Issue #743
Volume 15 Number 12
January 5, 2018
Dear Friends,
This is our very first issue of 2018. We wish all of you a very happy, healthy, and blessed new year. Thank you very much for subscribing and for being a part of our Cloudeight family. We appreciate your membership and support very much! Also, thanks so much for making our holiday sales a success.
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A comment from Nigel
Hi To Both of you. Once again you have saved me from my mistakes. TC spent some time with me and sorted out my sound problems. I really can not praise these two exceptional people enough. Many times over the years they have helped my wife and I with our PC problems. They are always helpful and never in a rush to finish the job. Well done. God Bless You! Nigel
A comment from Kris
Darcy is one amazing lady there! She zipped around my computer today and it's as quick as ever. I'm buying more keys... as you never know when you will need them. TC & Darcy, keep helping us. There isn't any who are more trusted with my computer. Thank You again Darcy... GREAT JOB! Kris
A comment from Linda
To Darcy, TC, & Crew, I want to Thank you so much for the work you did on my computer! I was thinking “Oh no I don’t want to have to get a new one. I knew there was a lot wrong with it, because it only worked when it wanted to and then would take forever to load! I contacted you on a week end and you were so sweet getting right to work on it. And there was a lot wrong with it but you hung in there and did a fantastic job of fixing all of it. I will tell everyone I know that has problems with their computer to contact you. I give you all kudos and thanks for all that you did. And praise for fixing it on a week end when you could of spent time with family! Thank you so much for your support and the wonderful work you did. Bless you all. Linda B.
A comment from Susan
Thanks ever so much for helping me when you were so busy. Thank you for all the hard work you do in helping so many and keeping all of us informed. Cheers, Susan
A comment from Bob
I had a major problem with my laptop it had slowed to a crawl. I contacted a local tech as I thought Darcy would be too busy to fit me in before Xmas. $100 later with a botched job, I contacted Darcy who very kindly squeezed me in, and I was able to use my repair key. Darcy spotted the problem within seconds but continued working for about two hours. End result? My computer is running like a Rolls Royce. Have purchased another two repair keys for use in the future. Cloudeight Direct is a fantastic service run by honest true blue professional people. Many thanks Darcy and to all at Cloudeight. Bob (Australia)
A comment from Jason
I am eternally grateful to you. Thank you. Not only for taking care of my blunder but doing it so quickly. One of the best things I ever did, besides marrying my wife 40 years ago, was signing up as a life member for your newsletter when it was first offered. I hope your subscribers realize what you do for everyone behind the scenes. Thank you again, Jason.
A comment from Joyce
My deepest thanks to Darcy for all her work and extra advice and help she gave me with all my questions while she was doing her work uninstalling our other antivirus and installing Emsisoft on our laptop. Her hands went so quickly we couldn't follow her at times but the end results we can see now. There are few words of praise for your work that haven't already been given by many others who have trusted you and your skills to come into our machines and do your work. I feel so much safer on our computers after you have performed your "magic" ...AND the price is always right! We are so very fortunate to have found you and your quality of work. You are good at your work and fair with your pricing. Those two definitions do not always go together but you two have proven it can be done and our accolades flow. Thank you, Darcy for your great work...and I didn't find that file because it wasn't on the laptop, it is only on the desktop of my own machine. :-( I admit my mistake right here in front of everyone. :-)
A comment from Dick
This morning Darcy connected to my computer and straightened out the mess I made trying to download and use Thunderbird Email. Most of the time the program would not let me in and it was very frustrating....Time to use a Direct Care Key and let Cloudeight fix my mistakes....and fix them Darcy did. Boy is it running smooth now. Also, I was having a problem loading pictures into my computer since I installed Windows 10. Once again Darcy to the rescue. Now everything is as it should be.
