We’re not sure if we should file this under “scary” or “”weird coincidence”.
On Saturday Chris noticed that we were out of aluminum foil. We had a long conversation about it, revolving around his mom.
When she moved out to Colorado to live with us in 2001 she moved almost her whole house with the exception of some furniture. And she LOVED the deals at Costco! So, yes, her closets were full of supersized cases of paper dinner napkins, paper plates, plastic cups, laundry detergent, plastic wrap, AND aluminum foil. She insisted that she would still be needing all that, so we moved everything across the country from Long Island. I’ve slowly given much of the party goods away, although we still have a ton of plastic forks, but we always seemed to have a never ending supply of aluminum foil and plastic wrap.
When I went to get another roll from the garage, I noticed we were all out! We joked about not having any more foil from the Pathmark in Massapequa.
An hour later I was looking for something on Amazon and an ad for Reynolds Wrap was prominently displayed. Huh?! When was the last time you saw an add for Reynolds Wrap on your screen?
Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil, 200 Sq Ft
A year or so ago, I might have said it was just a strange coincidence. Today, I’m not so sure.
With all of the SmartPhones in the room at the time, one of them was bound to be listening.
There are two apps that I know of that could be listening. One, “Hey Siri”, had been turned off. The other, “OK Google”, I wasn’t sure about. Do you have these running in the background on your phone? Here’s how to turn them off:
Hey Siri is only available on the iPhone.
- Click on “Settings”
- Click on “General”
- Click on “Siri”
- Slide the green button next to “Allow ‘Hey Siri'” to turn it off
“OK Google” is available within the Google app on your SmartPhone. There are subtle differences in the instructions depending on whether you have an Android, iPhone, or Windows, but these are essentially the same steps each time.
- Open the Google App
- In the top left corner of the home screen, touch your photo
- Touch Voice Search
- Slide all of the blue buttons to the left to turn it off. (You can still speak your request to the Google app, but will need to tap the microphone icon first.)
- Touch Done to Save
What are your thoughts about surveillance? How do you protect your privacy? Let me know your favorites in the comments below!
Information about Geek For Hire, Inc.
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing 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 303-618-0154. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3 support) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area as well as remote service throughout North America.
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