January 6 and 7, 2024 Tech Talk Show Notes
🎙️ Show airs live
Saturday: 10:05am-Noon
🔁 Rebroadcast
Sunday: 1:05pm-3pm
🎧 Podcast
Anytime
The crew this week:
Charles Martin
Co-host
Victoria Mac and iOS User Group Program Director
Phone 1 888 718 4598
Security and Privacy Tech News
1) Google is finally killing cookies on its Chrome browser — but that's not the huge victory it may seem.
Google has started a limited test that restricts the use of tracking cookies for 1% of the people who use its Chrome browser, which is by far the world’s most commonly used web-browser. If the test works, by the end of this year, Google plans to eliminate cookies for all Chrome users.
Google — which just agreed to a $5 billion settlement of legal action in the USA over its use of cookies — will tell the courts that this shows they are making meaningful changes to protect users' privacy.
But, Google is replacing cookies with "alternative technologies" which advertisers will have to licence from Google in order to be able to continue delivering targeted ads to Chrome users.
2) Watch out for scam emails claiming your Outlook account has expired and needs to be updated
The email contains the subject line "Mailbox Expiration", as shown in the screenshot below, which was submitted by astute Tech Talk listener Peter. It says your Outlook mailbox has reached its expiration date, and encourages you to click on a "Validate Now" link…
These scam emails are coming from an account @reagan.com (highlighted in yellow), which is not Microsoft, and are addressed to "Dear Valid Customer" (another warning flag)…
The "Validate Now" link takes you to a fake Microsoft account log-in page hosted on Google Docs (yellow arrow, above), which is a direct competitor of Microsoft's. If you type in your email address and password, the scammers will have instant access to all your emails and can start trying to steal your money and identity by triggering password resets. NEVER click on links in emails like this!
3) Don't fall for browser hijacks!
If you see a message on your computer that looks like the image below, DO NOT CALL the number.
Sometimes they're accompanied by a loud beeping sound or a voice telling you that it's urgent that you call. Again, DO NOT CALL. It's a scam. If you call, they'll offer to fix the problem if you let them have remote access to your computer. But then, they'll demand several hundred dollars for the fix, and if you refuse to give them your credit card number, they'll lock your computer so no-one can use it.
I've created a warning sheet with instructions on how to get out of one of these browser hijacks, and we encourage you to print it out, and post it next to your computer, so you won't be tricked if it happens to you:
10) Rogers is raising rates for Shaw customers not on Value Plans
Shaw TV, internet, and home phone customers — who are now being serviced under the Rogers banner — are being notified on their latest bill that starting on January 10, 2024, monthly service fees will be increasing by $3 to $4 a month.
Customers who signed a two-year Value Plan agreement will not have to pay the increases until the end of their contract. More here.
You can avoid the increases by getting a new Two-Year Value Plan before Jan. 10th at these rates…
If you just want internet, your price options before the Jan. 10th rate hikes are…
Rogers also offers at 1.5Gbps plan for $100/month on a two-year value plan. More here.
Telus, by comparison, is a bit more expensive for TV and internet bundles…
…and also for internet-only service…
11) Rogers is also raising rates for Rogers Wireless customers
If you're a Rogers Wireless customer, unless you're under contract, you'll be paying several dollars more a month for service, starting with your first bill after Jan. 17th.
More expensive plans will go up by as much as $9/month, while lower-cost plans will see smaller increases…Rogers isn't revealing the specifics.
If you're under contract, the price hikes will take effect once your contract expires.
iPhone in Canada Blog • Leading Tech News for Canadians
Rogers Wireless Price Hikes Coming in 2024: Check Your Bills • iPhone in Canada Blog
Rogers has informed numerous wireless customers that price hikes are coming later this month, indicating the change on monthly bill statements. According to numerous iPhone in Canada readers, their latest bill statements indicate that after January 17, 2024, monthly mobile plans will be increasing by $7 to $9 per month, for those not on financing
13) Freedom Mobile is offering six months of unlimited Canada/USA calling & international texting + 100GB data for just $22.50/month!
