Techbyter Worldwide (formerly Technology Corner) With Bill Blinn

Anyone who wants to create a website needs to start by selecting either an application that edits website code or a service that offers site design tools. Many choices exist, but the two primary contenders are Dreamweaver and WordPress. In Short Circuits: A virtual private network on your computer is on the way to becoming essential, and Google’s VPN service that’s part of Google One might be sufficient. • The internet is full of useless attractions that are amusing. Among them are the ability to ride public transit systems online. Come along for a ride on New York City’s 7 train. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Is Linux an existential threat to Microsoft? Twenty years ago, it’s what Microsoft considered its number one danger.

Windows has features that, while not quite annoyances, don’t work the way you’d like. The Ultimate Windows Tweaker fixes a lot of these not-quite annoyances, and it’s free. In Short Circuits: When I bought a new keyboard, I noticed a lot of extra keys. Some of them are surprisingly useful. • Trying to print a website page is often an exercise in frustration because website pages are rarely designed for printing. PrintFriendly is a clever website, and a browser extension, that makes website pages printable. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Iomega, the company that filled a storage gap with high-capacity Zip and Jaz disks tried online storage as the need for disks faded, but success eluded the project.

When I set up a new computer, MacroExpress Pro is one of the dozen programs that are installed immediately. Those who don’t need all the power of the pro version may find one of the three more basic options useful. In Short Circuits: DPReview has been an essential resource for anyone who uses digital photography, but Amazon has ended its quarter-century run and soon all traces of the site will be gone. • Although Google was an early leader in artificial intelligence, ChatGPT and others took the lead and Google is trying to reclaim its leadership position. So now we have Bard, by “invitation” only. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Unicode was fighting for recognition in 2003. The advantages were obvious, but it wasn’t catching on quickly. Today it’s everywhere.

Reinstalling Windows 11, as I did a few weeks ago, gave me the chance to rediscover some of the “features” Microsoft offers that don’t work quite the way I want them to. Let’s look at some annoyances that are easy to fix. In Short Circuits: Maybe you consider the seemingly never-ending announcements and notifications from Windows 11 to be an annoyance, too, and you have have more control than you may think. • Adobe has a free artificial-intelligence tool designed to fix less-than-perfect audio, making it possible to create a podcast even if the recording environment is noisy. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): In 2003, light-emitting diodes were expensive, but they saved money with lower operating costs. Now even the initial expense is lower.

So many people complain about Windows, but then don't take the time to figure out how to fix what's bothering them. It's usually not difficult, so let's consider some of the annoyances that can be fixed with minimal effort. In Short Circuits: If you have a computer that's running slow and you've already replaced the mechanical hard drive with a solid-state drive, adding memory might help. • A common bit of humor has old people who need tech support calling on their six-year-old grandchildren for help, but it doesn't have to be that way. Some recent research says that we older folks are dealing with technology a bit better and the pandemic is part of the reason why. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): By 2003, manufacturers had managed to create cameras that were good enough to start the massive migration from film to digital.

You probably already know about the importance of keeping your computer, notebook, or tablet clean and up to date just as you ensure that your car is maintained properly, but what about your smartphone? In Short Circuits: When you're on vacation with the kids, having some motion pictures along can make travel time easier, but nobody wants to carry a stack of discs. Legally it's a gray area, but you can rip DVDs and Blu-ray discs to smartphones and tablets. • The Kerbango internet radio was introduced at PC Expo in 2000, but the project was discontinued a year later before even one unit could be sold. Now internet radios are being manufactured by several companies. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): I've had only minimal success using Windows Restore points over the years, but it worked the way it was supposed to once in 2003.

If you need to be able to capture screen shots, but the Windows Snipping Tool is insufficient and commercial applications are too expensive, there's ShareX. In Short Circuits: Anyone who has tried to schedule a Google Calendar event on the last day of each month has found that it's not possible. There's a workaround, though. • Does your Windows computer share too much information with Microsoft? You can tell it to shut up, but proceed with caution. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): In 2003, Windows XP users complained that their computers were much slower after they installed Service Pack 1.

ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence applications are responsible for a lot of questions about the future. Will AI help us humans, create insurmountable problems, or be no big deal? In Short Circuits: Music lovers who have trouble finding a local station they like will be happy with StreamWriter, a free application that not only plays music from thousands of radio stations but also makes it easy to record streams for later listening. • It's easier than ever to run Android apps on a Windows 11 computer, so let's look at how it's done. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Before Microsoft captured desktop computers with Word, a small company in Utah built Wordperfect into a world class application. By 2003, the battle was essentially over.

Many businesses issue two or more computer monitors to each employee because they've discovered a modest hardware investment improves productivity. Maybe it's time for home users to have more than one monitor, too. In Short Circuits: Users of Adobe's Creative Cloud can download and test beta versions of more than a dozen applications. The betas run alongside the installed release versions. • A handy utility application from McAfee leaves behind some software that may slow your computer and how to get rid of the extra app isn't obvious. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Although most computers purchased today come from China, in 2003 the change was just beginning.

Version 2 of Affinity's Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps give users surprisingly powerful features at a modest cost. In Short Circuits: PortableApps, one of my favorite programs, has recently added more applications including a lot of useful utilities and the ability to use specific typefaces wherever you are. • T-Mobile continues to be the poster child for accidentally exposing information from its clients -- this time 37 million of them. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): In 2003, broadband was available to only about 10% of US families. Now it's around 80%.

Until now, Adobe's Lightroom and Lightroom Classic offered no way to add more than a single mask to an image. That's no longer the case and the change gives users the ability to make modifications that would previously have required using Photoshop. In Short Circuits: Netflix has been trying to find a way to limit password sharing and is testing one option in South America. • How long will the disk drive in your computer last? There's no way to tell for sure, but the annual disk drive report from cloud backup company Backblaze offers some useful clues. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): In 2003, airlines were just beginning to introduce electronic tickets, but it wasn't until 2008 that the conversion was nearly complete.

