Black Friday deals, see if the store offers Price Protection, so if a lower price is offered when we get to Black Friday, you can get the difference back.
Here are a few places where you can check out early Black Friday deals, with lots more to come as we get closer to the 29th…
Staples
Staples has put lots of items on sale, with a red sticker to indicate which ones will not get any cheaper when Black Friday arrives. Check out their sale items here…
Best Buy
Best Buy is also offering up lots of sales, and this year, you'll see a red box above some prices that says ‘Black Friday Price Now’, which means the discounts on those items won’t go any lower throughout the month.
Walmart
Walmart has kicked off its ‘Season of Savings’ and you can find lots of discounts on things like Lego, TVs, and SD cards.
Walmart’s Black Friday deals start on Nov 13 at 6pm PST, but that being said, when you go to the Black Friday page there are lots of items on sale already.
You can check out Walmart's Season of Savings here.
Amazon
Amazon Canada currently has a section called ‘Early Holiday Deals’ which has hefty discounts on lots of items ranging from smart lights to cameras, printers, and more. Amazon.ca/deals
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.
10a) Koodo now has USA and international travel roaming passes
Following the lead of Freedom Mobile, Telus-owned Koodo has a new travel option called ‘Easy Roam Travel Passes’ that let you bundle roaming for a set amount of days instead of paying the standard $14/$16 per day roaming charge.
These new passes allow you to buy the option to roam for seven to 30 days, depending on where you’re travelling, and can save you up to 45% on trips to the USA.
Koodo's USA Easy Roam Travel Pass pass costs $55 for seven days. If you were to pay $14 per day to use their regular Easy Roam, that'd cost you $98, so you'd save $43.
Their Caribbean/Mexico Easy Roam Travel Pass costs $60 for seven days. Easy Roam in these locations is $16 per day, so that'd save you $62 for a week.
If you travel to Europe, you can get either a 14-day pass for $50 or a 30-day pass for $60. These locations would have $16 per day roaming traditionally, so these options are the best deal of the bunch.
10b) If you plan on travelling often to the USA, Mexico, or overseas, Freedom Mobile remains a much better deal
Freedom Mobile's plans starting at $35/month all include unlimited calling to and from Canada/USA/Mexico, and USA and Mexico data-roaming. Their $45/month and $55/month plans also include "Roam Beyond" coverage which lets you use your phone and data in 89 additional countries beyond Canada, the USA and Mexico.
If you're only planning one or two overseas trips, you can go on a cheaper monthly plan and then buy a "Roam Beyond" Pass which is good for 30 days in either 92 or 101 destinations…
The passes, which can be added onto any Freedom Mobile plan, give you unlimited calling in the included countries and back to Canada, plus unlimited global texting, and either 1GB or 5GB of data in the included countries.
The passes are good for 30 days from the time of issue, and cost $20 for 1GB of data, or $30 for 5GB good in 92 countries. If where you're headed is not included in the 92-country list, there's also a 101-country Roam Beyond pass ($30 for 1GB or $50 for 5GB) which adds service in nine more countries: Belarus, British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, Denmark, Macao, Malta, Mongolia, Montenegro,and the UAE.
11) (updated) Going traveling soon? Update phone #s in Contacts to include 1 for North America and + and the Country Code for overseas
If you're going travelling, make sure the numbers in your Contacts for people you're going to call are saved with a 1 before the area code and number if they're here or in North America, or you won't be able to call them.
If you're going overseas, many of you have switched to Freedom Mobile to take advantage of their "Roam Beyond" plan, which let you use your phone in dozens of countries around the world at no extra cost. Or, you may be using the Airalo app to add an overseas number via an eSIM.
But, either way, in order to call people in a foreign country when you're there, you must save their phone number beginning with + and the country code.
If you don't do that, depending on the carrier, your call either won't go through, or you'll get billed for an international call as it'll be routed back through Canada, or the first digits of their phone number will be interpreted as a country code and you'll get billed for a call to Russia or Finland or some other country!
On home phones, you have to dial 011 and then the country code and their number, but on mobile phones, you just need + and the country code and their number.
Regardless of which carrier you're on, we suggest you go through your contacts and, one-by-one, add a 1 in front of their number of they're in Canada, even if it's a local number, or + and the Country Code if they're overseas. You can find a full list of Country Codes at CountryCode.org
Note that Caribbean country numbers use the North American calling format, so you just need a 1 in front of their area code and number.