Freedom Mobile had iffy coverage when they first launched here in Victoria a few years ago, and because of that, people are still hesitant to switch to them, even though Freedom customers now get to seamlessly roam onto the superb Rogers network when not near a Freedom tower. To boost their market share here, Freedom has mailed-out tens of thousands of cards like the one from a listener shown above, which include a superb offer - 100GB of 4G LTE Canada/USA data per month plus unlimited Canada/USA calling and international texting for just $22.50/month for six months.
At the end of six months, you can pay $55/month to keep the same plan, or downgrade to a cheaper plan with less data (plans start at $29/month), or switch carrier, or cancel altogether.
To take advantage of this offer, you need to get/find one of the mailer cards shown above, as they each bear a unique promo code. If you don't get one in the mail, ask a friend or relative who lives in a condo or apartment building to check their mail recycling bin! If you still can't find one, please text me, as several of you (thank you!) have taken a pic of ones they've found and I'll be glad to send one to you.
14) Windows 10/11 People and WordPad apps are being retired
Two Windows 10 / Windows 11 apps are being ditched – one which you might miss, and another which you’ve probably forgotten about.
Microsoft is retiring the People app because its functionality, along with new abilities such as group emailing — are built into the new Outlook Mail app.
Also being retired is WordPad, which first debuted with the arrival 29 years ago of Windows 95! WordPad hasn't been supported since last September, but Microsoft says it'll now be uninstalled as part of a fortcoming Windows Update for both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
If you're still using WordPad, your documents will not be deleted…you'll just have to use a different app to work with them. If you don't want to pay for Word as part of Microsoft 365, you can use the free Word Online version, although you'll have to convert your documents from the ancient .rtf format to the current .docx format. You could also use the free LibreOffice software, but again, in order to make any changes to WordPad-created .rtf documents, you'll first have to convert them.
15) Samsung S24 to use AI to give a big boost to zoom quality
Samsung is slated to unveil its 2024 flagship S24 smartphones on the 17th.
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Reports suggest that Samsung is going to cut the cost of making the Galaxy S24 series by reverting back to a 5X zoom from the S23 Ultra's 10X, but then achieve an even-greater result by using on-device artificial intelligence processing to make zoom images sharper.
16) How many Canadian streaming services can you name?
Believe it or not, there are more than 80 different apps and websites available here in Canada where you can watch TV shows and movies whenever you want!
Some you have to subscribe to, while more and more let you watch for free but include unskippable ads. See how many of the icons below you recognize…
To find out which streaming service here in Canada has the shows and movies you want to watch, use the free Just Watch app, or, on a computer, go to JustWatch.com/ca. (If you're reading this in another country, go to JustWatch.com, scroll to the bottom, and pick your country.)
17) Amazon Prime Video to start showing ads on Feb. 5, 2024
Amazon Canada says ad breaks will begin appearing on Feb. 5, 2024 within its Prime Video streaming service, which includes action series "Reacher" and the "Mr. Dressup" documentary.
The ad tier will now be the default level that comes with Amazon Prime membership, which includes discounts on shipping. However, subscribers will be able to get rid of the ads by paying an additional $2.99 per month.
Viewers in the USA, where Amazon already operates a free, ad-supported streaming service called Freevee, will begin seeing ads on Prime Video a week earlier than Canada, on Jan. 29, 2024.
18) Microsoft poised to overtake Apple as most valuable company
As Microsoft stock rises and Apple's falls over analysts' expectation of slowing iPhone demand, the two firms are once more within $100 billion of each other — the smallest gap in more than two years.
While the values of the two firms have continually changed, Microsoft is now valued at $2.73 trillion USD, while Apple — fallen from its recent $3 trillion high — is currently at $2.83 trillion USD.
19) Apple has agreed to pay an as-yet undisclosed sum to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company knowingly profited from scammers who conned people into buying them gift cards.
