Speech to Text Punctuation

Posted on October 18, 2016October 17, 2016 by Gail Eddy in Tips

I’ve been using my phone’s speech to text feature more and more. I use the feature to compose emails, send text messages, and search on my phone’s internet browser. I have experienced some frustration that the phone doesn’t always do what I tell it to do. I’ve modified my instructions somewhat so that more and more often, the text result ends up looking more like what I intend for it to look!

For example, when I want to begin a new paragraph, “Return” and “next line” don’t work, but “New Line” does, and so does “Next Paragraph”. Note that “Next Line” will give you one standard return, but “Next Paragraph” will give you two lines in between the paragraphs.

Other symbols include:

? – “Question mark”
. – “Period”
( – “Open Parentheses”
) – “Close Parentheses”
@ – “At symbol” doesn’t work but “at sign” does.
* – The asterisk is really tricky. Even with perfect diction, it gets confused. I’ve found it’s easier to edit that after I’m done speaking.
+ – “Plus Sign”
– – “Minus Sign”
& – “Ampersand”
% – “Percent sign”
# – “Pound Sign”
! – “Exclamation point”

I’ve also had issues with the word “to”, “two”, and “too”. It usually translates it as “to”. I’ve learned to say “Too Many”, or I just edit when I’m done speaking. I’ve not been able to reliably get it to correctly type “two”.

Other numbers under 10 will almost always translate as the number word and not the symbol itself. Numbers over 10 translate as the number symbol.

On a teeny tiny phone screen, sometimes using the speech to text feature makes life a whole lot easier. I hope these tricks help you too!

Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more on our website. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.

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18 Keyboard Shortcuts for the Mac

Posted on October 4, 2016October 11, 2021 by Gail Eddy in Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips

Two weeks ago our blog was about some of the Windows shortcuts available. This week, it’s all about the Mac. The Command Key is the “key” to most of these shortcuts. This is what it looks like:

This by Tinrocket 1.0.2 (101)
Command Key | Geek For Hire, Inc. |

Shortcuts

Command + A = Select All

Command + B = Bold

Command + C = Copy

Command + E = Eject the disk

Command + F = Find

Command + G = Find again

Command + H = Hide

Command + I = Italics

Command + M = Minimize

Command + N = New

Command + P = Print

Command + Q = Quit

Command + S = Save

Command + T = Show/Hide the fonts window

Command + U = Underline

Command + V = Paste

Command + X = Cut

Command + Z = Undo

Are these helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

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Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has provided computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PCs for the past eighteen years. Angie’s List and the BBB rate Geek For Hire very highly. You can find more on our website, or give us a call at 303-618-0154. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3 support) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.

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More Tips Here:

Are VPNs worth it? More here.
Are you interested in learning more about Extreme Privacy?
We have seen a lot of Facebook hacking lately. Here’s what you should do ahead of time to keep your account safe.
And here are the 10 Password Mistakes you don’t want to make!

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20 Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows (plus 1 bonus!)

Posted on September 20, 2016September 19, 2016 by Gail Eddy in Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips

Two weeks ago our blog was about some of the shortcuts you can use with your Windows Logo key. This week, I’ve got some more basic keyboard shortcuts.

The Control (aka Ctrl) is the “key” to most of these shortcuts. This is what it looks like:

The Control (aka "CTRL") key — The Control (aka “CTRL”) key

Shortcuts

CTRL + A = Select All

CTRL + B = Bold

CTRL + C = Copy

CTRL + I = Italics

CTRL + N = New

CTRL + P = Print

CTRL + R = Refresh the active window

CTRL + S = Save

CTRL + U = Underline

CTRL + V = Paste

CTRL + X = Cut

CTRL + Y = Redo or Repeat

CTRL + Z = Undo

CTRL +F4 = Close the active document

CTRL +F5 = Refresh the active window

CTRL + Left arrow = Move cursor to beginning of previous word

CTRL + Right Arrow = Move cursor to beginning of next word

CTRL + Up Arrow = Move cursor to beginning of previous paragraph

CTRL + Down Arrow = Move Cursor to beginning of next paragraph

CTRL + ESC = Open the Start Menu

Are these helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

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10 Shortcuts with the Windows Key

Posted on September 6, 2016September 8, 2016 by Gail Eddy in Tips, Windows

I know a couple of the shortcuts that you can use with the “Windows” key. I was wondering the other day if there are more that might make my life easier. Turns out, there are!

