Professional Nerds

03/09/2022

Phone scammers are being fought by people with diverse skills, such as voice actors and tech wizards. IRLrosie is a highly innovative voice actor from Los Angeles, who responds to scammers in the voice of Siri, Alexa, Arianna Grande, Britney Spears, and others. Needless to say, hilarity ensues. Below is a clip from one of her YouTube videos.

IRLrosie’s YouTube channel has more than 1 million subscribers and 176 million video views, and she’s also on Instagram and TikTok. Please like and subscribe her channel to help support her work, and have some fun in 2022!

Tech wizards are well represented by “ScammerPayback”, who reverse hacks the scammers, capturing images of scammer call center workers (for example in Calcutta, India), and scaring them by showing photos of themselves and their call centers.

“ScammerPayback” has almost 1.9 million subscribers and 165 million video views. Please like & subscribe them also; it helps fund their work which helps ALL of us!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THIS LIVESTREAM! 😂 I pulled some of my FAV highlights from this video since the original is like 40 mins long!! This is the same scam...

07/19/2021

Google Issues Warning For 2 Billion Chrome Users

Chrome users should navigate to Settings > Help > About Google Chrome. If your browser version on Linux, macOS and Windows is listed as 91.0.4472.164 or above you are already safe.

I checked my own and found it to be 91.0.4472.124 -- out of date! I quickly updated Chrome to .164, and can breathes a bit easier. More details from Forbes in the link below.

Google has issued a serious upgrade warning to all Google Chrome users worldwide...

07/15/2021

Here's something a little different for Throw Back Thursday, because "Laughter Is the Best Medicine" (Thank you Reader's Digest!). For some of you, this will be a Blast from your Past, whereas others, well these were published before you were born. I hope y'all enjoy these selections from Peanuts, Doonesbury, and The Far Side. PS - it's ok to be ROTFLOLing !

07/11/2021

If you've received a Google "Critical security alert" message, it's probably legitimate, and you should follow its instructions to change your passwords for certain saved websites. Occasionally Google does this automatically by comparing websites stored in your Google Account (website and userid), with information discovered in the most recent "Dark Web" hacks of websites, and what information was compromised. Sometimes just your email address is exposed (generating lots of new Spam email to you), but other times a hack of someone else's website also exposed your password.

So, follow the instructions in the email, OR go to "passwords.google (dot) com/checkup" http://passwords.google.com/checkup at any time to check on the status of your saved items.

Safely save and organize your passwords, anywhere you use your Google Account

07/08/2021

Update your Windows PC ASAP...

Microsoft is urging Windows users to immediately install an update after security researchers found a serious vulnerability in the operating system.

06/26/2021

This is a public service announcement. "It ain't over until it's over" -- Yogi Berra (1973). We are now ENTERING THE DELTA QUADRANT Sounds like something from Star Trek, but it’s a new naming convention to keep track of mutated strains of SARS-CoV-2 by assigning Greek letter names in sequence.

DELTA
- India variant, aka B.1.617.2, (October 2020)
Highly infectious and spreading to many other countries.

Delta variant: What is happening with transmission, hospital admissions, and restrictions?
https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1513

Daily Global Report for various strains
https://cov-lineages.org/global_report.html

Johns-Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
In addition to cases and deaths, there are also sections on vaccination progress, both state by state, and the US as a whole.
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

SARS-CoV-2 Variant Classifications and Definitions from the US CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-info.html

CDC provides credible COVID-19 health information to the U.S.

09/24/2020

In your home office working remotely, don't overlook the small details which help you work more productively. Mary is a K-5 Music Teacher working remotely from her home office.

On her desk she has her work laptop and her personal laptop, both of which are on $34 laptop stands. She also has a full-size ($25) wireless USB mouse & keyboard (which stores UNDER the laptop stand), and other USB devices such as her $36 headset. These all plug into a $10 USB port replicator.

To 'move' all these devices from her work laptop to her personal laptop, she just unplugs the USB port replicator from one laptop & plugs it into the other.