13) If you have an iPhone or iPad and disover all your Notes are gone after updating to iOS 18 or 18.1, relax: they're all safe!
There's a bug in iOS 18/18.1 that's causing panic for some users, who are discovering that after agreeing to the new iCloud Terms of Use (TOS) after the update, all their Notes appear to have vanished. There's an easy solution, without waiting for Apple to release an update to fix the bug…
- Go to Settings and tap on your name at the top to access your iCloud settings.
- Navigate to iCloud and select Notes.
- Wait until the Sync this iPhone toggle appears, then turn it off, wait five seconds, and on again.
- Open the Notes app again and wait for it to resync.
It may take a few minutes for all notes to reappear, especially if the user has a significant amount of data stored in Notes. Based on user reports, everything can take up to ten minutes to sync back fully. Once completed, notes should be restored as before the bug occurred.
Though the bug has caused frustration, there is no indication of permanent data loss. The issue appears limited to iOS 18 and iOS 18.1, plus is clearly connected to the recent iCloud terms and conditions update. This solution is courtesy of Andrew Orr at AppleInsider.com.
14) Rogers Sportsnet+ price will be going up 25% in January
If you're a Rogers Sportsnet+ subscriber, or thinking of becoming one, it's about to get a lot more expensive to watch ytour games…starting January 6th, rates will be hiked by $5/month to $25/month.
The cost of an annual subscription will jump by $20 to $200/year.
Rogers just spent $4.7 billion to acquire Bell’s 37.5% stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) and is also working on a deal to sell a portion of its wireless network backhaul for $7 billion, which it plans to use to pay down debt from acquiring Shaw in 2023.
15) Koodo is upping rates for 3G users in countdown to service end
If you still have a 3G flip-phone running on Koodo, you'll have to pay $3 a month more to continue using it, until that service is retired next year.
Rogers and Fido earlier announced that their 3G service will be shut down next spring, while Telus and Bell say theirs will cease at the end of next year.
In the meantime, to encourage users to get a newer phone, Telus-owned Koodo is now tacking on a $3/month levy to pay for maintaining that old legacy system.
Koodo says only 2.3% of its customers still have a 3G flip-phone, and most of them are using phones that are more than six years old, or from another country.
Koodo also warns that some customers will have older devices that connect to LTE for data, but still fall back to 3G for calls.
16) Rogers, Fido, and Virgin+ are all ending prepaid mobile service
Rogers and its discount brand Fido have both announced that they'll be shutting-down their prepaid mobile service just before Christmas, on December 16.
Rogers and Fido haven't said yet what'll happen to people who have annual prepaid plans that expire after December 16, saying only that their budget brand, Chatr, will continue to offer prepaid service.
Meanwhile, Bell's discount brand, Virgin+, has stopped accepting new prepaid service customers, and it's thought they're preparing to soon turn off that service, too.
If you're a Rogers, Fido or Virgin+ prepaid customer, here are your best options:
1) Freedom Mobile has monthly, annual, and now six-month prepaid plans starting at just $5/month. The best deal is either their $119/year plan (= $10/month) which gives you unlimited Canada-wide calling and texting plus 15GB of data, or their $149/year (= $12.40/month) for the same but with 30GB of data.
Freedom has also just started offering a six-month plan for $174, which gives you 15GB/month of data, and unlimited Canada-wide calling and international texting, which works out to $29/month. Or, if you're a really light user, you can get unlimited texting and two hours of calling/month for just $5/month...
2) Chatr, which is Rogers' budget brand, has prepaid plans starting at $15/month, which gets you 100 minutes/month of calling Canada-wide plus unlimited international texting. They also have a $100/year plan which gets you 400 minutes of calling Canada-wide plus 400 outgoing texts to Canadian numbers and unlimited international incoming texts, and a new $149/year plan which gets you unlimited Canada-wide calling, unlimited international texting, and 30GB of data...
3) Public Mobile, which is the budget brand of Telus, has a $19/month prepaid plan which gets you unlimited Canada-wide calling and messaging plus unlimited international text and picture messaging, and 1GB of data per month…
4) Lucky Mobile, which is Bell's budget brand, has a $19/month prepaid plan which gets you unlimited Canada-wide calling and messaging plus unlimited international text and picture messaging, and 500MB of data per month…
17) Federal government orders shutdown of TikTok's Canadian offices — but you can still use the app (although we suggest you not)
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok's Canadian business, after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform — but is stopping short of ordering Canadians to stay off the popular video-clip-sharing app.