You folks out there that are not sure whether to purchase a couple of Cloudeight Direct Computer Care Keys from Cloudeight should sure consider them. I have one left but I am certainly going to buy a couple more. I can't even imagine what it would have cost me to have one of the box stores dig into my computer problems and on top of that I would have to disconnect it and take it to them. I watched Darcy do her thing as I had me second cup of coffee. I am 80 years old and don't have the patience I used to have. That's why I have been a dedicated Cloudeight member for many years and if I can make it to 100, I have 20 more to go....Thanks Darcy, my best to TC also.
A comment from Jack
Early on morning of January 3rd the Cloudeight magician, Darcy, has once again sprinkled my computer with the "fixit" dust. It's always a pleasure to watch the magic hands do their work (albeit making me a little jealous). Thanks so much Darcy as they say in the vernacular, "you done good". If you guys ever decide to quit doing this, let me know, I'll sell my computer! Jack
A big Cloudeight "Thank you!" to Nigel, Kris, Linda, Susan, Bob, Jason, Joyce, Dick, Jack and everyone who wrote to us last week. We appreciate your kind words and your support very much! EB & TC
Get more information about Cloudeight Direct Computer Care here.
Donations help us continue our mission to keep you informed, separate the truth from the hyperbole, and help you stay safer online. We provide support to thousands of people. Every week we help dozens of people via email at no charge. Thanks to donations, we do a lot more than provide this free newsletter. We help you recognize online threats, fight for your online privacy, and provide you with the knowledge you need to navigate the Web safely, and help you get more out of your PC.
Help us keep up the good fight with a small donation.
After you donate, you will receive an invitation to become a Cloudeight Booster.
Interested in making a monthly gift? Visit this page. Help us keep helping you!
Thank you so much for your support!
Deb fell for a scam and needs advice
Hello. I was sent to your site by Nancy W. , who has been a long time Emsisoft user & highly recommends it. I recently got hacked--I got a pop up saying I was infected with the Zeus virus and dumb me, called the 800 number. Long story short, I allowed them access to my computer & they made changes to my BitDefender Total Security 2018, which disabled my firewall & ransomware / threat protection. I was able to get help via Microsoft tech, who removed some of the malicious code & had me run Windows Defender (complete scan) with nothing being found. Now, I am very uncomfortable and would like another program that would "add' to my BitDefender (which has been very good and a paid subscription until the end of 2018 ) but would like another program to compliment what BitDefender might miss. Can you make an Emsisoft recommendation? thank you in advance, Deb M.
Our answer
HI Deb. First off, don't feel alone; many people get tricked by these kind of scams and they make it look quite believable. Next, did you give them any kind of payment or credit card/banking information? If you did, let us know and we can advise on that.
If you have BitDefender, which is a good antivirus, you should not use a second antivirus. You should only use one antivirus at a time. Emsisoft is not only an antivirus, but it also protects against a lot of other threats like hijackers, toolbars, ransomware, malware and other PUPs. Viruses are actually pretty rare; in the thousands of machines we have worked on the past few years, we can count the number of virus infections on two hands. The other malware/PUPs/etc are what infect most machines and cause problems.
So, you can consider switching to Emsisoft from BitDefender now, which we offer for $35 for first year, then $25 for each year renewal later. Or you can have us do the installation & configuration, which includes cleanup/checking your for any malware, PUPs or other threats and includes a full one-year Emsisoft license all for $45. Or, you can just wait until your BitDefender license expires and then do either of the above options. Here is our Emsisoft order page: http://thundercloud.net/emsisoft/ .
Nancy has been with us for many years, and we appreciate her sending you our way. Please tell her we both said thanks!
Cathy wants the cleaner that makes the "flushing" sound
I had the free cleanup on my computer. It sounded like a commode flushing. I deleted it. I sure miss it. could you send me the link to re-download it. Thank you so much. Trust everything you say. Cathy
Our answer
Hi Cathy. Here is the flushing sound cleaner :)
Thanks for your nice comments and for being a Cloudeight subscriber!
