Highcliffe Computer Help

18/12/2024

Worth a look...

Everything from OLED TVs to washing up liquid to electric cars features in our top 50 list this year, and our number one pick may surprise you.

11/04/2024

Useful…

Use our free tool to check for how long a new tablet will get software and security updates, and find out what to do if your tablet's at risk.

24/09/2023

iOS 17 is out. Amongst other things, it now contains ‘Personal Voice’, a feature that uses AI to clone your voice. You can then type phrases that it will read out in your voice, either through the phone’s speakers or in FaceTime and other apps.

I’ll be honest, I’ve got concerns about this kind of technology for all sorts of reasons. Apart from the fact it’s a bit creepy, I’d have thought its potential misuse for fraud etc would be a big issue.

Then there’s the security issue. I’ve been doing some research into Apple’s various privacy docs recently and, to be honest, the company is pretty good at securing your data, giving you access to it and providing often detailed information about how stuff works. In the case of Personal Voice, all processing is completed on your device rather than in the cloud but, like other data, it can be shared with other devices over iCloud. Apple uses end to end encryption to store it so it is only accessible on your PIN protected devices and even Apple can’t access it. Even so, if, like me, you’re not keen on storing such personal information on a company’s servers, you can disable ‘share across devices’ ideally before setting it up.

The real question, though, is ‘What’s the point?’.
If you have a disability that makes speaking difficult then this could be useful. If not, I suspect this feature could be a source of more problems than solutions.

For more info, Mozilla (always an excellent source of reliable information) have this to say…

Apple will let you make a copy of your voice in iOS 17, its latest software for the iPhone. Here’s how you can use Apple’s AI to make a copy of your voice. But should you?

30/08/2023

Apple devices are great to use. I’ve used them for years, but it can sometimes be hard to understand exactly how things work from a technical point of view. It’s also hindered by the fact that each new version of iOS and MacOS behaves slightly differently - and when you throw iCloud into the mix, things can get even more confusing!

I’ve spent a few days getting in to some of the more interesting problems that people often come to me with, reading lots of articles and testing things out on test devices, so you don’t have to! Here are just a few of the questions I can answer and problems I can help you with:

> How to upgrade an older Mac’s hard drive to a speedy SSD
> How to wipe both Intel and M1 Macs and different iOS devices, so your data remains safe, and prepare the device for resale.
> How to encrypt your Mac, including external hard drives and backups so your data remains secure.
> How to store your data on external hard drives if you are running out of space on your internal drive, but still use it seamlessly.
> How to use 'Time Machine' backup properly. What to keep and what to exclude.
> How to restore data in the event of accidental deletion.
> How iCloud works. It’s for ‘syncing’ and ‘backing up’ - but these things are different, and it’s often unclear how. What to tick and untick!
> What do do if your Apple ID and iCloud usernames are different from each other or different across your devices.
> How syncing different aged devices sometimes doesn’t work properly and what might be done to solve this.
> What to do if photos, notes, tabs and bookmarks aren’t syncing or, indeed, if you don’t want them to sync or be stored in the cloud.
> How to make sure you don’t end up with duplicated photos and contacts.
> How to sync your documents, contacts, calendars and notes so that they’re easily available from both Apple and Microsoft devices. There are alternatives to iCloud that may be better for you.

There’s much more. If you’ve got an Apple device and you’re scratching your head, get in contact!

05/07/2022

16/11/2021

Buying tech for Christmas? The Mozilla Foundation have got your back in terms of privacy…

Be Smart. Shop Safe. How creepy is that smart speaker, that fitness tracker, those wireless headphones? We created this guide to help you shop for safe, secure connected products.

16/11/2021

Want to upgrade to Windows 11 but computer says 'no'? Here's the official workaround. Updates and system stability seem to work fine, from my experience with an i3 7th gen. I'd do a full backup of everything first though, and would be vary wary of doing this on hardware older than about 5 years.

No need to wipe your data or even burn an ISO

27/08/2021

Worth considering…

We take you through the perks of owning a desktop computer over a laptop, and highlight some of the latest desktop PCs tested in the Which? labs.

03/08/2021

Worth knowing: 10% Apple discount for education workers, students, parents etc plus free AirPods…

Free Apple discount codes & promo codes for 2021. Save money buying Apple products using MSE verified and trusted offers.

04/07/2021

Windows 11 is on its way but don't worry. If your PC can't be upgraded then Windows 10 will be supported until the middle of 2025. Some info is below, including FAQs. The only annoyance from an 'upgradeability' point of view is the necessity for your current machine to have a TPM security chip. Many older machines will lack this. I'll post about that in the future.

Discover the new Windows 11 and learn how to prepare for it. Explore new features, check compatibility, and see how to upgrade to our latest Windows OS.