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How to Remove Personal Data From Your Digital Photos
Windows 10 (all versions)

Did you know that when you take a photo with your digital camera, tablet camera or phone camera, a lot of information is added to the photo?

Almost all digital image files typically contain information about the date and time the photo was taken, camera (or digital device) manufacturer make and model (and often the serial number), camera settings such as aperture and shutter speed, and in the case of smartphones, even the GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken are added

This information is called metadata and is referred to as Exif (Exchangeable image file format). It’s a worldwide standard that specifies formats for files recorded by digital cameras. However, none of this information is added by the user when the photo is taken; it’s automatically added by the device or digital camera you used to take the picture. But when you or someone you share the picture with opens it, all you or they see is the photo itself. But there’s usually a lot of invisible info hiding inside of a digital photo.

Windows 10 gives you the option to remove all or most of this data from the picture, with a couple of clicks. It’s easy to do, and we are going to walk you through the process step by step. Don’t worry, it could not be easier.

Find a photo on your PC that you took with your digital device (camera, phone, tablet) and right click it.

Now click on Properties and then click the Details tab.

The devil’s in the details. You can see a lot of information is stored about the picture you took when you look at the details.

See the screenshots above and below.

If you want to remove some or all of that information, near the bottom of Properties > Details, you’ll see a link that says “Remove Properties and Personal Information”. When you click that, you see the following:

You have a choice of creating a copy of the photo with all possible properties removed. This is a good choice if you want to keep the original and share the copy that will be created. The copy will have all possible data removed and that’s the one you’d post online or share on Facebook, etc.

Or (see below), you can pick and choose the details you want to remove from the picture. Or select them all using the “Select all” button. When you choose this option, the changes are applied to the original photo and a copy is not created.

Keep in mind, this is not going to defeat forensic scientists bent on finding arcane personal data. But it will remove Exif data from your photos well enough so that it can’t be retrieved by the average user.



Be SUPER Careful Whenever You Search!
A Tip for everyone

There are two things you should never search for and that is support and drivers. Many people have gotten in serious trouble by searching for these. The reason? Criminals and scammers know that people will search for things like HP Printer Support, Canon Printer Support, Dell Support, Display drivers, printer drivers, and so on. These search terms are full of danger for you. Why? Because the unscrupulous know you will be searching for these things and will make ad buys on search engines so their scummy ads will show up on your search results. Once you click on one you could well find yourself in a trap or worse think you’re on a legitimate site when you’re not.

If you need help with your printer, type in the site’s web address, for instance, http://www.hp.com/ or https://www.canon.com. If you need help, click on support, If you need support for Windows, don’t go searching for Microsoft support. Go to www.microsoft.com and click on support – or get help right from your PC. If you need drivers don’t search for anything using the word drivers. If you have an NVidia display adapter that you need drivers for, go to NVidia’s web site. If you need help with a Dell computer, go to Dell’s web site.

If you must search for anything having to do with a driver or product support, remember this – only the name before the dot.com or dot.net or dot.org  or dot.biz, or dot.tv, etc. in a URL (website address) is the actual domain.

For instance, the following web address is not for Dell support:  dell.support.geeksrus.com.

It is not a Dell site at all – it’s a geekrus site.

Likewise, mircosoft.support.wegotcha.com is not a Microsoft site – it’s a wegotcha site, and if you click on a link like that, believe me, they gotcha!

Let’s take a test:

1.) Which of the following 3 URLs belongs to Microsoft?

A. microsoft.support.com 

B. support.microsoft.com

C. .microsoft.windows-support.com

Answer? Only “B” is a Microsoft Site.

2.) Which of the following belong to HP?

A. hp.com

B. support.hp.com

C .hp-drivers.softonic.com

D. hp-printer.drivers.com

If you said “A” and “B” you’re right. Both A and B are HP sites. C and D are not. If you learn how to read a URL you’re on the way to safer browsing – and searching.

Be careful what you search for and learn how to read URLs (Web site addresses). Always pay attention to the words/names right before the dot com, dot net, dot. org, etc. in a URL (website address).

Take Command of the Command Prompt
Windows 10 (all versions)

Note: While this tip was written for Windows 10,  you can also change the command prompt colors and fonts in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 as well.

We have a lot of tips that require you to open a command prompt. And when you do, most of you see a black box with small white text that can be hard to read.

But you don’t have to put up with hard to read fonts or that stark, foreboding black background I tells you. You can take command of the command prompt and it’s not hard.

First, let’s open a command prompt with administrator privileges.

1.) Type CMD in taskbar search. When it appears at the top right-click on it and choose Run as Administrator.

2.) When the command prompt opens, right-click on its title bar and choose “Properties” from the drop-down menu.