Cynthia asks about VPN services in this age of Net Neutrality
I receive a newsletter called LifeWire and it listed the best VPN services for 2018. This has something to do with losing net neutrality but I don't understand this whole business. What is your take on using one of these VPN services? Could you include an answer for this in one of your daily tips publications?
Our answer
Hi Cynthia. This is a very complex issue. First of all there's a lot of money to be made selling VPN services, so there is a lot of incentive for computer newsletters to recommend certain VPN services over others. However, the basic reason for VPN services has nothing to do with Net Neutrality and everything to do with privacy.
While it's true that ISPs could sell data about you if the concept of Net Neutrality is totally abandoned (it's going to be tied up in courts for a good long while), your ISP has always been collecting data about you - sites you visits, logging of your Internet use, etc. They just weren't allowed to sell it. However, an ISP caught selling private user data, would certainly face strong competition from other ISPs who promised privacy. Who will you trust?
One reason for using a VPN network would be for logging into a private network. An example of this would be logging in your workplace computer from your home computer.
But we feel that using a VPN service to browse or use the Web is unnecessary. A VPN service would help block some of the ISP tracking - but can you trust any VPN service - even the ones who say that don't keep logs - from collecting data about you and selling it? Many VPNs are listed in countries without any Internet rules at all. VPNs are all the rage right now, but basically they are used by people who think using a VPN will hide their online activity.
Anyone who buys into the idea that their VPN does not keep logs, should read this.
The problem with Net Neutrality isn't just the privacy issue, it's the issue where the rich and well-funded sites would be easy for the public to access as they could afford to pay extra to be in the fast lane (the fastest tier of service), whereas smaller sites without much money - like our - would be harder to access because we don't have the money to pay for top tier (faster) servers and our servers would be on a lower tier of service - the slow lane. Using a VPN would not speed up sites on slower (lower tier) sites. Most of the time VPNs can actually slow down Web site loading times depending on the VPN server you choose.
Right now we don't recommend VPN for most users. We don't think most of them are being truthful when they say they don't keep logs or collect user data - and we don't think the extra privacy they provide is worth the extra cost for most people. And there are other reasons too, but that would be a discussion for another time.
Don wants to know about Windows 10 recovery media
I made a "Recovery Drive"(USB) after updating from Windows 10 Anniversary Edition to Creators Edition. Now I have the Fall Creators (1709) Edition and I'm thinking that I need to create another "Windows 10 Installation Media". If so, then I likely won't need my previous "Recovery Drive"? Confirmations greatly appreciated. Many thanks for walking us through all the Windows past as I'll be with you into the future. Cheers Don
Our answer
Hi Don. Thanks so much. While you still could use your current installation media, after using it you would have a lot of Windows updates to install, including the Fall Creators Update (1709).. Of course, that would take a lot of time. So, the best idea is to create installation media (USB or DVD) from the current version of Windows (Fall Creators Update). That way if you ever needed to use it, you would save a substantial amount of time after you installed Windows.
We have a tutorial that you can follow to create installation media(USB or DVD) made with the current version of Windows 10 (Fall Creators Update version 1709).
And down the road, these instructions would be valid for whatever the current of Windows 10 is at the time. Microsoft uses the same download page and updates it when a new version of Windows 10 is released.
We hope this helps you, Don.
Sharon lost Edge
Edge got deleted from my (Windows 10) PC. Is there any way I can get it back? I love your website. I always look forward to Fridays to see what you have to say. Keep up the good job!
Our answer
Hi Sharon. Thanks so much. Are you sure you didn't just lose the icon for Edge?
Click on the Start button, scroll all the way down to the "M's" and look for Microsoft Edge. Then, right click it and choose "Pin to Taskbar".
Let us know if that works for you.
Sharon wrote back: "As always you are right! I didn't have the apps on. Did what you said and there it is... Thanks for all your help. You guys are great. Sharon"
Sydney has Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and now he has to log in twice
For the last couple of months whenever I restart my computer, right before the Welcome screen comes up, I get the message something like "The user name and password is incorrect." At that point I had not been asked for a user name and password. After I click OK it will finally go to the Welcome screen and I am able to sign in. I had thought that after another update it would change, but today I got another update and it is still doing that. Any ideas why? So far I have been able to get it working, but I keep crossing my fingers it doesn't crash on me.
