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Holiday Tech Tips: Invite Your Smartphone to Dinner

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

In part 2 of this week’s series we will be discussing how you can empower your smartphone or tablet and make your holidays easier, by learning about all of their most futuristic features.

 

 

Let’s face it, we’re a long way from the ease of a Star Trek communicator, and we don’t have cool holodecks yet.  At Geek Squad we realize every year the things we use to talk to each other don’t seem to get simpler, but more and more complicated! 


“What does this button do
  again?”

With a plethora of apps available for today’s digital devices, you can do so much more than just stay in touch.  Whether it’s a video chat with your Aunt on the other side of the country, a step-by-step instruction manual for cooking the perfect turkey, or keeping track of the calories to help get a head start on your New Year’s resolution, unlocking the full potential of your smartphone or tablet actually can help to reduce stress.

 

What do I need?

To take advantage of the latest mobile apps, all you’ll need is a smartphone or tablet! This can include any Android or Blackberry mobile device, or an iOS Apple device like an iPhone or iPad.  Before checking for the latest apps, you will also want to check to make sure you have the latest operating system updates for your phone.  With Android and Blackberry you can check for a ‘System Update’ from the settings menu on the phone.  With an iPad or iPhone all you need to do is connect it to your computer running iTunes.

 

What can I do?

While they aren’t quite up to StarTrek communication standards, your mobile device is surprisingly strong!  Ultimately, the possibilities are limited only by our creativity.  Here are a few holiday suggestions to maximize your device:

 

  • Keep in touch with Auntie Muriel: Maybe a few relatives couldn’t make it to your house this year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spend time with them.  Many smartphones and tablet computers come with built in video cameras and apps that let you talk face to face with your long distance loved ones.  Apps such as Skype, FaceTime, and Google Talk are made to work with your smartphone or tablet to provide real-time video chat.  Maybe not Star Trek standards, but we are getting closer!  Skype and Google Talk are available for free on any device, and offer video chat.  FaceTime is available on Apple iOS and OSX devices

 

  • Don’t burn the turkey:  Someday soon our ovens and microwaves will be able to intelligently connect to the internet, look up a recipe, and tell us how to cook it.  We’re not quite there yet, but your smartphone can fill in to help out in the kitchen!  Use the AllRecipes.com  Dinner Spinner app (iPhone and Android, free) to find the perfect side dish, and a timer app like the 5 in 1 Kitchen Timer (Blackberry, $1.99) to remind you when to thaw, baste, chop, and stir.  Try a “food” or “recipe” search in your AppStore or Marketplace on your device.  It will turn up a plethora of other great tools to help your kitchen projects stay on task!

 

  • Count your calories:  The average person gains five pounds over the holidays.  We want to help you stay healthy this year, and get a head start on your resolution. We recommend using one of the many apps available for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry to count your calories and discover what’s really in the gravy.  Calorie Tracker for iPhone and MyFitnessPal for Android are just a couple of the many free apps available to help you track your intake.  Remember, it’s like golf.  Low score wins this game.

 

Whether you’re trying to perfect that holiday meal, stay in touch with the family, or keep an eye on your waist line we are here to help!  As always, Agents are standing by 24/7/365 at 1-800-GeekSquad and on Http://www.geeksquad.com to help combat techno stress.  Just don’t ask us how long to cook the turkey. It won’t end well for anyone involved.

 

-Agent Laura M.

 

Every day, Counter Intelligence Agent Laura M, of Precinct 329, heroically removes malware and saves the personal lives of computer users in Maple Grove, MN.  She has a vitamin D deficiency from playing too many video games.  She likes animals and books.

Prepare for a Safe Cyber Monday

Sunday, November 27th, 2011

A recent survey shows 46.7% of shoppers will purchase holiday items online this year.  Unfortunately, there are people out there looking to “scrooge” your holiday shopping experience.  Regardless of how you shop online, keeping your online identity safe is crucial.

 

In part of our mission to police technology and protect the world, Geek Squad Agents have prepared tips to keep you safe while shopping online.   Here are a few ways to ensure your identity remains safe while grabbing those hot deals on Cyber Monday.

 

Our mobile devices are replacing computers for more of our common tasks each year, and this year’s online shopping season is no different.  There are a few special security concerns that come with using a mobile device to shop online.  While shopping on the go this year, be sure to follow these security precautions to keep you and your digital wallet safe.

  •  Verify the website – When shopping from a mobile device, double check the web address prior to sending any information to ensure you are on the site you want to be.
  • Check your network connection – Many mobile devices will default to an available unsecure wireless network.  While this can be great to keep your data usage low, it can pose a security risk.  Make sure you are not connected to an unsecure network and use your cellular connection or an encrypted network instead.

  • Lock your devices – Keeping your personal device protected with a password is vital.  While ‘gesture’ passwords are quick to access and easy to setup, the frequent use of the gesture on your screen can create smudges left by your fingerprint.  This makes it easy to guess your gesture and get into your phone.  In the event your device is misplaced, a traditional password will be more effective in preventing access to your personal information.  As always, keep your password or PIN hard to guess.  Don’t use birthdays or addresses, or other easy-to-guess combinations.

