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  Geebo 9:01 am on July 10, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: computers ( 4 ), hard drives, laptops ( 4 ), personal information ( 2 ), phones ( 5 ), security ( 46 ), tablets   

  Wipe your devices before selling them 

  

  Congratulations. You just bought a shiny new device, but you’re unsure what to do with still functioning older device. You could either donate it, recycle it, gift it, or even sell it on Geebo. However, before you do any of those things, you want to make sure there is no longer any valuable information left on the device.

  Recently, ABC Action News in the Tampa area bought a number of laptops from people who were selling them on online marketplaces. A number of those laptops still had valuable information on them including bank account and social security numbers. Before parting with a device that has been in your service for years you want to make sure that there is no personal information left on it. While Action News mentions taking your device to be professionally wiped, that costs money and could eat into any potential windfall if you’re planning on selling the device. That’s not even taking into account that while most professionals are on the up and up, there are those bad apples who may use this as an opportunity to harvest your data. After backing up the data you want to save, try these tips for wiping the hard drive on your PC or laptop.

  As the video mentions, software like DBAN is probably your best bet for wiping your hard drives of all important information. Apple computers have their own built-in process for wiping the hard drive. The same goes for Android and iOS devices in case you’re selling a phone or tablet.

  In these days of personal information being leaked from just about everywhere taking these few extra steps and a little bit of time are definitely worth the effort and your peace of mind.

   

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  Geebo 9:02 am on May 16, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Android ( 8 ), Netflix ( 15 ), smart phones ( 14 ), tablets   

  Netflix to stop working on certain Android devices 

  

  Video streaming service Netflix is available on just about every modern electronic device known to man. It’s available on laptops, Blu-ray players, video game consoles, smart phones and tablets. Nowadays, you might even be able to stream Netflix on a 1985 Betamax that you found at a thrift store. Netflix recently announced they will no longer support a certain select group of Android devices, and those would be devices that have been rooted by their owners.

  Rooting an Android phone means that you can perform a small hack on the phone in order to be able to have more control over the apps on your phone. Most Android phones come with pre-loaded bloatware that can’t be removed from the device by normal means. When you have an Android phone where storage space is at a premium, sometimes you have to root a phone in order to make space for crucial apps that you may need in your everyday life. This is usually due to the phone manufacturers loading their phones with proprietary apps that many users don’t need or use.

  While not coming right out and saying it, Netflix is giving the impression they’re blocking these devices in order to fight piracy. While that’s well within their right, it feels like their trying to kill flies with a shotgun. The number of people who root their Android devices are a minuscule amount compared to the number of Android users and the majority of them are only rooting their phones and tablets out of convenience, not for piracy.

  By taking this step, Netflix is risking a minor backlash from rooted Android users, but in the long run, Netflix’s numbers are so large they can afford to alienate a number of niche Android users.

   
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  Geebo 10:58 am on December 21, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Android ( 8 ), ios ( 3 ), Safety ( 45 ), smart phones ( 14 ), tablets   

  Keeping your kids safe on their new devices 

  

  With Christmas fast approaching many children will be receiving new devices this year, whether they’re tablets or smart phones. With these new toys come new responsibilities, not only for the children but for parents as well. In the age we live in you can’t just hand your children one of these devices and send them on their merry way and expect no problems. Unfortunately, in our society not only are there the predators that we’re all concerned about but there are financial predators as well who want to take advantage of your kids disguised as apps and data caps.

  Many games for children on these devices have what they call ‘in app purchases’ which means that the players of the game can buy in-game items with real world money. Not only that, but many of these games use data from your cellular providers data plan and can either run up quite the data bill or burn through your allotted data rather quickly.

  To help you and your children avoid these pitfalls we’ve found two good resources on how to protect your children and your wallet while using these new devices. iOS devices, which are the ones made by Apple, are relatively simple to enable safety and financial restrictions. Android devices on the other hand, the ones made by companies like Samsung and various other manufacturers, are a little more difficult to restrict, but can be done.

  Just look at setting up your child’s new device as the modern equivalent of having to assemble the toys that our parents did on Christmas Eve for years, except now not only are you keeping your children engaged but you’re keeping them safe as well.