Our answer
Hi Sidney. This is known issue the latest version of Windows (Fall Creators Update version 1709). It's easy to fix. Please see the page below... almost always the "easy" fix works very well.
http://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/how-to-fix-the-windows-10-fall-creators-update-double-sign-in-bug/
Let us know if that works for you.
Sydney wrote back and let us know that the easy fix worked just fine!
Ron's desktop icons are all bunched up on the side of his screen
All of a sudden when my PC boots up all my icons are in a large group all on the left
side of my screen. It shows all of them BUT I have to move them to where I want them. This has happened three times and I am disgusted with this. I have scanned my pc with three different malware/virus detectors and have found nothing "bad". Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ron.
Our answer
Hi Ron. It is just the desktop icon settings. Right click on a blank area of your desktop , and be sure that Auto Arrange and Align to Grid are both unchecked. See screenshot below:
Hope this helps you, Ron.
Gene keeps getting Windows Defender Notifications
I keep getting requests for adding Windows Defender Notification icon every 5 minutes for the last week daily. I now slide it off to the right out of the screen so I can continue using the computer. How do I stop it from insisting to get me to allow it to be installed. I've had nothing but trouble with Defender on my cell phone and I don't see any need for it on my computer. Can it be stopped? I'm relying on TC's expertise now! Or do I have to go to top boss EB?
Our answer
Hi Gene. EB the top boss, eh? Dictator is more apt! Be that as it may, the following should solve your problem:
The best way to deal with Notifications is the way we do it - just turn them off:
Settings > System > Notifications & actions. Turn them all off by turning off "Get notifications from apps and other senders", or turn off notifications for apps individually further down the page.
Also, in Settings go to Settings > Privacy > Background apps and turn off Windows defender security center - or better yet turn off all background apps (at the top). This does not remove anything from your computer, nor does it turn off Windows Defender protection. If you turn off all background apps you can still run the app/program. You may have to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Let us know if this helps you.
Gene wrote back: "It actually worked! I thank you TC. It kept appearing all the time I was following your instructions, but after I rebooted it stopped! Gene"
Pam made a Windows 10 installation DVD and wants to delete the ISO file
This evening I downloaded and burned to a DVD the ISO file for the Windows 10 installation media that was in your recent newsletter. Since the ISO file is burned to a DVD, is it okay to delete this file from the desktop of my computer?
Our answer
Hi Pam. Absolutely you can delete the ISO file from your desktop. After you burn the DVD you no longer need the ISO file (which is actually a DVD disk image). The ISO file is very large (over 3 GB) so deleting it would also save a lot of disk space.
Rina lost her default media player after a Windows update
Windows update did it again! Suddenly I do not have my Windows media player as my default anymore. How do I get it back to my default? Could you please sent me instruction as to how to do it please? I am so annoyed with all these updates there never seems to be an end to it.
But.. I am so grateful for you , you have helped me many times in the past and I would have given up on computers a long time ago if it was not for you both. A great big thanks for you willingness to come to my rescue..again.. Rina
Our answer
Hi Rina. Thanks so much. We're going to show you how to get Windows Media Player back as your default - and it's easy to do.
Open settings from the Start menu, right-click menu (right-click the start button & click Settings) or use the shortcut Windows key+i .
In settings, click on Apps, then click "Default apps" from the left pane in Settings > Apps.
Under "Music player" click on whatever icon is showing there. That will open the "Choose an app" menu. Click on "Windows Media Player" from that menu. If you want Windows Media Player set as your default video player, then do the same thing under "Video player".
Hope this helps you, Rina.