She also has a larger display screen which can plug into the HDMI-output of either laptop. Longer term plan is to get her a 32" or larger TV set which can also plug into either laptop's HDMI, as well as stream video and local TV via a $49 Roku Streaming Stick+.
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$49 Roku Streaming Stick+ HD/4K/HDR Streaming Device with Long-range Wireless and Voice Remote with TV Controls
https://www.amazon.com/Roku-Streaming-Stick-HDR-Streaming-Long-range/dp/B075XLWML4

$34 Nulaxy Laptop Stand, All Laptops 11-17", Supports Up to 44 Lbs-Silver
https://www.amazon.com/Nulaxy-Ergonomic-Adjustable-Computer-Compatible-dp-B077B9W343/dp/B077B9W343

$36 USB/3.5mm Foldable Computer Headset with Mute Function, Retractable Microphone and Noise Canceling
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082HCX5X5

$25 Logitech MK270 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo, 2.4GHz, Long Battery Life
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-MK270-Wireless-Keyboard-Mouse/dp/B079JLY5M5

$10 Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub with Individual LED Power Switches
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JX1ZS5O

05/17/2020

You know that when Social Distancing says limit groups to 10, that's to aid in contact tracing in the even that one of the group comes down with Covid-19. What you may not realize, is that it means ONLY 10, and only the same 10 people each time. If you (or other members of your group) meet with 10 different people each time, the quantity of unique contacts over a 14-day period multiplies rapidly, making contact tracing much more difficult. It's one thing with family & friends, but quite something else with strangers in a bar or restaurant. Read the attached for more details.

Nextdoor is the neighborhood hub for trusted connections and the exchange of helpful information, goods, and services.

04/07/2020

Some resources for current Covid-19 information: Worldometer Covid-19 Coronavirus outbreak statistics.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Johns-Hopkins Covid-19 global review
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html #/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Covid-19 Dashboard
https://ncov2019.live/data

US coronavirus map: Tracking the outbreak
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2020/03/10/us-coronavirus-map-tracking-united-states-outbreak/4945223002/

http://click.e.usatoday.com/?qs=e4620ea9cc63a0754f20328baa5a2eb2930214a0f51a36f213b469626630b489f8a4c9b17877506b23db760a9da9a5590a3b2084442cbb1d326b3acc9d2e0697

Live statistics and coronavirus news tracking the number of confirmed cases, recovered patients, tests, and death toll due to the COVID-19 coronavirus from Wuhan, China. Coronavirus counter with new cases, deaths, and number of tests per 1 Million population. Historical data and info. Daily charts,....

04/07/2020

Subject: The Dark Side of Zoom

As the world scambles madly for remote learning and remote business solutions, many organizations embraced Zoom without fully understanding it, especially its default settings and how they could be tightened up to provide better security. Because executives didn't, new words are entering our vocabulary, such as "ZoomBombing", and others are questioning the decision in favor of Zoom. But if not Zoom, then what ???

Schools Ditch Zoom Amid Concerns Over Online Learning Security
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/06/828087551/schools-ditch-zoom-amid-concerns-over-online-learning-security

Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/31/zoom-at-your-own-risk/

Beware of ‘ZoomBombing’: screensharing filth to video calls
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/17/zoombombing/

How to Keep Your Zoom Chats Private and Secure
Trolls. Prying bosses. Zoom's a great video chat platform, but a few simple steps also make it a safe one.https://www.wired.com/story/keep-zoom-chats-private-secure/ =recommendations_wired-right-rail-popular_866c7770-27a8-45ed-a247-9b7ef9ebfc7c_popular4-1

Best Practices for Securing Your Virtual Classroom
https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/03/27/best-practices-for-securing-your-virtual-classroom/

Google Search on Zoom Securityhttps://www.google.com/search?q=zoom+security&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS768US768&oq=zoom+security&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60j69i61j69i60.11047j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

School leaders in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas are abandoning the videoconferencing service after reports of meetings being disrupted by intruders.