 

While shopping online from your computer, some of the same tips to keep your identity and your PC safe apply.  This holiday season be sure to follow these basic rules to stay safe:
  • Keep your PC healthy – The first and most important step is to ensure you keep your PC is clean and free of spyware and virus infections.  Geek Squad offers a free Do-It-Yourself spyware and virus scan on GeekSquad.com, as well as free consultations from our Virtual Agents at support.geeksquad.com.  You will also want to ensure your PC is completely up-to-date with all the latest security patches from Windows.  Our Virtual Agents can remotely give your PC a quick tune-up to verify you have all the latest patches, and help improve basic performance with our PC Optimization service.  If needed, they can also remotely perform a Virus and Spyware Removal service to repair any infections that may be present on your PC.  Chat with an Agent at support.geeksquad.com for details.
  • Identify and avoid spam and phishing attempts – During the holiday season, spammers frequently kick into overdrive.  They’ll use the latest tactics to attempt to capture your identity with fake offers, attractive deals, and false websites.  Check out our tips and tricks for avoiding these phishing attempts at our blog, available here.
  • Ensure your wireless network is secure - It is always a good idea to ensure your wireless network is encrypted and secure.  In normal circumstances this prevents people from accessing your network devices, or using your internet without your permission.  It is vital, to protect yourself when shopping online, that you only use an encrypted network.  When data is sent over an unsecure network hackers can potentially see what is being transmitted, and obtain your credit card information.  Always use secure networks when making any purchases or doing your banking online.  Geek Squad can assist in setting up your home wireless network and ensuring it is encrypted with the latest networking standards.
  • Keep your credit cards where they belong; in your wallet – Geek Squad never recommends storing your credit card information in your web browser.  While it may make it more convenient to shop online, it also makes it easy for anyone who may have access to your computer to steal the information.  In just a few seconds, someone can sit down at your computer and write down any details stored in your web browser.

 

Remember, when shopping online this holiday season keeping your identity safe is only half the battle.  Monday is a work day, after all!  Geek Squad has a few tips to minimize your time spent shopping online to help you remain on your boss’s good side!
  • Plan Ahead – Scoping out sites ahead of time to identify the best deal is a great plan to remain efficient.  This will help minimize the time spent online, allowing you to condense your online shopping to your lunch break.  Check out sites such as Cybermonday.net and CyberMonday.com for the latest scoop on who is offering what deals on Monday.
  • Get the App! – There is a mobile app for just about everything now, and Cyber Monday is no exception!  Apps like the CyberMonday Deals 2011 app allows you to browse over a thousand items that are popular on this year’s holiday gift lists.
  • Keep busy – Not quite finished with your shopping and your lunch break is over? No worry, Geek Squad has a great tip to quickly switch between websites and open documents.  Hear your boss coming down the hall?  Hold down the ALT key and press TAB, quick!  Each time you press the TAB key while holding ALT it will cycle through the next open window or program on your computer.  Once that PowerPoint presentation you’re working on, or the open Excel document with the end of the year budget is front and center on the screen, release the ALT key.  Your boss will see you as the dedicated worker, opposed to someone still trying to finish up the weekend’s shopping!  (Not that we have any experience with that.)

 

For more tips on how to stay safe this holiday season, and ensure your computer is ready to go at all times, talk to an Agent.  You can visit Http://www.geeksquad.com to chat with an Agent, call 1-800-GeekSquad to set up an in-home appointment, or visit one of our over 1000 Geek Squad Precincts found at your local Best Buy to speak with an Agent directly.

Remember, Geek Squad Agents are there for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Our primary mission is keeping your techno-stress at bay, whether that is providing you with some preventative tips, or saving the day when everything seems to be going wrong; we’re here when you need us.

 

-Agent Patrick B.

Wired for Summer Travel

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

Summer is fast approaching! Families are piling in the car and setting out on the Nation’s highways and skyways in search of an inexpensive and stress-free vacation. Here at the Geek Squad, we want to make sure you know about a few technologies available that will help ensure your vacation is safe, efficient and a little less stressful.

Perhaps one of the most obvious tech gadgets in use today when on vacation is the GPS unit. This relatively simple-to-use device allows you to not only get easily from point A to point B, but also allows you to find new places of interest once you get to your vacation destination. What you may not know is that some newer GPS units also allow you to navigate a route using less fuel, monitor your fuel consumption and avoid traffic. Savings in the wallet and savings in time! Check out a GPS that offers live traffic reports such as a Garmin or TomTom. To get even fancier, Garmin has an accessory (ecoRouteHD) that ties your Garmin ecoRouteHD compatible GPS into your vehicle’s computer-control system to provide you with live engine data, including miles-per-gallon and engine trouble codes, right on your Garmin GPSs screen!