I like knowing the shortcuts because I’m a keyboard user. Taking my hands off the keyboard to negotiate with my mouse is “time consuming” in a world where every second counts. If you’re a keyboard user like me, you’re welcome!

In case you don’t know, the Windows key looks like this:

So, here goes:

The Windows Logo Key all by itself will bring up the “Start” menu. You know, the icon you tap when you want to cleanly shut your machine down.
Windows Logo Key + L will lock your screen. You’ll need to log in again, but all your open Windows will still be there.
Windows Logo Key + M will minimize all of your open Windows. This is also known as the “Boss” key!
Windows Logo Key + E will bring up your Windows Explorer page so you can see how much space you have left on your machine and where all of your files are.
Windows Logo Key + D will show you the Desktop.
Windows Logo Key + Space Bar will show your Desktop for as long as you press down the Windows key.
Windows Logo Key + T will cycle through your running programs on the taskbar.
Windows Logo Key + a number will bring up the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Windows Logo Key + Tab will cycle through your open programs using 3D. (Try that one. It’s pretty cool!)
Windows Logo Key + Home will minimize all your open windows except the one you’re currently working on.

If you’d like to learn more shortcuts, check out this page from Microsoft, or this one from Shortcut Mania.

There are so many keyboard shortcuts. Look for more tips in the coming weeks!

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Facebook and Ad Blocking

Posted on August 16, 2016September 8, 2016 by Gail Eddy in Facebook, Tips

Facebook Advertisements:

Did you see the Press Release from Facebook last week? They say they have figured out how to show ads even to people who use Ad Blocking software. Why? (Sarcasm alert!) Because Facebook knows better than you do, what is relevant to you and can show you ads that are appealing to you. Here’s an excerpt from the Press Release:

“When they’re relevant and well-made, ads can be useful, helping us find new products and services and introducing us to new experiences — like an ad that shows you your favorite band is coming to town or an amazing airline deal to a tropical vacation. But because ads don’t always work this way, many people have started avoiding certain websites or apps, or using ad blocking software, to stop seeing bad ads. These have been the best options to date.

“We’ve designed our ad formats, ad performance and controls to address the underlying reasons people have turned to ad blocking software. When we asked people about why they used ad blocking software, the primary reason we heard was to stop annoying, disruptive ads. As we offer people more powerful controls, we’ll also begin showing ads on Facebook desktop for people who currently use ad blocking software.”

I’m not sure how they’ll accomplish this, or how long it will take before Ad Blocking software is upgraded, but for now it looks like we’ll be seeing ads on Facebook whether we want to or not.

Change Facebook Settings:

In the meantime, you can make a few changes to your Facebook Settings. (Click on “Settings”, then “Ads”.)

The first thing you’ll want to do is change your preference for “Ads with my Social Actions” to “No One”. Otherwise, your friends will see your actions associated with an ad like this:

Then, you’ll need to decide what to do about ads that are presented to you. Do you want to see ads that are relevant to you, or do you just want to see all ads? Essentially, those are your two choices as shown in the screen captures below:

I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping Ad Blocking software will get an upgrade very soon!

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Where To Turn, When You Don’t Know Where To Turn

Posted on August 9, 2016October 25, 2017 by Gail Eddy in Smartphone Apps, Tips

I received some bad news yesterday about a friend who lost his battle with depression. Whenever this happens, and it has happened too frequently in my lifetime, I wonder if there was something I could have done differently. In most case I know though, that people tend to hide their demons behind a happy face. They don’t want to burden their friends and family with their struggles.

That got me wondering: Are there apps or other online resources that a person could go to anonymously for support and guidance?

I did a little bit of research, and the answer is Yes, and No. Sure there are apps, but research is finding that those apps aren’t as helpful as actually talking to a trained counselor.

One app that is sponsored by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is MY3. MY3 lets you name three people you can contact in a crisis. You set this up ahead of time, and contact them when needed. These three people could be your therapist, your religious leader, a family member, a close friend, or even a neighbor.

If you know you have suicidal tendencies, by all means, get into counseling now. Many times the cost will be free, or on a sliding scale, so don’t let finances be a factor to not seeking help. You can find a competent therapist by contacting your County or State Department of Human Services or by calling the Suicide Prevention Hotline – 800-273-8255.

If you are wondering what some of the warning signs are so that you might be able to help a friend or family member, check out the list here. Some of the warning signs include:

Talking about wanting to die or to kill oneself.
Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live.
Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain.
Talking about being a burden to others.
Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs.
Acting anxious or agitated; behaving recklessly.