3.) Let’s change the font and the font size and make it bold too, for easy viewing. In the “Properties” dialog (below), click on the “Font” tab at the top.  Choose a size, a font, and make it bold if you like. If you want to leave the background black, you can click “OK” after changing the font, font size, and font style.

But if you want to change the background color and or the font color, you have more to do.

4.) To change the background color and/or the font color, click on the “Colors” tab in command prompt properties dialog.

Select “Screen Text” then click on a color in the color bar, if you know your RGBs, you can use a custom color. Don’t spend too much time on this, the available colors should work just fine.

Select “Screen Background” to change the background color of the command prompt window. Again you can choose one of the color bars, or if you’re a fussy RGB’er you can choose Red, Green, Blue settings. But really, you should spend that much time on this.

Make sure you click “OK” to save your changes. And that’s it, you’re done.

If you want to further customize the command prompt you can change the popup dialog background font colors, and you can even set a customized size for the command prompt window. You can explore the other tabs in the command prompt “Properties” dialog, but for us just changing the font, font-size, font-style, font-color and command prompt background was good enough.

Now you can see the large, bold yellow font on a blue background is much easier to read than the small faded white font on a black background that is the command prompt’s default.

3 Quick and Easy Windows 10 Tips You Might Not Know
Windows 10 (all versions)

1. Shake It Up Baby Now

Want to minimize all other open program windows except the one you’re working in? It’s easy. Grab the title bar of the window want to stay open and move it back and forth quickly (shake it up). After you shake it a  couple of times the window you shook will remain open and all other program windows will be minimized. Shake it a couple of times again, and all the minimized windows are back.

2. Use the Windows Key + the PrntScr Key to Take a Quick Screenshot

Want to take a quick screenshot of your computer’s screen? No problemo! Hold down the Windows Key and click the PrntScr (Print Screen) key. Now look in your Pictures folder. You’ll find a folder inside Pictures called Screenshots. You’ll find your screenshot there. Take as many screenshots as you want this way, Windows will save them all in C:\Users\Your User Name\Pictures\Screenshots  as screenshot(1),png, screenshot(2).png, screenshot(3).png, and so on. And, yes, of course, you can rename them.

Above: The folder in Pictures that Windows creates automatically to store screenshots you create this way.

Above: A full-screen screenshot we created using the Windows Key + PrntScr key.

3. Open the Properties Dialog of Any File or Folder Using the ALT Key

Did you know that you can open the “Properties” dialog of any file or folder in File Explorer by holding down the ALT key and clicking on it?. You can and it’s a super fast way to do it. Try it. Open File Explorer (Windows Key + E). Now hold down the ALT key and click on any file or folder. Voila! The file or folder’s “Properties” dialog will open.

Sometimes the best Windows tips and tricks are the easiest ones.

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Windows 10 Color Filters

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uBlock Origin: An Ad Blocker You’ll Love

We understand why websites display ads… our site does. It’s a source of revenue. But some sites get carried away. And we don’t understand that because it ruins it for everybody. Why sites would display so many ads as to annoy its visitors is beyond my comprehension. Some sites have so many flashing, floating, content-burying ads, they are almost impossible to use. It makes no sense. Yet, there are tens of thousands of Web sites that cram so many ads on one page you can hardly see the page.

So we totally understand why so many of you use ad blockers. Today we’re going to tell you about an ad blocker called uBlock Origin which is the best ad blocker we’ve ever tested.

uBlock Origin was suggested to us by David Biggar, a security expert at Emsisoft. Having a recommendation from someone like David gets our attention. So we decided to take a look and see what uBlock Origin is all about. We were impressed.

We know many of you use AdBlock Plus – it’s the most popular ad blocker, by far. But like a lot of programs that started out free, they discovered a way to make money while staying free – and there is nothing wrong with that. However, if you use AdBlock Plus, you’ve probably noticed you still see some ads. This is because some advertisers pay AdBlock Plus not to block their ads. AdBlock Plus calls these ads “Acceptable”

uBlock Origin is totally free – and blocks all ads. There are no acceptable ads. It also allows you more control over website and also allows you to pinpoint and block annoying page content. It also allows users to whitelist sites so those sites’ ads are displayed. Why would you want to whitelist a site? Well, for example, we make a little bit each month for the ads displayed on our site. We don’t use floating ads, popup ads, interstitial ads, or any ads that distract from the content. We need the little bit of revenue these ads generate. So you can help us by not blocking ads on our site. With uBlock Origin, it’s as easy as adding “thundercloud.net” to uBlock Origin’s whitelist. We’ll tell you more about that a bit later.

Let’s take a closer look at uBlock Origin.

uBlock Origin works in Chrome, Chromium-based browsers, Firefox, Opera, and the current version of Edge.

