Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Rise of the Rocket Girls

Plugging in... 

They were called COMPUTERS, their jobs were advertised as "computers". Author Nathalia Holt gives these women their due in her book: "Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars". The secret is out: Science and Mathematics aren't really just for the men in this world!

Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars Cover Image
"Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars" (Little, Brown and Co., 2016) - See more at: http://www.space.com/32572-rise-of-the-rocket-girls-book-author-interview.html#sthash.FcgFqNSN.dpuf
 
"Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars" (Little, Brown and Co., 2016) - See more at: http://www.space.com/32572-rise-of-the-rocket-girls-book-author-interview.html#sthash.FcgFqNSN.dpuf
"Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars" (Little, Brown and Co., 2016) - See more at: http://www.space.com/32572-rise-of-the-rocket-girls-book-author-interview.html#sthash.FcgFqNSN.dpuf
"Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars" (Little, Brown and Co., 2016) - See more at: http://www.space.com/32572-rise-of-the-rocket-girls-book-author-interview.html#sthash.FcgFqNSN.dpuf
"Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars" (Little, Brown and Co., 2016) - See more at: http://www.space.com/32572-rise-of-the-rocket-girls-book-author-interview.html#sthash.FcgFqNSN.dpuf
ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, and is it turned on? 

 Unplugged

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Not so Quick - en

Plugging in...

Quicken 2013 has a bit of an edge... it won't upgrade to Quicken 2016 properly if one uses a password on their Quicken 2013 file. Found this out the hard way. Quicken does not make any note of this for the upgrade, and it sure would have helped if they alerted the user in advance.

The Tutor upgraded from 2013 to 2016 for a client which for the most part, went smoothly, until the client tried to open their "converted" 2013 file in 2016. When the password was entered, Quicken 2016 stated "not the correct password", though we had used that password at least 10 times in the previous hour, but in version 2013.

A call to Quicken tech support resulted in the following: the rep, who was excellent, did some research, discovered that one must unprotect the Quicken 2013 file BEFORE upgrading. OK, fine. But the solution was to uninstall Quicken 2016, re-install Quicken 2013. But the client didn't have 2013 anymore... because Quicken 2016 removes the prior version of Quicken. The tech rep then added the 2013 version, at no cost, to the account. The Tutor then uninstalled the 2016 version, downloaded and re-installed the 2013 version. Opened the password protected file, removed the password and saved the file, unprotected.

The Tutor re-installed the Quicken 2016. The data file opened (of course it did, it was no longer password protected), and the Tutor saved it with a password.

The Tutor requested a credit for the purchase of Quicken 2016 ($100) for the client's trouble and was granted the credit immediately. The Tutor also stated it would be nice if Quicken would pay for the Tutor's time, since it was their negligence that caused the additional work in the first place: DENIED. We tried. One doesn't get, if one doesn't ask.

ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, and is it turned on? 

Unplugged

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The Nagging Windows 10 updater

Plugging in... 

How many times must the reader encounter the aggressive push for updating to Windows 10 before they say "UNCLE"? Well, Gibson Research has a cure for this, not frighteningly technical.

If your patience has been worn thin by the incessant prompting (they are taking a page from Apple on the iPhones, aren't they??), go here, and give it a try: https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

The Gibson Research site has been helping us computer users for many a moon. We trust them. Really.
 

ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, and is it turned on? 

 Unplugged

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

How Safe is YOUR backup?

Plugging in... 

As easy as it is to use an always on, real-time backup, the Tutor wants the reader to be aware that if something like the ransom-ware malware encrypts your files, it is likely the backups for each file are also encrypted, which means you cannot open any of them.

What does this mean? Since a change to any file triggers the backup program, each file that is attacked by the ransom-ware malware is backed up almost as soon as the encryption happens, rendering the most recent backup useless. Check to see how many versions (history) your backup program creates in the event that this unfortunate scenario happens to you.

Should your files become held at ransom, usually $300-$400 is demanded within a certain time period to get the code to unlock them. Should you fail to pay, the files will be unusable. Our honorable police authorities will suggest not paying, but what is your recourse if 1) you never had a backup, ever; or 2) your backup is useless? 

Backups are critical because life happens, and there are no guarantees that everything will work from one day to the next. Ideally having a two-tiered backup system is better, but that's a blog for another day. Stay protected out there.

ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, is it backed up, and is it turned on? 

Unplugged