The Lökwest "Digital Life" - December 2019
Welcome to the last issue of the "Digital Life" in 2019. THANK YOU for supporting Lökwest this year. It's truly been a pleasure serving you. Best wishes to you, your family, and friends this Holiday season.
We're always ready to help you set up new tech gadgets you receive or to help you get those New Year's resolutions in order. If technology isn't bringing joy to your life, we can help - just give us a call.
See you back here in 2020!
Brightening your holidays...
Google Santa Tracker is back again with a new village design, tons of new games — ow.ly
Gather up the kids or grand kids, or even entertain yourself! Google is back with Santa Tracker - complete with fun, games, and even the ability to call the North Pole! You won't want to miss the free holiday activities on this site.
Holiday Shopping Guide 2019 - Lökwest — www.lokwest.com
Still on the fence about a holiday gift? Check out our handy guide, where we break down the basics on this year's technology deals and what to look for. Although the big shopping weekend is over, the advice still applies (and many of the discounts are still available too!)
9 must-have apps to survive the holiday travel season — ow.ly
The holiday travel season is fast approaching. We all know what this means: crowded terminals, overpriced food, frayed nerves and the inevitable flight delays and cancellations. Your phone can help with your frustrations, IF you have the right apps installed ahead of time.
Some news you should know...
Careful, that 'Critical Microsoft Windows update' email is actually ransomware — ow.ly
Spam is an ever present problem. Lately we've been seeing an uptick on spam e-mails and calls claiming to be from Microsoft. DO NOT FALL VICTIM! Microsoft will NEVER call you about a subscription. If you receive an e-mail asking you to renew or provide information, go directly to your Microsoft account in the browser - don't click on the e-mail. Here's the link: https://account.microsoft.com/account
How to Protect Yourself After T-Mobile's Big Data Breach — ow.ly
T-Mobile has confirmed a data breach has affected a subset of its customers, with additional reporting from TechCrunch putting that figure at an estimated 1M+ accounts (or so). In other words, this is a big breach, but you shouldn’t freak out. Passwords weren't affected. Your address, along with other information was. If you have T-mobile, consider setting up a PIN on your account so no one can call and make changes based on your personal info alone.
Web creator Tim Berners-Lee launches plan to 'fix' the internet — ow.ly
A non-profit campaign group set up by Berners-Lee has secured the backing of Facebook and Google for his "contract for the web." Can we save the Internet from being a closed off space, full of "fake news", trolling, information harvesting corporations, and general junk? The founder of the Internet has some ideas.
Alexa's Latest Skill Manages Your Meds and Prescription Refills — ow.ly
This isn't available with all pharmacies yet, but we can see it being a great service for those who have an Echo at home. Would you tell Alexa to "refill my prescription?"
How about a guide or two?
The essential comparison guide to every streaming service — ow.ly
Netflix or Hulu? HBO or Showtime? Disney Plus or HBO Max? With the proliferation in the number of streaming services, it's important to identify what you watch and how you watch it. Otherwise, you could end up cutting the cord and paying more money for a disparate set of streaming services.
The Verge Guide to Amazon Alexa — ow.ly
Do you have Alexa at home? Did you get Alexa for the holidays? Whether she's new around the house or you've had a digital assistant for awhile, chances are you're not taking advantage of most of what it can do for you. Check out this curated guide from the Verge, with articles on everything you'd want to know about the Echo family of devices.
5G vs. Wi-Fi | Latest Standards Compared and Why We Need Both | Digital Trends — ow.ly
No, Wi-Fi is NOT 5G and wi-fi version 6 isn't better than a 5G network - they are completely different things. In addition - 5G may not mean incredibly fast speeds at first. It depends on if you're getting "sub 6" or "ultraband" signal. Take a minute and get up to speed on where wireless connectivity is going in 2020.
In tech history...long live the TI-83
Big Calculator: How Texas Instruments Monopolized Math Class — ow.ly
If you took an advanced math class in the last 25 years, chances are you've used a Texas Instruments graphing calculator. Heck, we still have our TI-85, complete with our physics cheat notes, from 1993! 🙂 A rarity in technology - the devices has barely changed in the last 20 years and the price has held steady (it'll still cost you about $100 to buy a graphing calculator).
Free calendar!
If you were one of our clients in 2019, check your snail mail for our annual holiday card and a free 2020 calendar. If you don't get a calendar or want an extra - just respond to this e-mail and we'll get you set up!
In closing -
Fra - gee - lay - must be Italian! 🙂🎄🎄🎅🎅