The lawsuit in the USA claims Apple has not done enough to prevent fraudsters from conning people (mostly seniors of new immigrants) into buying Apple gift cards to supposedly pay off debts to tax authorities or to law enforcement.
Although the gift cards do all say on the back, "Do not share this code with someone you do not know", scammers have made millions of dollars by pressuring people into doing just that.
We don't yet know what changes, if any, Apple will make to how gift cards are redeemed, as part of the draft settlement.
20) Microsoft's CoPilot AI-powered chatbot is now available as an iPhone and iPad app.
Microsoft Copilot has launched on the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, with hints of an incoming Mac app, and it has all of its AI chat assistant features. The CoPilot app looks like this…
Microsoft Copilot is a chat assistant powered by OpenAI, GPT-4, and DALLE 3. It can answer questions just like talking to a human, write articles or compose letters, write poems and songs, and even create pictures, paintings and cartoons.
21) Apple said to unveil AI-powered Siri update in June
Apple has so far held-off following the lead of Microsoft and Google in offering chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, but a new report says that will change in a few months.
Apple is said to have invested $1 billion USD in developing its own Ajax AI model, and is planning to add it into Siri and unveil the new service at its annual World Wide Developer Conference in June.
22) ChatGPT could soon replace Google Assistant on an Android phone
Code found within the latest version of the ChatGPT Android app suggests that you’ll soon be able to set ChatGPT as the default assistant app. You'd have to trigger it by long-pressing, though, instead of using a voice-command.
23) Apple Watch Emergency SOS button saves woman after near-fatal carbon monoxide poisoning
We usually hear stories about how people have been saved by their Apple Watch after a medical emergency, or getting lost or being in a crash, but a student in Delaware was saved from carbon monoxide poisoning thanks to a last-minute use of the Emergency SOS feature on her Apple Watch.
Note: she wouldn't have needed her Apple Watch if she'd had a carbon monoxide detector. If you don't have one where you live, please get one — they're not expensive and truly save lives!
25) iPhone tip: how to change the focus point on a portrait photo before or after you've taken it!
If you 've taken a great portrait photo on an iPhone 13 or later, but wish a different part of the photo was in focus, you can change that! You can use the same technique to set the focus point before taking the photo, too.
Nathaniel Pangaro at AppleInsider.com has written easy-to-follow instructions...
26) VW says it's found a type of EV batteries that last 300,000 km
Just as solid-state computer drives are much better than traditional spinning drives, Volkswagen says it's found a type of solid-state batteries than still retain 95% of their charging capacity even after powering an electric vehicle for 300,000 kilometres.
27) CLICKS adds a Blackberry-like keyboard to your iPhone!
If you really miss the physical keyboard of a Blackberry phone, we found a company that can give you one back — provided you have an iPhone 14 Pro, 15 Pro, or 15 Pro Max.
You insert your iPhone into the CLICKS case shown on the left, and type away on the physical keyboard!
It comes currently in Bumblebee Yellow and London Sky Grey, and has buttons on the keyboard for a backlight, for voice input, commands, and tab.
There are a few catches, besides the hefty price ($139 USD) and its very long (188mm / 7.4") length…
- The case is not water-resistant
- You can't plug wired AirPods into the Clicks case
- CarPlay only works with the iPhone 14 Pro model
You can order one at Clicks.Tech/product/clicks-for-iphone
26) A “ridiculously weak” password causes disaster for Orange España — Spain’s second-biggest mobile carrier
Orange España, Spain’s second-biggest mobile operator, suffered a major outage this week after an unknown party obtained a “ridiculously weak” password and used it to access the RIPE (Regional Internet Registry) account used for managing the global routing table that controls which networks deliver the company's Internet traffic. The password? It was "ripeadmin".
28) If you're going travelling and want to stay connected without going broke — especially if you're going to several countries — Airalo has great a Global eSIM option.
…and finally…
And so it goes…