Your internet connection, web sites and services.
Internet and Web
Am I getting spam?
Episode 1501
Earl has an iMac and a Samsung phone. He's getting email from someone he just had a conversation with via email, though it isn't him. Leo says it's possibly being spoofed, where the sending address has been added using his own contacts. Check the headers. Chances are, it's just spam.
Johnny Jet on Travel Tech
Episode 1501
Travel Deal - How to Fly L.A. to San Juan, Puerto Rico in a Lie-Flat Bed for $365 - http://bit.ly/2tOYk1m great until May, 2019. Why is it so cheap? It's motivation to visit Puerto Rico and give their economy a shot in the arm. That's also a great way to fly to Miami using the Hidden City trick, where you buy a flight with a multiple stop, but get off at the first destination. But airlines don't like it and will ding you if you use frequent flyer miles in the process.
Why does my video stream stutter sometimes?
Episode 1501
Louis from
Louis is watching baseball games streaming online and sometimes the feed stalls. Leo says that's called buffering, and sometimes a packet drops and the feed will wait to see if it shows up out of order. Then it will insert it and move on. Sometimes, though, it just gives up and continues. There are some causes of this, including congestion from a wireless connection. But Louis can get a dual band router and use the 5Ghz band, or just connect to the router with an ethernet connection. The stream will be more reliable that way.
How can I fundraise using Facebook?
Episode 1501
Florentina from
Florentina lost her home recently and wants to use Facebook to raise money to get into a new place. Leo says that Facebook is ideal for that because everyone is there and she can run her campaign directly from her feed. She should go to facebook.com/fundraisers. She can do everything from non-profit fundraising to personal campaigns for emergency purposes, which this certainly qualifies. Another option is GoFundMe.com.
Would a mesh router work well with multiple ethernet connections?
Episode 1500
Matt from
Matt is building a new house and has run cat 5 ethernet around the house. But should he also use a mesh router? Leo says he uses Eero at home, but here is one mesh system that's great specifically for Matt's situation: Plume. Plume sells tiny little access points that plug into the wall with an ethernet port. It's still part of a larger mesh network, but it creates very localized access from the ethernet.
How can I read the TWiT Chatroom if I'm blind?
Episode 1500
Rachel from
Rachel is blind and needs help with the TWIT chatroom. It's not very accessible. Leo says that TWiT has a chat moderator who can work with the blind to set up their screen readers so that she can keep track of the conversation. It uses IRC and she'll need a fully accessible IRC client to do it. TWiT's moderators can help with that.
Image By Capaccio [CC BY-SA 3.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons
Is my router safe?
Episode 1500
Heidi from
Heidi is worried about the Russian VPN Filter hack. She bought a Netgear router to replace it. Is she safe? Leo says that some Netgear models aren't protected, but if she installs the latest firmware, she should be OK, and NetGear does update routers automatically.
Why can't I download audiobooks from the Library of Congress with Internet Explorer 11?
Episode 1499
Jim from
Jim has been having trouble downloading audiobooks from the Library of Congress. They just stall and he can't get the download to complete. He found out that Windows upgraded Internet Explorer and it won't download anything. So he downgraded to IE8 and it works now. Leo says he isn't sure that's a secure solution. He would recommend Edge, Google Chrome, or Firefox.
Johnny Jet on Travel Tech
Episode 1499
Johnny Jet is calling in from Delray Beach, where you can get great deals traveling to, like $150 one way. It's a great deal for a fast summer vacation. Johnny Jet is also traveling to DC, and Hilton Hotels are testing Beam technology, which projects on the wall of your hotel room. So you may not have a TV in your room in the future. Leo also says that hotel chains are going to be putting Amazon Echo in their rooms, geared towards hospitality and room service. And they reset when you check out, so the hotel or the next guest doesn't get access to your personal data.
How can I get internet access in a remote area?
Episode 1498
Alan from
Alan's brother lives in a remote region and he wants to know his best option for internet access. Leo says the best way to do it is probably via 4G/LTE. He can get himself a MiFi device and then he can connect up to five devices and he'll have internet access. For remote areas, as long as you have good cell service, that's becoming the best option.