The internet has lots of rabbit holes that are good for passing time, enjoyment, and (sometimes) education. Let's take a look at a few. In Short Circuits: An email that appeared to be from a high school classmate asked for a favor. It's been several decades since we graduated and the request seemed odd. Then it got odder. • If you prefer to maintain a clean Desktop, you might find Microsoft's repeatedly adding an icon for Edge a bit annoying. I'll explain how you can make it stop. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Adding a photo to an email today is trivial, but 20 years ago it wasn't and a $40 program offered to help.

Microsoft OneNote has been around since 2003 and it's one of a small set of applications that I use every single day. OneNote stores all kinds of information and makes finding it easy when you need it. In Short Circuits: This seems to be the year of the phony prize. All you have to do is fill out a quick survey and you'll receive a $100 gift card or a $200 set of tools or the latest model IPhone. Sadly, they're all scams. • And speaking of scams, when 16TB solid-state drives are selling for more than $2000, you may be delighted to find one for just $60 on Amazon. You will regret that purchase, though. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): How about a computer that could run Windows XP and still fit in your pocket? That was big news in 2003.

After one too many breaches at LastPass, I started looking for a new password manager and decided to give 1Password a try. It works well and there's one feature that every password manager should have. In Short Circuits: DOS commands are old, many dating back to the early 1980s, but many are still useful. Spending a bit of time with the antiques now might save time later. • Although password managers are essential, the real solution to the password problem is eliminating passwords. It's been nearly 40 years since that was proposed and we're still not there. Maybe in another 40 years. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Many people had to format the hard drive and then reinstall Windows about once a year. In my case it was usually two or three times a year. I do not miss that little exercise in futility!

Having "enjoyed" an extended hospital stay late last year and an even more extended period of starting the recovery process, I learned that hospitals have changed a lot in recent years and that one absolutely essential possession to take along is a smartphone. Sometimes system updates cause problems for users. Such was the case with an update for my Samsung smart watch, and it's apparently not the first time Samsung has pushed out a flawed smart watch update. • When Microsoft released Windows 11 version 22H2, tabs finally became a part of the File Explorer. While this is a welcome new feature, my preference is still for the third-party file explorer, Q-Dir. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Once Microsoft was a software company. Then they started making add-on devices such as keyboards. Today's Microsoft hasn't gone all-in on hardware, but it's a much larger part of the operation.

In addition to a search engine that doesn't track users, DuckDuckGo offers email protections such as the ability to provide someone you may not trust with a one-time address that can be eliminated. In Short Circuits: Being able to send an encrypted email message is helpful when you need to send sensitive or proprietary data, but the process is challenging. ProtonMail makes it much easier. • Microsoft eliminated the ability to boot to Safe mode by pressing the F8 key at boot time in Windows 8, but there's an easy way to restore that functionality. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): An information manager called Chandler looked promising in 2003, but the application never really caught on.

Two-factor authentication isn't yet the new normal, but it should be. Some businesses that should provide better security for their customers are lagging, and many users seem more interested in saving a few seconds than in securing their finances. This must change. In Short Circuits: I've described my backup system so often that you may think recovering a file isn't a big deal, and that's true until it isn't. I'll tell you about the cause of my close call. No significant files were at risk, but I did manage to annoy myself. • Then I'll explain how I recovered some files and describe the steps I've taken to close a small hole in the backup system. Having an image backup of the boot drive is important, but it's not sufficient if you might need to recover individual files quickly. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Today we send and receive email with ease on our smart phones. That could be done in 2002, but it was much more difficult.

Version 22H2 of Windows 11 will catch your eye with numerous user interface enhancements, but the real reason to get the update sooner rather than later is the emphasis on security. In Short Circuits: Microsoft PowerToys adds some must-have features in version 6.2. If you haven't yet installed the free utility, these may be the extras that convince you. • Adobe is paying an enormous amount of cash and stock for a seven-year-old application called Figma. Twenty billion dollars. Wow. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): In 2002, a company wanted people who had trailer hitches on their cars to shell out $30 for a lighted sign. It didn't work out well.

Desktop computers are smaller than they used to be. Tower boxes are shorter, but if you really want to save space, consider a notebook computer, possibly with a dock. Notebook systems cost more and desktop systems still have certain advantages, but the trend it toward smaller devices. In Short Circuits: LastPass reported a "security incident" in late August and doomsayers made a lot of noise. As it turned out, the intrusion wasn't a big deal and I'll explain why. • Windows 10 and Windows 11 apps are not installed in the usual Program Files and Program Files (x86) directories. Instead they're in a hidden directory inside the Windows directory. If you want to examine the directory, it can be challenging. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): In 2002, thinking that the cat or dog could eat your computer was a bit of hyperbole, but today we have watches that are essentially computers. Maybe the cat couldn't eat it, but the dog might.

You're careful not to drop your notebook computer into the ocean or down a flight of stairs, but heat is the insidious destroyer of all electronic devices. In Short Circuits: Ordering groceries online with curbside pickup or home delivery made big advances during the worst months of the Covid pandemic. Growth has slowed, but not stopped. Big chains have gone all in, and smaller stores are struggling to stay in the game. • Windows updates interrupt us. Sometimes they annoy us. But if you're tempted to skip the updates, think again. Twenty Years Ago (only on the website): Having a device that could hold 64MB of data and yet was about the size of a pack of gum seemed amazing in 2002, and it was. Floppy disks were still around and you'd need a huge pocket to carry 64MB of data on floppies.