Susan is having big problems with Firefox
I really hate to bother you with another problem but whenever I try to open FF a dozen or more windows open causing flickering and using up almost 100% memory until I end it in Task Manager. I can't look up how to uninstall and save my bookmarks etc. Can you please tell me so I can do this myself
Our answer
Hi Susan. We're going to show you how to fix your problem without reinstalling Firefox.
Do this. Right-click on your Firefox shortcut. Choose "New Private Window":
When Firefox opens it will open to a Private browsing page. Click on Help (at the top) and click on "Troubleshooting information".
In Troubleshooting, on the right side of the page you'll see "Give Firefox a tune up"
Click on Refresh Firefox
You'll see this:
Click on "Refresh Firefox". This will not remove your bookmarks, but it will reset Firefox.
We hope this helps you, Susan.
How to Fix a Write-protected External Hard Drive
Windows 10 with an external hard drive connected
This tip was submitted by Cloudeight subscriber MaryLee
Hi TC and EB! I thought I'd share this problem, and fix, in case others have it. Recently I've had a problem with my external hard drive. I have a large one, 931 GB (large for me) where I store all my music, pictures, etc., so I use it often. Sometimes, when I'm trying to add something to it, I get an error notice to find another place to store it, because the drive is write-protected. It seems to happen randomly every few weeks, but always after a Windows update. So, time to do some research, and I found several versions of this solution, but this is the one that works for me:
1. Open a Command Prompt typing CMD in the Taskbar search and click on Command Prompt when it appears at the top of the search results.
2. Type the following commands, one at time, pressing Enter after typing each one:
diskpart
list volume
select volume #
(Note: # is the number of the external drive that is giving you the write-protected error... for example: select volume 4)
3. After selecting the volume (drive). type the following command and press Enter:
attributes disk clear readonly
Now close the Command Prompt and try your drive. You should be able to access the drive normally now.
(Thanks so much to Mary Lee for submitting this tip. It has helped her fix write-protected errors with her external drive and it just may help you too if you're having the same problem.)
How to Backup Your Google Accounts Including Gmail
Everyone with a Google account and using Windows
We thought it would be a really good idea to feature this tip again. Just recently we heard from a person who lost all her mail messages in Gmail. While Google is working to get them back for her, it's always best to be proactive and takes steps to make sure you have all your data on your Google account (especially things such as stored data on Google drive and mail messages and your contacts in Gmail) backed up.
Google has your data backed up in several locations – in modern, environmentally-controlled data centers with security as tight as Fort Knox. If you’re not from the USA, Fort Knox makes gelatin – Knox Gelatin. I’m just kidding. And the chances that Google will ever lose your data are as slim as the Cleveland Browns winning the Super Bowl. But as we recently found out, nothing is 100% certain when you're dealing with computers, servers and / or big companies.
But despite the fact we are 99% certain that Google is not going to lose your data, obviously it can and does happen. We think that it’s prudent to backup important data to an external drive. If the sun has 1800-style solar flares and they knock out all electronics and the internet, you can access all your email – not that you’ll need it, since you won’t have power to run your computer unless you have a generator.
Yes, we are running on and on because we don’t want to strike fear into your hearts. We just want to show you how to back up all your Gmail and other data you store on Google services. We think it's wise for you to do this. The choice, of course, is yours.
It's very easy to backup your Google account on your local computer. Here's how:
First make sure you’re logged into the Gmail or Google Account you want to back up. Then visit the following page to access Google Takeout:
https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout
That link takes your right to the page where you can choose your Google data
Above: Slide the switches to select the Google Data you want to include in your backup archive and then click “Next”.
(Below): After you click “Next”, you’ll be given an opportunity to select the file type of your data backup (we strongly suggest you leave it set to .zip format. Zip files can be opened on almost any computer. Then you can select how you want your data backup archive delivered. We suggest you download you select “Send download link via email”. That way you can save it to your local drive. Once you have it stored locally you can add it to One Drive, Dropbox or Google Drive later on.
Then click “Create archive”. Note it may take hours or days before receiving your backup – it all depends on how much data you have in your Gmail and Google Accounts.