The feds are urging us to "adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their info is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply."
CTVNews
Canada orders wind up of TikTok's Canadian business, app access to continue
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok's Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
If you, your kids, or grandkids use TikTok, here what you need to know about the info it captures…
While most every social media application gathers and stores user data, the amount TikTok gathers, and how transparent it is about what it collects, is what concerns many cybersecurity experts — especially because of the perception that the Chinese government could access it.
Like other platforms, including Facebook and YouTube, TikTok monitors the content you engage with and for how long.
But TikTok also monitors how you use your device and how it functions, including "keystroke patterns or rhythms, battery state, audio settings and connected audio devices", according to TikTok's ToS (Terms of Service).
It's also able to identify "the objects and scenery that appear [in your videos], the existence and location within an image of face and body features … and the text of the words spoken."
19) Apple's M-series chips continue to get noticably faster, year-after-year
The speed of Apple's in-house-designed M-series processors has steadily improved since the debut of the M1 chip in 2020. Here's how much faster Apple has made its chips in just four years…
Chip generations tend to improve with age. As designs get better and production processes squeeze more onto a smaller space, the performance of chips get better over time.
The replacement of Intel's chips has proven itself repeatedly to have been a great move for Apple, with the improvements impressing customers and resulting in more buyers.
20) We've compiled all our tech tips and solutions (four dozen of them, so far) into one indexed set of "Tips and Solutions" Notes which you can find on our home page.
You can also get to them by going to Tech-Talk/ca/faq or by clicking on the link below…
21) We've also started compiling a list of our favourite phone apps
The "Our Favourite Apps" list — which will have a lot more added in the coming weeks — is on our home page, and you can also get to it by going to Tech-Talk.ca/apps.
22) Apple has launched a free repair program for iPhone 14 Plus phones with a rear camera issue
Some people with an iPhone 14 Pro have discovered that they can't get a preview of the image when taking a picture with the rear camera.
Apple says it's determined that "a very small percentage" of iPhone 14 Plus units — ones manufactured between April 10 and April 28 of last year — suffer from this prtoblem.
Apple has launched a web page detailing the issue, where you can check your iPhone 14 Plus serial number to determine if your unit is eligible.
If a n iPhone 14 Plus is affected by the issue, Apple says it'll fix the problem for free, regardless of the phone's warranty status.
23) Dad accidentally embeded his daughter's iPhone in an ice-rink, where it'll remain till the ice is removed two months from now
Skaters at an ice rink in Milton Keynes, UK, will see an unusual item below the surface as they travel around the arena. The newly-installed temporary ice rink at Willen-on-Ice has a pink-cased iPhone stuck in the middle of the ice.
One of the workers setting up the rink had lost his own smartphone, and had borrowed his daughter's bright pink iPhone temporarily. However, he accidentally left the iPhone at the rink overnight, at a time when 13,000 gallons of water was being poured into the rink's structure.
Out of reach just a few inches below the surface, the iPhone is clearly visible for anyone stopping to take a look, but it's not able to be rescued. Ice Leisure director Rob Cook says that the iPhone will be stuck in position for two more months since digging it out could affect the rest of the ice.
24) The voice of AOL's “You’ve got mail” has died at age 74
Elwood Edwards, the voice behind AOL's iconic "You've got mail" greeting, has died at age 74, one day before his 75th birthday. He recorded the greeting on a cassette and was paid a $200 royalty. It became a cultural touchstone in the 1990s and early 2000s in the early Internet era; it was heard by hundreds of millions of users when they logged in to the service and new email was waiting for them.
Ken and Hyacinth here in Victoria recently got back from England and Morocco
They switched to Freedom Mobile to save money and also so they could use their phones while travelling without having to pay extra, thanks to Freedom's "Roam Beyond" plan.
Morocco is not one of the 92 countries covered at this time, so they used WiFi there, but they say "Roam Beyond" worked great in England.
Ken says Moroccans have a special relationship with Cats that populate most cities. The cats appear to enjoy a sympathetic, though somewhat informal, relationship with humans. On many occasions we observed felines lounging in the narrow lanes of the medina unconcerned with the crowds of humans, the speeding motorcycles or the human powered wagons passing nearby.
…and finally, our "Sign Of The Week"…
(There surely must be an interesting story behind this…)
And so it goes…