The smartphone is another tech tool that can help you save some cash. For example, a slew of applications are available on the market that allow you to see average area gas prices. Some applications, including GasBuddy (iPhone/Android), AccuFuel (iPhone/iPad) and GasBook (iPhone), even help you calculate whether or not it is wise to drive out of your route to save a few cents at a cheaper station. Smartphones and tablet devices can also help keep those back-seat drivers occupied by providing endless choices of entertainment. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you “are we there yet?” gets very old very quickly.

Technology can also help keep you safer when you are away. Digital cameras can be used to take a backup picture of vital documents such as passports or the condition of your rental car. GPS routing can be utilized at home before you leave, so you can let loved ones know your expected travel and arrival times. Smartphone and tablet applications that share your live location can also be shared with loved ones for a little extra peace of mind on those long-haul trips. Some people even leave their webcam-equipped computers on at home so they can log in via an internet connection and view get a live view of what is going on in the house.

Below is a short checklist you may find useful in planning and executing your vacation travel. Enjoy your adventure and keep it safe:

• Plan route in the GPS, write down times/dates and share with loved ones via email or written letter
• Take pictures/make photocopies of important documents as backups in case you lose the originals.
• On the day of departure have a list ready of all accessories: Do you have power cords, charters, batteries, and mounts for all your gadgets? Would an all-in-one power supply or charger help cut down wires?
• During your trip use your phone, portable DVD or tablet as a source of entertainment.
• Check in with your loved ones periodically by phone or email, especially if you have to deviate from your planned route.
• Always remember to have a map as a backup. GPS units are not infallible and should not be your only source of navigation whether you are in the car or on the trail. Please, use your head, it is the best safety device you will ever have!

Using Technology to Effectively and SECURELY Donate

Monday, May 9th, 2011

As the effects of natural disasters bring us together to help those in need, Geek Squad wanted to take a moment to share some lessons on how social media and mobile devices can play a role in that assistance.

Products from shoes to bathroom scales have built-in tweeting, and at least one innovator has created an app that tweets everything that he watches around the house via TiVo. It may make your head spin to think that the same microblogging service helped serve as the groundwork for revolution in the Middle East as well as a key tool for finding loved ones after the tsunami in Japan. Obviously, not all tweets are created equal. It should come as no surprise, then, that scammers are always waiting to exploit the next big tragedy via these networks.

Here are a few tips to help you stay safe while assisting others:
- If you are being solicited by a stranger for donations, consider who they may be and what their credentials are. You can never be too careful with your financial information.
- Use reliable and reputable sites to research any charities to which you are considering contributing.
- If you have trouble finding a relief effort that you can verify as legitimate, turn to major organizations such as the American Red Cross. (Best Buy recently donated $100,000 to this group for storm relief efforts)
- If you do not want to donate via credit card, consider a text message donation. (More on this below)
- If you live near an area affected by a natural disaster, such as the recent wave of tornadoes in the south, search Facebook for groups that are organizing volunteer efforts.

Most tweets and Facebook posts soliciting donations no longer redirect you to a website where you enter a lot of personal information, or even to a PayPal link to donate directly through that method. Many of these solicitations now take the form of “Send ‘KEYWORD’ to 12345 to donate $5 to the relief efforts.” The phone number is a “short code,” which is a shortened phone number specifically designed for receiving text messages. This donation method sounds so easy… so how does it work?

Text message donations have been around for several years, but only recently came into the mainstream after the Haiti earthquake. The way these work is simple. First, you send a specific word to a specific phone number. Then, the donation will appear on your cell phone statement. This is an easy way to donate from the road if you can’t get in front of a computer, and most major charities and disaster relief funds have this capability. As always, make sure you check the legitimacy of the campaign before donating! We’ve included two resources below to help you get started.

RESOURCES:
http://www.bbb.org/us/charity/ – The Better Business Bureau’s U.S. charity division, a repository of information about legitimate and illegitimate charity efforts .
http://blog.charitynavigator.org/2011/04/us-tornado-disaster-relief.html – A list of some charities and what they are doing to help with the storm relief efforts.

2 Minute Miracle: Geek Squad iPhone Email Set-Up

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

What’s the deal with T9?

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

It uses the same system used now to spell out words, such as 1-800-GEE-KSQUA converting to 1-800-433-5778, or in the days of telephone operators where PennsylvniA 6-5000 became 726-5000. As you type in single numbers that standard for one of 3 or 4 letters, it cross references that with a dictionary of words to find out what word you may be typing. It is not flawless, because there are a number of words that are spelled by the same four numbers (for example, 5646 spells both “join” and “logo”), however most systems will present the most common word, and then offer you a chance to pick other options. However the benefit is that instead of using non-T9 text messaging systems where you would have to hit the 5 key three times to move from “j” to “k” to “l”, you can just hit the 5 key once and it figures out from context which letter it should be.

GPS on Smartphones

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

You are on the road. In a strange city. Heading to an appointment. At a location you’ve never been to before. In heavy traffic. (And heavy rain). And you are running a little late.

To add insult to injury, add in a paper printout map – you not only have misery refined, you have a very good possibility of ending up in a ditch. (Or somewhere worse).

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