If you choose to have the file sent to you by email… keep in mind that some mail providers have a limit on the size of attachment they permit. If your attachment is bigger than that limit, you may not receive your backup file by email. If you choose “Add to Drive” Google will place the backup in your Google account on Google Drive. You can easily download it to your computer from there. Or if you have Dropbox or OneDrive with enough available space, you can chose one of those options as well.
How to Contact Google & Microsoft
Everyone using Google and/or Microsoft products
You would think it would be very easy to contact Google – just google Google support right? Well, if you do that, you’ll end up with something a bunch of stuff that isn’t always Google and rarely includes a correct phone number. You’ll find a general support number (sometimes) like these Google support telephone numbers:
United States: +1 855-836-3987
United Kingdom: +44 (0)20-7031-3000
Canada: +1 514-670-8700
But you’re going to have a long wait. You’re going to have to tap all kinds of numbers to direct your call because these are all answered by automated systems. It may take you an very long time to tiptoe through the red tap and get through to a real live person. But if you are persistent you may eventually be able to talk to a real person about your problem.
But wait! There are other numbers you can call.
If you are located in the USA or Canada (other areas of the world keep reading) we have more numbers for you.
Ann Arbor
2300 Traverwood Dr.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
United States
Phone: +1 734-332-6500
Atlanta
10 10th Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30309
United States
Phone: +1 404-487-9000
Austin
500 W 2nd St
Suite 2900
Austin, TX 78701
United States
Phone: +1 512-343-5283
You can see all the local numbers for the United States and Canada by visiting this Google page. If you're located somewhere else in this crazy world, at the top of the page you’ll see links for local numbers for Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific (including Sydney, Australia), and Africa & the Middle East.
Microsoft
Microsoft’s customer service number is 1-800-642-7676. That is the North American Microsoft Support number. It’s answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You won’t be answered by a real person, you’ll have to tap some keys as you listen to the prompts. Microsoft will try to guide you away from talking to a real Microsoft employee by telling you about “self-help resources”. But just be persistent. In our tests we were able to get to a real person within 5 minutes.
If you’re using Windows 10 you can contact support right from your PC. You can even have Microsoft call you or you can schedule a call from Microsoft. See this page to learn how to do that.
Last Year's (2017) Worst Passwords
This tip is for everyone
We have written numerous articles, like this one, on why using strong passwords is so important. Unfortunately, apparently many people don’t take us (and many others) seriously. The top 3 passwords for 2017 and the same top three passwords for 2015 and 2016 as well. And here they are:
123456
Password
12345678
Really? None of you are using those passwords, are you? We hope that none of you are using any of the passwords in this list of the top 25 worst passwords for 2017. Or even anything similar. We suggest you use a password of at least 12 characters consisting of at least one uppercase letter, lowercase letters, symbols (like $ % *) and at least one number. There are many online password generators, but the trouble is, you can generate all the strong passwords you want, but you won’t use them unless you can remember them.
We have long recommended LastPass because it can generate strong, uncrackable passwords like 8HNPWse*SGp8. And just as importantly, it will remember your passwords and enter them automatically whenever you need to log in to a site for which you generated a password.
But for some reason, many of you resist using a password manager, and we know that you’ll never use one. For those of you who don’t want to use a password manager here’s a way to make strong passwords you can remember without using a password generator and using simple phrases that might mean something to you.
For example:
3y3W@ntc@ndy$fr33
Just think “I want candy free”. And according to My1Login it would take 5 years for a hacker using password cracking software to crack this password.
MyC@t$n@meizBarn3y2
“My cats name is Barney too.” According to My1Login, it would take 16 centuries for someone to crack this password. That's a lot longer than I'm going to around.
Want to test your passwords? You can check them at:
My1Login
or
LastPass Password Checker
The new year is here and it is a good time to make sure your passwords are strong. And above all, make sure you don’t use the same password on more than one site - especially on sites that deal with personal information such as: Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, credit or debit card number, home address, driver’s license numbers, license plate numbers, or any site dealing with money – including online shopping sites.
