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Cyber Vulnerabilities: Did You Know?

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        “Car Hacked on 60 Minutes” is the headline that shrieks to grab your attention when you click on this CBS news article forwarded by Jim Hamm.  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/car-hacked-on-60-minutes/   
        Quoting from this article,"In a dramatic demonstration, he (Dan Kaufman) and his colleagues use a laptop computer to hack into a car being driven by Stahl. Much to her surprise, they were able to take control of many of the car's functions, including the braking and acceleration."  Be sure to read the article.  
        Bringing this notice to us was the response of Jim Hamm when queried about another eye-grabbing article about the risks of using SmartTV.  
        Samsung notifies their customers “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition.”
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Find Out More About Malvertising

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        According to Rahul Kashyap we'll be hearing a lot more about malvertising.  See http://www.wired.com/2014/11/malvertising-is-cybercriminals-latest-sweet-spot/   
        Third-party ads are "quietly displaying on these pages and sometimes burrowing into viewers' browsers and PCs before they even click anything," is how he describes it.   His short article in Bottom Line/Personal declares that malvertising has already invaded extremely popular sites including Amazon, Answers.com, Yahoo and YouTube. 
        Malvertising relies on a trusted destination to bring in a target for their attack.  Site operators often have no knowledge of malware on their own domain.  Cybercrime rings are brutally efficient and do not bother with unnecessary effort, cost and exposure.  

        Rahul Kashyap is Chief Security Architect and Head of Research at Bromium.  Part 2 of this series is already online.  Find info at bromium.com and be aware of the growing problem and what you can do to protect yourself.  
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Electronic Device Batteries

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        "What's the best way to increase the lifespan of the battery in your smartphone, tablet or computer? Here's an article with useful tips," remarks Jim Hamm.  
        "What's the best way to increase the daily battery life of your device so it doesn't run down during the day? Here's what Apple has to say about that.
        "It seems it's best not to discharge the battery in your device down to zero as there is a finite number of times the battery can do that and still take a charge. Also, it seems it's OK to leave the device plugged in overnight (if you should want to) as long as you remove any cover so the heat can dissipate.
        "Will apps running in the background on your device drain battery life? I've read articles claiming yes and no. This article states apps running in the background do not drain battery life, at least on an Apple device.
        And here's Jim's latest experience.  "What I have found, though, on my iPad, if I keep opening apps and websites eventually my iPad slows down and gets 'buggy'. By doing a reset and closing everything down, everything runs smoothly again when it reopens."
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Same Song, Another Verse (NeoOffice)

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        John Carter to the rescue.  A question on NeoOffice brought this speedy reply. "Documents written with Pages will not come up in NeoOffice, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, or MS Office.

        "Documents written with MS Word will come up in NeoOffice, but there may be some formatting changes.
        "The only reason to use NeoOffice is if you don’t have MS Office and you want to create a document that can be shared with MS Office users in the .doc format — but you have to keep the formatting simple and use only standard fonts like Arial, Courier, Times, Helvetica, etc.
       "Personally, I have MS Office but only for tutoring purposes. I use Pages for PMUG documents and NeoOffice for everything else. Pages is not a real document processor and NeoOffice is."  So, now we know more than we did.  Thanks, John. 
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What to Know About NeoOffice

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        John Carter recommends NeoOffice.  He explains, "Here’s something good to know about NeoOffice:   NeoOffice includes the following open source software:

  • OpenOffice.org and Apache OpenOffice
  • LibreOffice
  • Akua icons
  • NeoOffice icons and images
  • Minizip
  • Mac remote control
  • The main difference between NeoOffice and OpenOffice or LibreOffice is that NeoOffice is built specifically for the Mac.
  • Another main difference is that NeoOffice launches MUCH faster than LibreOffice.
Here are features in NeoOffice that are not found in OpenOffice or LibreOffice:
NeoOffice :: Open at Launch menu to open Calc or Impress instead of Writer at launch
  • File :: Browse All Versions menu to restore previous versions of your documents
  • Native file locking to safely edit files in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or network drives
  • Native Mac OS X grammar checking
  • Native Mac OS X text highlighting
  • Support for Mac OS X Services
  • Native floating tool windows
  • Menus open when no documents are open
  • Command-clicking on window titlebar
(Go to neooffice.org to get details on those features.)
        "NeoOffice can be freely copied. However, it is only available in the Apple App Store for download, and that copy you have to pay for. Hence, a copy of NeoOffice installed on another computer can only be updated from the App Store, and that would require the original owner’s Apple ID and password.
        "The developers of NeoOffice believe that they have produced a more stable and secure version of LibreOffice or OpenOffice.
       "Hence, NeoOffice is much more impressive as a tool than either OpenOffice or LibreOffice. A document written with NeoOffice will open in MS Office, OpenOffice, and LibreOffice. However, when opened in MS Office the formatting may change. My personal experience with all four products convinces me that NeoOffice is the best way to go for a Mac user.
        Thanks to John we know a lot more than we did at the beginning of his report.
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Super Bowl! Live Streams!