Our society has two demographics that are particularly susceptible to depression and suicide: Teens/Young Adults and Veterans.

Teens, especially, have many resources. One message board that I found allows teens to “chat” with other teens about a variety of subjects from Gender Issues to Child Abuse to Eating Disorders, Suicide, and other topics. Remember that if you do join a Message Board to head over to gmail first and create a new anonymous email address.

I’ve recently become aware that an average of 22 Veterans are killed by suicide every day. Head to either one of these two websites for more info and assistance: Veteran Crisis Line or 22Kill.

Many of the websites I looked at this morning cite suicide as one of the leading causes of death in the US. Keep your eyes and ears open. If you see a friend showing any of the above signs, gently talk to them, and provide them with some of these resources.

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Facebook and Politics

Posted on July 19, 2016September 8, 2016 by Gail Eddy in Entertainment, Facebook, Social Media, Tips

Social Media:

I don’t know about you, but my Facebook is getting full of posts about politics. Sometimes I agree with my Facebook friend, and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes the posts are downright offensive! I have a trick I use to minimize the number of times I see those offensive posts. It also helps minimize the times that those people can see my posts and start trolling.

Other People’s Posts:

I am assuming that you still want to be Facebook friends, you just want to see less of some of the posts that makes your blood boil! If you don’t want to keep in touch with that person, by all means, press the “unfriend” button. Otherwise, follow these steps:

Bring up the person’s Facebook page and click on the down arrow next to the “Friends” button.

Then click on “Acquaintances” and make sure the “Get Notifications” option is unchecked.

Remember that Facebook uses algorithms to figure out what to show you. If you check out that person’s page, it is more likely that their posts will show up on your feed. Facebook needs to be trained!

If something does show up on your feed that you don’t want to see, click the down arrow on the right side of the post and select “Hide Post”.

You’ll get another pop-up after clicking on “Hide post” that looks like this. Here you have another choice. Do you want to see less from that particular person? Or do you want to see less from their source. Click on your option and continue on your way through your news feed.

Your Own Posts:

Sometimes it’s good to minimize who sees your posts as well. Now, that will be easy for you to do. When you post a news story or your own opinion that may be controversial to some, you can select who gets to see it. Click on the down arrow to the left of the “Post” button and select who can see this post. If you select “Friends except Acquaintances”, then all the people you’ve categorized as Acquaintances will not see that post.

I hope these tips help you keep your sanity through this election season!

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I <3 my auto mechanic

Posted on May 17, 2016May 24, 2016 by Gail Eddy in Tips

How is your computer like your car?

The longer we’ve had our Volvo and Hondas and continued our relationship with our mechanics, I continue to come to the conclusion that taking care of computers and cars is very much the same. I know; that sounds like Crazy Talk! I’ll tell you what I mean.

Regular maintenance:

Just like you want your mechanic to give your vehicle a once-over every 3-5,000 miles, your computer needs looking at as well. About once a year Chris will:

Clean up temporary files – this helps your machine run faster.
Check for and remove any viruses or other malware.
Make sure your drivers are up to date.
Look for any unusual behavior.
Ask you questions about how you use your machine and any annoyances you’ve experienced lately.
And other tasks as required.

Strange noises:

Unexpected noises are never a good thing. Whether it’s from your car or computer, if you’re like me, your first inclination is to ignore it and hope it goes away. Then, if it happens again you start to take it seriously! Unusual noises that some of our customers have experienced include:

Grinding fan noises. Your computer needs to stay cool in order to work properly, and that is what the fan is for. If the fan starts to make noises, it’s getting ready to fail. If it stops making the loud sound, it’s already failed and it needs to be replaced asap! If your computer gets too hot, the whole thing could fail.
Voices. Yes, voices. Lately we’ve seen some weird viruses that talk to our customers. “Make sure you call 800-555-1212 right now!”
Squeaking from a dry fan belt
A clicking sound from inside your machine could indicate that the hard drive is failing.

We’ve found that one of the most important things to do in keeping our vehicles in top shape is to get to know our mechanics. We’ve been invited to their special events and are proud to call them our friends. We have similar relationships with many of our customers too, and we’d love to get to know you as well!

Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more at http://www.GeekForHireInc.com Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area.

