October 21, 2021

Now Google Is the Big Target

Once upon a time, Microsoft was the big and only real target. Bad actors created viruses and other problems that caused grief to users of Microsoft products. Apple users were lulled into a false sense of security, because that environment was mostly ignored due to it's smaller user base.

Then Apple got bigger and branched out into more than just computers. The bad actors noticed that their user base was growing and started going after them. Apple users were shocked, because they thought, wrongly, that Apple products were more secure than Microsoft. Bad actors regularly go after Apple products and even apps in the Apple app store.

Now Google is the big player, with a majority of users on Microsoft and Apple devices choosing Google Chrome as their browser of choice; android phones being the majority of cell phones that are purchased; and an ever growing number of folks switching from Microsoft and even Apple computers to easier to use Chromebooks. On many of these devices, Google Chrome is the default browser and the most used product on the devices, so the bad actors are now targeting Google Chrome more regularly, along with apps in the Google app store.

So here, basically, is what is recommended:

Make sure your Google or Edge or whatever browser you use is always up-to-date. Most browsers have an "About" page where it tells you what the current version is and either automatically checks at that point for updates or offers a "check for update" option.

Make sure you regularly check for operating system updates on Microsoft, Apple, Google and Android based devices, including phones and computers and tablets and such.

Make sure you regularly check for software updates as well.

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Richard L. Kuper

The Kuper Report

http://TheKuperReport.com

September 10, 2021

Warning: Microsoft Zero-Day Vulnerability

If you still have Internet Explorer on your PC (it was replaced some time ago by Microsoft Edge), Microsoft has advised that there is a zero-day vulnerability that can open you up to an online attack. If Microsoft's browser is your preferred browser, immediately upgrade to Microsoft Edge. In any event, stop using the outdated and vulnerable Internet Explorer. If you have already switched to another browser, such as Google Chrome or Firefox, you should still update to the latest version of Microsoft Edge and make sure you no longer have an old version of Internet Explorer on your PC. 

In addition, never open a Microsoft Office file (e.g., .docx) from an unknown or untrusted site.

Make sure that Microsoft Defender Antivirus and/or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and any other antivirus and antimalware products you have on your pc are up to date, and regularly scan your PC for vulnerabilities.

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Richard L. Kuper

The Kuper Report

http://TheKuperReport.com

July 27, 2021

Amazon Devices Get Male Voice Choice And New Wake Word Choice

Amazon has added a new voice and a new wake word to choose from. Let me take you through the simplest process to change these.

Previously, unless you opted to purchase a celebrity voice that works with some features, you only had a female voice as an option. (Google devices have had both male and female voices to choose from for years. Amazon has finally caught up.) You can try to find the option in the Alexa app or on the Alexa website, but I prefer to tell you how to do it the easy way. 

Using whatever your current wake word is (e.g., "Alexa" by default), say: "(Alexa), change your voice." That's it. In a few moments your device will have a male voice. Want to change it back to a female voice? Follow the same instructions.

Amazon has added the wake word "Ziggy" to the list of available wake words. The others, in case you were unaware, are: "Alexa", "Echo", "Computer", and "Amazon". (Sadly Google still only has "Hey Google" or "OK Google" to choose from.) To change the wake word, you could use the app or log into the Alexa website, but there is a much easier way.

Wake your device with your current wake word (e.g., "Alexa") and say: "(Alexa), change wake word to Ziggy" to change it to Ziggy, or tell it to change to whichever of the wake word choices you prefer. Now that is your new wake word. Whenever you want to change it, follow the same instructions, remembering, of course, to start with whatever the current wake word is and telling it to change to whatever you want the new wake word to be.

Enjoy.


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Richard L. Kuper

The Kuper Report

http://TheKuperReport.com

June 10, 2021

Change in Email Subscription Service for The Kuper Report

If you currently subscribe by email to The Kuper Report, and wish to continue, please go to http://TheKuperReport.com and sign up again. We've switched to Follow.it because Google is retiring Feedburner's email subscription service and very soon anyone subscribed that way will no longer get notified of new posts.

Granted, I haven't written too often these days, but every now and again I have and will, so I hope you will choose to subscribe.

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Richard L. Kuper

The Kuper Report

http://TheKuperReport.com

May 29, 2021

For anyone with an HP Scanner using HP Smart software that suddenly stopped working

I spent many hours trying to resolve this problem. Allow me to make your life easier. HP Smart apparently depended on Adobe Flash. Adobe no longer supports Flash as of earlier this year. Somehow, HP Smart continued to work until just recently. Then it just crapped out with useless error messages. Here's the solution. 

It would have been really great if HP had simply caused the following to happen automatically, but they did not -- so you need to do this manually.

1. Download HP Scan and Capture. 

For Windows, it can be found at this link: 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/hp-scan-and-capture/9wzdncrfhwl0?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

2. Configure it to meet your needs. 

3. Uninstall HP Smart.


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Richard L. Kuper

The Kuper Report

http://TheKuperReport.com

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