Now, here’s the list of the top 25 worst passwords for 2017 from Time magazine:
123456
Password
12345678
qwerty
12345
123456789
letmein
1234567
football
iloveyou
admin
welcome
monkey
login
abc123
starwars
123123
dragon
passw0rd
maste
hello
freedom
whatever
qazwsx
trustno1.
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Donations help us continue our mission to keep you informed, separate the truth from the hyperbole, and help you stay safer online. We provide support to thousands of people. Every week we help dozens of people via email at no charge. Thanks to donations, we do a lot more than provide this free newsletter. We help you recognize online threats, fight for your online privacy, and provide you with the knowledge you need to navigate the Web safely, and help you get more out of your PC.
Help us keep up the good fight with a small donation.
After you donate, you will receive an invitation to become a Cloudeight Booster.
Interested in making a monthly gift? Visit this page. Help us keep helping you!
Thank you so much for your support!
CalendarLabs: A Cloudeight Site Pick
A New Year… Time to Make Your Own New Calendar
A new year is here. Time to for a new calendar. Time for me to add another year to my pouch of years. Seems like the older I get the faster the years fly by. It ain’t fair, I tells ya. But if you live long enough you find out life is not fair. But Calendars? Who doesn’t like pretty calendars?
But enough philosophy. Let’s talk about calendars. You all like to create calendars, right? It’s fun and fortunately, it’s easy to do and free too!
Once in a while we find a web site that explains itself so well, that we can’t think of anything more to say about it. Yes, we know it’s very rare, but it does happen.
This Cloudeight Site Pick lets you create calendars. That’s what it does. But not just any old calendar – customized calendars. Why EB just created a whole series of Bozo the Clown calendars, because Bozo is her idol. Maybe that’s why she cottons to me? Do I seem like a bozo to you? Don’t answer that!
Anyway, since our site of the week does such a superlative job of describing itself(?), we’re going to bring it (him/her?) in to describe it for you:
"CalendarLabs is the one stop destination for all the needs of calendars. We provide different kind of printable yearly and monthly calendar for any year between 1800 and 3000. Here you can easily find and customize calendars. Calendars with holidays are also available in different format for more than thirty countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States.Yep, there’s more. Kind of wordy huh? Kind of like us.
You can create a photo calendar by using your own photo or with a photo available here. We also provide many calendar content widget for blogs and websites which includes holiday calendar widget and quotes widget. Some people call calendar as calender or calenders. In languages other than English calendar is called as calendrier, kalendaryo, Kalender, calendario or calendário. Whatever you call it, we have all this for you.
We keep on adding numbers of Calendar templates with 2018 holidays. We provide 2018 calendar with holidays of more than thirty countries which can help you in your travel plan. Brief descriptions of many holidays are provided here so that it will help us to know the history and culture of different countries. We also provide 2018 astrology calendar to fulfill your astrological needs. We also provide Family Calendar and many regional calendars which included telugu, tamil and oriya. If you are looking for 2018 templates, you may visit here 2018 calendar templates page…."
Anyway… if you like to print good looking – even cool – calendars, with pictures of your new Moen faucet or your pet raccoon – or whatever you like on them – then you’ll be doing yourself a favor by visiting our Cloudeight site pick: CalendarLabs.
Feast upon the lovely calendar I made from a picture of EB’s backyard! You can see her boat dock is all clogged up with Lake Michigan ice. (Kidding…)
You can read more, learn more and create all the calendars you want by visiting www.calendarlabs.com .
Happy 2018!
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Note: We published this on New Year's Eve in our Cloudeight InfoAve Daily newsletter. Since it is a message for all our subscribers and Cloudeight members, we've modified it a bit and are publishing it here in our InfoAve Premium Newsletter as well. We do want to make sure we thank every one of you for being with us.