Q&A with Chris Eddy (iMac’s, PDF’s and Windows 10)

Posted on May 10, 2016May 18, 2016 by Gail Eddy in Apple, iMac, iPhone, Microsoft, PDF, Smartphone Apps, Tips, Win10

Question:

I’m currently running window 7 professional on my work laptop. Windows 10 want to upgrade computer software. I have office 2003 and ms project software 2010 and I’m wondering if windows 10 compatible with these programs? Also since I’ve been rejecting windows 10 computer seems to constantly upgrade software (daily) and is running slow. Any way that not upgrading to 10 can be causing this?

Answer:

I think you should decline the W10 upgrade because W7 works fine for you, I don’t think that W10 has enough new and different and better stuff that you should run right out now (metaphorically) and get it. Also, I’m seeing occasional strangeness with W10 becoming unresponsive or very disk intensive for long periods of time, and have seen occasional filesystem corruption after things like a graceless shutdown which causes the machine to require serious startup repair (not the automated one), but W7 would have recovered from that in stride.

Question:

An associate recommended PDFMerge as a great program to take individual pdf pages and be able to combine them into a document. I went to the website www.pdfmerge.com and downloaded it. …. Well now every pdf on my laptop is a soda pdf. This was not what I intended – will this cause me problems since they are no longer adobe pdf’s? Should I have you change it all back? Worried about this change. Recommendations?

Answer:

This is an easy thing to change. Go to the file using Windows Explorer, right click on the file name, go down to “Open With”, select the Adobe Acrobat Reader program, and make sure you put a check in the box to use this program for this file type in the future.

Question:

Do you have an opinion on the iMac all in one? The 21.5 ” most suitable for my space and I’d like to connect it to a TV and be able to watch TV at same time as using computer – is that possible or a pipe dream?

Answer:

In general, I like the iMac. And, in a nutshell, yes. But you’ll need an “Apple TV” device, which is a white hockey puck sized thing that connects to the house network and to the TV. More here: http://store.apple.com/us/question/answers/appletv/can-i-use-apple-tv-to-mirror-my-imac-on-my-tv/QCFJP9Y472HAJP9YP

Do you have a quick question about your Mac or PC? Send us an email to support@geekforhireinc.com

Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more at http://www.GeekForHireInc.com Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area.

The Scariness Increases

Posted on March 22, 2016March 28, 2016 by Gail Eddy in Data Backup, Data Recovery, Hackers, Malware, Tips

Ransomware

Chris forwarded a link to me the other day about some scary “malvertising”. For those of you who didn’t have Senor Garcia for High School Spanish, “mal” is a Latin prefix meaning “bad”. Other words you might be familiar with include “malware” and “malicious”. And that’s what this is: Malware that looks like advertising, but really contains malicious code.

I can hear you saying: “But I know how to be careful and not click on stuff that looks suspicious!” And that’s the issue right there. These are “advertisements” that appear on highly respected websites. ARS-Technica warns us that:

“Mainstream websites, including those published by The New York Times, the BBC, MSN, and AOL, are falling victim to a new rash of malicious ads that attempt to surreptitiously install crypto ransomware and other malware on the computers of unsuspecting visitors, security firms warned.

The tainted ads may have exposed tens of thousands of people over the past 24 hours alone, according to a blog post published Monday by Trend Micro. The new campaign started last week when “Angler,” a toolkit that sells exploits for Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, and other widely used Internet software, started pushing laced banner ads through a compromised ad network.”

Another technical site, MalwareBytes, mentions some other websites, including Newsweek, Realtor.com, and NFL.com.

And, the malware that is being downloaded isn’t your run-of-the-mill virus. In many cases it is Ransomware, which takes all of your files and encrypts them with a special key. You then need to pay a ransom to get the encryption key to get your data back.

This is not a message you want to see popping up on your screen!

Ransomware Image - source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/03/big-name-sites-hit-by-rash-of-malicious-ads-spreading-crypto-ransomware/ — Ransomware Image – source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/03/big-name-sites-hit-by-rash-of-malicious-ads-spreading-crypto-ransomware/

What is our advice?

Use an adware blocker like AdBlock Plus
For some websites, they won’t show you ANY content unless you agree to see their ads. In that case, never click on an advertisement.
If you really are interested in a product or service that is being offered, go to the company’s site directly.
Keep your data backed up to an external source. And back it up at least once a month – more often if you are working with ever-changing and precious data.

If you need help getting rid of any malware, or learning how to regularly back up your data, give us a call!

Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more at http://www.GeekForHireInc.com Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area.