Facebook calls for end to Flash as Firefox blocks it over hacking holes

The mob is turning against Flash. Mozilla has blocked every version of Adobe's Flash plugin from running within its Firefox browser, while Facebook's head of security has called for Adobe to kill it off.The moves come following a series of vulnera...

The Guardian - 14 July 2015

http://a.msn.com/r/2/AAcWHOx?a=1&m=EN-GB

iTunes update 12.2 leaves Windows Vista out in the cold

iTunes 12.1.2.27 If you have this version on your Windows Vista computer then its likely that you may not be able to update to the latest version that is 12.2 as they have now made iTunes a 64bit application and at the bottom of their website it states both this and the fact that it is for Windows 7 or later. My guess is that if you are running Windows Vista then this alone may be a reason to upgrade your computer or it's operating system.

The system requirements are listed at the bottom of their download page in rather small text.

https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/download/ 

The confusing 'Account'

There is a generation of people (me included) who have grown up to understand that if you have an 'account' somewhere it surely means that money and possibly debt is involved. As the Internet and all things online have evolved there are at least three major institutions at which you can have an account and use it and pay nothing - absolutely!

These places are of course Google, Microsoft and Apple and another one called Zoho. These companies need no introduction to most of us but in my job I still come across people who have vaguely heard of them and don't understand how it works. I can be asked the question of the 21st century. "How do I get my pictures from my laptop to my tablet and keep them backed up at the same time and have the same pictures on both devices?". This is where I step in with the introduction of an account with one of the big three. 

I can feel me wandering into a different post here so I am going to keep this brief. In short when applied to the likes of Microsoft, Google and Apple, you are given an account in the form of and email address and a password. If you compare these accounts to those of yesterday - before the Internet when everybody's records where in a file on a shelf or in a cabinet. Your home address was the means of contact and a unique number, your account number would have been the equivalent of today's password. So fast forward back to today and you now have a email address and password, you can't get in without your password. 

The reason these companies offer you so much for free is because there are opportunities to spend money within their infrastructure and they are global so they always have commercial customers who spend many thousands for standard and bespoke solutions, but for the man in the street who has purchased an iPad or a Windows laptop, MacBook, tablet or smartphone, each of these in the main requires that you have a basic account or ID so you can have the full basic experience of your device. If you then want some music you can then pay for songs, albums or subscribe to a service ran by them, or someone else too. With all three of these organisations you get a free allocation of cloud storage for your photos and documents, if you use that then once it's full you then have to pay for more space or manage it and keep within the limits of your basic allocation. They have already made some money as you have bought their product and one day you will probably buy another. 

Important Computer Updates : JAVA

Getting Java Updated?

Apart from Microsoft updates there several others and one of those is Java. It's important to stay up-to-date with it so here is a little help. If you are a Google Chrome user then you may experience small issues but nothing to worry about - Google Chrome has changed the way it works with Java so you may get additional notices on the java website however, it wont stop you installing Java onto your computer. If you are using Firefox or Internet Explorer then you should be fine. The image below shows the update notification from Java, clicking the update notification as suggested should get you started - read on.

JAVA UPDATE NOTIFICATION

Java is a programming platform and lots of applications and websites use it. It is updated regularly to keep it secure and ensure you have the best experience form any java-run applications you may be using and any website you visit that requires java will also work at its best. Also it is possible that malicious adware etc can use the secirity holes in out of date versions of Java to infect your computer with rubbish - another reason to update it. More information about java can be found on their website : https://www.java.com/en/download/faq/whatis_java.xml

Java can take some time to install and there are times when you click the notification as shown in the image above and are informed after a short check that you have already got the latest version! In this case you should visit the java website directly and download the latest version yourself.

To do this go to  : http://java.com/en/

You will see a button like this - Click this, and then:

Choose to run or save, in most cases choosing 'Run' is just fine. It will be downloaded to your computer and started. Should you choose to 'Save' the file to your computer it will likely end up in the 'Downloads' folder or the last place you downloaded something to. From experience this can take a while depending on how much work actually needs doing on your computer, resources can be easily overwhelmed. Eventually you will get the installer window as shown below.

After this :

Then : 

If there are older versions on your computer you will get an option to remove them, you should do this.

You can use the on line tool from Java for removing older versions if this one did not show up or you simply want to check. It may also be better to use Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer for this task as Google Chrome has changed the way it works with Java. You will find it all under 'Help Resources' on the java website at http://www.java.com/en/download/help/

Forgotten your Windows Password

Are you Locked Out of your computer?

If you have Windows 8 / 8.1 and you re using a Microsoft account then and your computer is connected to the internet then you can reset your password on line using a different computer. The link below takes you to a Microsoft site where you an reset your password however, it may not be as easy as you think. Microsoft, as other companies take security very seriously and often you will be expected to remember answers to security questions - who you last emailed - names of email folders you may have - and a recovery email address, it can be a daunting task but if you have this information then it should be fairly straight-forward.

Forgot password link :

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-live/account-reset-password-forgot-faq

Alternatively Michaela at Yellow Boat Computers can assist with this and can clear a forgotten password on a computer whether it's using Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8 / 8.1

Deleting multiple files in Windows : This applies to all versions of Windows

Be in control of your digital life

Most of us have a Facebook account and an email address and a lot of people have Twitter accounts too, not to mention the plethora of other social media platforms that demand our attention. When all of these accounts are gathered up and put into a smartphone or a tablet you suddenly have a portable digital cloud and full notification centre and for some it's fine but if you are like me I do not want a constant stream of beeps. I have an iPad for getting things done and a 7" Android tablet that I have had for ages plus an Amazon Fire HD6 - a recent acquisition. 

It was the purchase of the Fire that brought this feature to mind. I took it out of its box, turned it on and began the familiar set up process, (most tablets and computers are the same here) choosing your preferred language and country, select and connect to a wireless network then sign in or create your account. I did this on the Fire and simply watched as a few seconds ticked by and all my books simply appeared and after a few minutes I was notified of a system update. Once all this was done and I had installed a few apps - not games, I'm just not into them much I then proceeded to read the book I had been reading on my Android tablet. As I expected the book opened up exactly where I had left off before, all the familiar controls were there too so it wasn't long before I was immersed in a different world happily reading, page after page. A few days later it just dawned on me that although the Fire HD6 has an email app I had not bothered to set it up and I had not signed into Facebook either - my mobile phone does Facebook as does my laptop but that's it, my tablets don't do Facebook. As a result of this I had uninterrupted reading, no bleeps ding-dongs or anything, just reading - fantastic. So I appreciate there may be those out there who want whatever device they have to be adorned with all their social media but for the rest of us, yes you can have peace in the garden or just sat indoors in complete silence. 

An Android tablet will require you to sign in with your Google account or create one and sign in and once this is done your Google email is instantly set up on that device, a Windows tablet will do the same as you are signing in using your Microsoft account and an iPad will at least ask you to set up with an Apple account and generally you will get an iCloud email address given to you. The bottom line here is that Amazon do not provide email addresses so there is not really a need to set it up and it's definitely not required for purchases on a Kindle or Fire HD.

You can of course on an existing Android tablet go into the settings of your email app and turn off notifications thus giving you a similar experience.