We installed it from the Chrome Web Store in the Dev version of the new Chromium-based Edge. If you’re using Chrome or the new Chromium-based Edge (beta) you can open your browser and navigate to http://tinyurl.com/mg6fabu You’ll be able to install the extension directly from that page. If you’re using Firefox, Opera, or the current version (non-beta version) of Edge, we have links for you near the bottom of this article.

Installing it in Chrome and the dev (beta) version of Edge was quick and simple.

Above: As you browse the web you’ll see how many ads and requests were blocked – both from the page you’re on and the total number of items blocked since installation.  We had only been using uBlock Origin for about 10 minutes and it had already blocked 422 ads and page requests.

Below: You can see from the screenshots below, that uBlock Origin is easy to configure the way you want it.

Above: uBlock Origin gives you a lot of control over the types of elements blocked.  You can see we’re about to block “large media elements”. In other words those annoying video ads you see on many pages.

There are even more settings available on the uBlock Origin dashboard.  To open the Dashboard, click on the uBlock Origin icon in your browser, then click “slider-bar” icon in uBlock Origin.

The dashboard (shown below) will open.

Above: uBlock Origin offers even more customization from the Dashboard. 

Below: If you’re not sure what a setting does — “Cosmetic filtering” for example — just click the encircled “i” for more details and information.

Finally, if you want to exempt web site from ad filtering – in other words, you want to support a small site by allowing advising on a site, it’s easy to do. In the uBlock Origin dashboard, click on the “Whitelist” tab. Type site’s URL (minus the http:// or https://, and www) you want to allow to show you ads. As you can see in the screenshot below, I’ve added thundercloud.net to whitelist. If you install uBlock Origin, please consider adding us to the Whitelist. If you have a Cloudeight SeniorPass, we’ll be glad to configure uBlock Origin for you.

uBlock Origin is freeware and available for most popular browsers.

Here are the download links for all supported browsers

Chrome & Chromium-based Edge 
http://tinyurl.com/mg6fabu

Firefox
http://tinyurl.com/pcsq2p8

Opera
https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/ublock/

Microsoft Edge (non-Chromium/Standard Edge)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/ublock-origin/9nblggh444l4 

Thanks to David Biggar from Emsisoft for bringing uBlock Origin to our attention.





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Rain Puddles

It’s spring and when I walk I often see rain puddles everywhere. Now I avoid them, but when I was a kid I loved jumping in them. Have you jumped in a rain puddle lately? Have you ever noticed them? Do you think there are rain puddles in heaven?

So often we get caught up in our own concerns; we get caught in the trap of our busy lives, in the tangled web of our own routines, and in the worries and the concerns we face. I don’t know if there are rain puddles in Heaven or not, but I know for sure there are rain puddles right here on Earth.

I can’t remember the last time I even looked at rain puddles — those dancing street-side pools full of reflections, so utterly quiescent on a gentle late-spring evening. When I was a kid I used to jump in them and ride my bike through them. But now I cannot remember the last time I wanted to jump in one.

How sadly grown-up I’ve become. Now I avoid those rain puddles as much as I can. But when we are children we can’t resist splashing in those rain puddles that spring up after a brief but furious summer thunderstorm. Rain puddles shimmering, the air fresh with the scent of rain, the storm has past and it’s rumbling its way to another town, leaving behind rain puddles, just right for jumping into.

How many rain puddles have you jumped in lately? You probably avoid them just like I do...

Read the rest of this essay here.

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What are Windows lifecycles?

Windows Lifecycles are special bicycles with brightly colored Windows logos on them - even the pedals are shaped just like the Windows start button. Darcy has several of them and rides them in the circus.

NO! NO! NO! Just kidding.

According to Microsoft:

"Every Windows product has a lifecycle. The lifecycle begins when a product is released and ends when it's no longer supported. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps you make informed decisions about when to upgrade or make other changes to your software.

End of support

End of support refers to the date when Microsoft no longer provides automatic fixes, updates, or online technical assistance. This is the time to make sure you have the latest available update or service pack installed. Without Microsoft support, you will no longer receive security updates that can help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software that can steal your personal information..."

Now here's the stuff you really want to know - the end of support for your version of Windows:

Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) - January 14, 2020

Windows 8.1 - January 10, 2023

Windows 10 Version Lifecycles

Windows 10 1507 (original Windows 10) 5/9/2017 (no longer supported)
Windows 10 1511 (November Update) 4/10/2018
Windows 10 1607 (Anniversary Update) 2/2/2019
Windows 10 1703 (Creators Update) 10/5/2019
Windows 10 1709 (Fall Creators Update) 4/17/2020
Windows 10 1803 (April 2018 Update) 10/30/2020
Windows 10 1809 (October 2018 Update) April 2021 (estimated)
Windows 10 1903 (May 2019 Update) October 2021 (estimated)

And now you're up-to-date on Microsoft Windows lifecycles.



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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  #811
Volume 16 Number 27
April 26, 2019

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