Techish

YES! There is a way to stop those annoying robocalls!

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My smartphone rings. It’s a number I don’t recognize. I ignore it and the caller leaves a message, “You will be taken under custody by the local cops,” says a robotic sounding female voice. “There are four serious allegations pressed on your name at this moment...” They leave a phone number to call back — or else. I know right away that it’s a scam, likely one of a half dozen calls I’ll get today. And it’s not even noon yet. This kind of frustrating little scenario played out more than three billion times in the month of March alone, according to the YouMail Robocall Index, at a cost of more than $9.5 billion annually to people who fall victim to phone scams. A new Harris Poll for ... Read more

HOW TO: Manage and update your Google privacy and security settings

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Facebook's been dominating headlines lately for its massive privacy woes, but it's not the only internet company that knows a whole lot about you. Google, through its various properties like YouTube, Gmail, and others, has some serious prying-power too. If you use Google every day — as I do — you've probably told the company more about you than you realize. The good news is that Google is pretty proactive when it comes to getting you to lock down your information, and it has built-in tools to walk you through all the steps to secure your account. Getting Started Start by going to privacy.google.com. Scroll through the brief tutorial that explains what information Google collects and ... Read more

One of the most popular robot vacuums is just $99 right now on Amazon

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It wasn't all that long ago that robot vacuums would set you back hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but a whole lot has changed over the past few years. Like any kind of new tech, a whole bunch of companies jumped on the robot vacuum trend, and prices have plummeted as a result. Some cheap ones don't exactly live up to their promise, but with nearly 1,000 reviews and a 4.5/5 star rating on Amazon, Housmile's $99 robot vacuum is a win/win. Here's the product highlights: Premium Features: infrared-sensor for evading obstacles, and smart drop-sensing tech to avoid falls. High-Capacity Li-ion Battery: Delivers over 1.5 hours of fade-free power for constant, powerful suction. Easy ... Read more

HOW TO: Spring Clean Your Social Media Like a Pro

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A dirty, unkempt, constantly cluttered house takes a toll on your health — according to dozens of scientific studies and experts. And just like piles of junk don’t do your physical or mental health any favors, neither does a messy social media life. “Most of us are both addicted to social media and fatigued by it at the same time,” says Amy Jo Martin, a best-selling author named the third most powerful woman on Twitter. “It's important to reset our habits and patterns around social media.” Considering that most of us will spend more than five years of our lives scanning social media, it’s as important a place as any these days to do some serious Spring cleaning. Here’s how to deep clean, ... Read more

All the Ways Facebook Tracks You: True or False?

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I carry my phone everywhere I go, and the last thing I need is an app like Facebook listening in on my private conversations. But is that really what’s going on? In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal — which compromised the personal info of up to 87 million people on Facebook — there’s a whole heap of confusion. Does Facebook actively spy on you? Are they reading private messages and texts? Does the app track your phone calls and location? CEO Mark Zuckerberg has now been grilled by lawmakers and answered a lot of questions, but how does that affect you or me? Let’s take a look how Facebook tracks you — what’s true, what’s not — and what you can do about it all. TRUE OR FALSE? ... Read more

Here’s every privacy related update Facebook’s made so far – in one place: 

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Here's a look at all of Facebook's recent privacy changes and updates, in one place, with working links. We will continue to update this list and Facebook rolls out more changes. Updated their terms of service to be easier to understand https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/04/terms-and-data-policy/ Turned off data access for unused apps https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/cracking-down-on-platform-abuse/ Restricted Facebook login data for apps https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/cracking-down-on-platform-abuse/ Made data settings and tools easier to find (privacy shortcuts) ... Read more

HOW TO: Find out right now if your data was shared with Cambridge Analytica

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Want to see if your Facebook data was shared with Cambridge Analytica? Find out via a dedicated link. Facebook posted a new link to its Help Center today to let all 2.2 million people who use the social site know whether they've been breached. Here's what it says when I open the page: You might also get a notification that looks like the image on the left or right below: NOW WHAT? No matter what -- be sure to go through all the 3rd party apps you've signed into using Facebook. On a desktop: Click the question mark in the upper right corner and go down to Privacy Checkup From there, scroll down to Apps to review everything connected to your account. Edit who sees ... Read more

Spring Clean Your Social Apps: Instagram Insta-Shine!