A Special End of the Old Year and Beginning of the New Year Message
Dear friend,
Last year now belongs to the past. It is now history and it is now memory. The end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 is a time for reflection. When we look back on 2017 we realize that without your support and your friendship we would have found last year much more difficult to navigate.
And we always know that it’s common at this time of year for many businesses to offer up their “thank yous” and we do sincerely thank you so much for everything you do for us.
But thanking you is just not enough.
We want you to know that we consider every one of you who subscribes to one or both of our newsletters a member of our Cloudeight family. And even more than that, we consider each one of you a friend.
As we look back on 2017 we also look forward to 2018. No one knows what tomorrow brings, let alone what an entire year may bring. Nothing in life is guaranteed. But if we always do the right thing and always do our best – then we’ve done all we can to make each day – and each year – the very best it can be.
And we’re sure that 2018 will have its twists and turns and ups and downs, but we know that with your support and your friendship, 2018 will be a good year.
We also want you to know that we will be here for you. Last year we answered over 29,000 of your emails, many of them asking for help with a computer problem. We always tried to give you the help or advice you needed.
Please read the rest of this message here.
What are toast notifications?
You shouldn't be surprised in this age of the cloud that those who are geeks are constantly coming up with terms to confuse non-geeks. While the term "toast" is not new - we all have toasters right? - it is now being used more because Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 have "toast notifications". If you drop the word "toast" you have the definition. Toast notifications are just notifications sent from apps or notifications pushed from the Web - for instance notifications that you have a severe weather alert in your area provided courtesy of a "toast" notification from the Windows Weather app.
I think some geek used the word "toast" to mean a notification that pops up like toast from a toaster and it caught on.
Anyway... we are featuring toast notifications in Back to Basics today only because the term Toast notifications - which previously was more frequently associated with Apple and Android, have zoomed into Windows terminology too - and therefore into your computer life.
So you may see people using the term "Toast Notifications" in their attempt to make you think they are smarter than you are when it comes to computers. But of course, that's not new. College professors have done that to dumb college freshmen for years. I mean, I once wrote a term paper and the professor accused me of being a sesquipedalian. I had no idea what it meant, but I thought he was accusing me of being seventy-years-old. But he was not - he was accusing me of using big words just to sound smart. Actually he was the sesquipedalian - I was just catching up!
I digress. Here's an explanation of toast notifications from Microsoft TechNet, almost certainly a den of geeks. (we take the liberty of liberally paraphrasing the first paragraph - hence no quotes!)
Toast notifications allow apps to inform users about relevant information and timely events that they should see and take action upon inside an app, such as a new instant message, a new friend request, breaking news, or a calendar event. When the user “chases” the notification (by tapping or clicking on the toast to activate the app), the app should navigate the user to the page with the right context.
"Here is an example of the life-cycle of a standard toast notification that informs the user about a new incoming instant message from MyChatApp on Windows 10 Mobile:
MyChatApp server gets a new message from Michael to Sophie.
MyChatApp server creates a toast notification, and sends it to Sophie’s device with MyChatApp client, via Windows push service.
Sophie sees the toast notification pop up on her screen, and clicks on it.
MyChatApp launches on Sophie’s phone, and takes her directly to the conversation with Michael.
Sophie is now in the right context and is ready to take action – in this case, reply to Michael to confirm their dinner plan.
This toast notification has served its purpose, and thus ended its life-cycle (removed by the system when Sophie tapped on it in step 3 above)."
So, there you have it. It's just the geeks again - trying to add words to things to confuse all us non-geeks - to make us think we need geeks to tell us what is what with our computers.
Toast notifications are simply notifications that "pop up" to inform you or ask you to take some sort of action. Hey EB! The toast is done. Pass the orange marmalade!
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We hope you have enjoyed this issue of InfoAve Premium. Thanks so much for your support and for being a Premium subscriber.
Have a great weekend!
Darcy & TC
Cloudeight InfoAve Premium - Issue #743
Volume 15 Number 12
January 5, 2018
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