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        Today is Super Bowl Day!  

        "If, by chance, you're not near a TV for today's Super Bowl, not to worry," declares Jim Hamm.   "You can watch the game on your computer, iPad or iPhone. Take a read here.  I'll be watching the game on TV but I might dial-in my iPad a time or two just to see what the game would look like on a small screen.
        "Watch the game on an iPhone? Not for me -- screen is way too small." 
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No Need to Wait

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        "OS X 10.10.2 is OUT, and so is iOS 8.1.3!"  John Carter alerts us, and he follows up with this, "So, for anyone waiting to update to Yosemite, stop waiting!

        And here's his own experience:  "My computer, iPhone, and iPad have been updated. The computer was updated automatically overnight and forced a restart, but that’s because I don’t turn off or sleep my computer and I am accepting automatic updates. 
        "The iPhone and iPad had to be updated manually. I have not had any problems during the first day after the update. But that doesn’t mean that all of the bugs were found and fixed. It does mean that the new OS an iOS are now mature enough to trust - in my opinion."
       And John advises, "If you haven’t updated to Yosemite, simply click on the Yosemite update icon in the App Store and take all the defaults. It will require you to authorize the update with your Apple ID and password. The download can take quite a while, especially with a slow Internet, so make sure that your computer will not go to sleep during the download."
        He concludes with this:   "After the download, just take all the defaults and fill in whatever information it may ask for. After the update to Yosemite, you will need to check for new updates once more and take all that are available. Those updates will be for applications like Pages, Numbers, etc. Take the updates whether or not you will ever be using the application."
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Where's the Book?

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        John Carter sends us the following info.  "People are asking, 'What is the best book for learning about OS X Yosemite?'

        "The sad news is that I haven’t found one printed book on this subject - yet. There are several e-books available on Amazon (start here), but they are all Kindle editions (readable with iBook on the Mac, and iBook comes with Yosemite if you don’t already have it) and not a paper edition (it’s not surprising that they are Kindle books on Amazon), so it’s still something only in digital format. 
        "No one seems to be printing user guides anymore. There are two online videos for purchase at a very reasonable price. One is from MacMost.com and one is from NoteBoomProductions.com.
        "The good news is that if you buy an e-book, you can read it on your iPhone or your iPod Touch or your iPad — or your Android smart phone or tablet. That allows you to tinker on the computer while you read about it on your mobile device."
        And John pronounces this as the bottom line:  get used to not finding printed books about computers.

Mac Memorabilia Needs a Good Home

        Do you collect old Mac memorabilia or know someone does?  Jim Hamm has received info from the Arizona Macintosh Users Group, looking for someone who might be interested. From magazines from 1983, to some user guides, original manuals, conference ephemera, it's quite a list. The owner is a retired electronic engineer who has been an Apple certified software developer.  Contact him directly here.  

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Take Command of the Photoshop Basics

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        John Carter has some good news, "CreativeLive is offering a FREE online course in Photoshop.

        "Don’t let Photoshop overwhelm you! Get to know the power, functions, and features of this incredible image-editing program.
        "In his three-day live class, Photoshop Hall of Famer Ben Willmore will not only introduce you to Photoshop's interface and essential tools, but will also show you how to make simple changes that will have a big impact on your images. You'll learn how to:
• Retouch stray hairs and brighten eyes
• Combine separate images into a panorama
• “Open” closed eyes in a group shot and more!

        "If you feel intimidated by Photoshop, this beginner-level class will give you the skills and confidence to take command of the program for amazing results.  RSVP Now!

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A Fan of Photoshop?

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        "If you're a fan of Photoshop, following are comments from a blog I follow that might be of interest, " Jim Hamm begins, and he goes on to explain, "I've not checked any of the websites, but I fully trust the guy writing the suggestions (I know him), so you might see if any of this would be helpful." 
        (You'll find that word FREE by the end of the quotation!) 
        "I’ve mentioned some of this before, but for you Photoshop aficionados, or you Photoshop newbies, or wantabes, I’ve come across some great tutorial sites for you to take a look at.  http://petapixel.com/2015/01/08/photoshop-playbook-50-short-video-tutorials-fundamental-skills-photoshop/

        "Don’t have a copy of Photoshop and think it’s too expensive? You can go here:
and download a free, licensed version of Photoshop CS2 for either Windows or Mac. It’s about 340 MB and took me less than 30 minutes to download on a 3G connection. Be sure and grab the License Serial Number further down the page."