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The biggest “hack” for I’ve found for this feed so far is a life-changing Chrome browser extension that lets me post to Instagram from my laptop. It’s called Desktop for Instagram. Once you add it to Chrome, it shows up as a little icon in the toolbar. From here, or on your mobile device, you can go to town cleaning everything up. Instagram is all about presentation — from gorgeous photos to carefully curated stories — it’s like the grand entrance to your social media world. That means it needs an extra dose of sparkle, shine, and polish! Start with your profile. From a mobile phone or that desktop extension. Click on that little person icon at the bottom of your mobile ... Read more

Amazon’s Echo Spot is one of the best smart home gadgets, and now it’s cheaper than ever

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Amazon's Echo gadgets are smart home all-stars. Alexa, with her endless skills and abilities, has steadily outpaced all other digital assistants in the smart home race, and Amazon's Echo Spot is one of the most handy Alexa-enabled gadgets. On top of its Alexa powers, it does video calls, runs a whole bunch of media apps like Spotify, Pandora, and Audible, and it can control everything from your thermostat to your lawn sprinklers. Here's a summary of everything the Spot can do, via its Amazon store description: Echo Spot is designed to fit anywhere in your home. Use 2nd generation far-field voice recognition to watch video flash briefings, see music lyrics, weather forecasts, ... Read more

Spring Clean Your Social Apps: Taming Twitter

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Twitter is a whole other beast. I really can’t quite get over the fact Twitter doesn’t have an edit button. Still, it’s my favorite chosen place to follow the musings of some of the brightest people in the world and it remains the best place to follow for breaking news. But there’s a whole lot of other junk in there too now. “When you go into a house that has tons of clutter, how does that make you feel,” asks Dr. Eva Selhub, physician, author, speaker, and executive coach. She suggests blocking Twitter clutter at the source, “Clean up who is coming on your posts, the information that’s coming through to you. Is it lifting you up or bringing you down?” Twitter’s built-in “Mute” feature is ... Read more

Facebook is overhauling its privacy tools, and now you can permanently delete any info you want

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You've heard a lot about Facebook's privacy woes in the past couple of weeks — and I've done my best to keep you up to speed on what you need to do to keep your data safe from prying eyes — and now Facebook totally revamped its own privacy and security tools to make it easier than ever to remove private data from your account. Here's everything that Facebook changed, and what it means for you: All-New Settings Navigation Gone is the confusing library of settings prompts and in their place is a new, easy-to-navigate menu system that shows you exactly where you need to go to control the most important security features of your account. You can see both the old and new settings menus ... Read more

Why Apple’s new iPad is going to be this year’s must-have school gadget

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Even though it's only Spring, and most kids (and parents) are thinking more about Spring Break than the next school year, it's already clear that Apple's newly-announced iPad will be the year's must-have gadget for school. Apple held a special, education-focused event in Chicago to announce the launch of the new tablet, and everything they said should be music to the ears of parents and teachers too. Here's what you need to know: What is it? An all-new 9.7-inch iPad. What's so special about it? Glad you asked! Well, for starters, it's more powerful than the previous model and it has full support for the Apple Pencil stylus, which up until now was reserved for the incredibly ... Read more

How to stop Facebook’s facial recognition, and a new extension to ‘wall off’ Facebook

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Mozilla released a Firefox tool called Facebook Container to stop the social network from seeing what you do online beyond Facebook's own site. I was just asking a colleague if this sort of app or extension existed earlier today and sure enough, it does. To add it, open up your Firefox browser, click the link above, and tap + Add to Firefox. The extension logs you out of Facebook, deletes Facebook cookies, and "walls off," your activity from everything else you do online. (Cookies are those text files that websites use to keep tabs on you.) You'll notice that the word "Facebook" appears in blue in the address bar after you add the extension. From Facebook Container: What does it ... Read more

These awesome apps will help you save tons of money on Spring Break

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I have a major case of cabin fever this year — and I live in Northern California. I really can't imagine what folks in snowy states are going through right about now. (Well, I can imagine it, because I grew up in Alaska...) As spring fever takes its hold, dreams of sandy beaches, sunny skies, and sweet umbrella drinks are now fueling my favorite procrastination activity: Spring Break planning! But money's tight this year, so here are the five apps I'm taking on my trip to have a blast and still save a ton of cash. Hopper Hopper's an airfare forecasting app that predicts when to book your flight for the best available price. After you select your dates and destination, Hopper's ... Read more

Here’s how to see which apps have access to your Facebook data — and ditch them quick

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I’ve spent much of this week getting you caught up on the privacy scandal Facebook is currently neck-deep in. It’s big news, so make sure you’re caught up. Today, let’s take a deep dive into the heart of the problem: third-party apps. Here’s a simple breakdown: Lots of apps, websites, and services use Facebook logins to connect you, but when you agree to log in using those apps, you’re usually also handing over permission to access your private info. Apps can see a ton of information about you, such as who you’re friends with, your favorite Facebook groups, and more. Facebook app permissions never expire, so if you agreed to them years ago, they could still see your data until you ... Read more

How to browse all the information Facebook has about you

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Facebook has been making lots of headlines this week, and for all the wrong reasons. The company is in hot water for the unauthorized use of user information on its advertising platform, and everyone seems to be asking "Does Facebook know too much?" Over the years, you've told Facebook a whole lot about you — from what kinds of music you like and what apps you use to your job history and favorite places to visit — and now's a perfect time examine just how much info you've handed over. Thankfully, Facebook makes it pretty easy to browse all of the stuff you've given it over the years; you just have to know where to find it. Download Your Facebook Archive  A simple tool in Facebook's ... Read more