Raise your hand if you scooped up some tech for yourself during the holiday sales madness. It\u2019s a great time to score a deal, but I bet you\u2019re also slammed with work and family obligations.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t just set it and forget it with your new gear. (Hackers and scammers are hoping you do, of course.) Take a few minutes to secure it. You\u2019ll be glad you did.<\/p>\n
Only days left to win a new iPhone 15 (a $799 value)! Enter to win now!<\/p>\n
SMART TECH LIFE HACKS TO SAVE YOU TIME AND KEEP YOU SAFE<\/strong><\/p>\n Keep your location yours alone<\/strong><\/p>\n Devices that travel with us (think phones, tablets and laptops) know exactly where we are located \u2014 and many companies package and sell that data off. While it\u2019s tough (or just really inconvenient) to stop all location tracking, you should take a good hard look at what gets access to where you are.<\/p>\n Ordering Christmas presents, online payment. Online shopping, internet banking, spending money, holidays, vacations concept<\/span> (iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On Apple gear, there\u2019s a hidden map<\/strong><\/p>\n Apple keeps track of where you go and how often you visit. It can then make suggestions based on what it calls Significant Locations. You might see these as calendar events or map directions alerts.<\/p>\n Sure, it\u2019s helpful, but not everyone likes it. You can clear this list.<\/p>\n No thanks:\u00a0<\/strong>More defaults tech companies don\u2019t want you to change<\/p>\n YOUR SMART ASSISTANT IS LISTENING, BUT DOES THAT IMPACT THE ADS YOU SEE?<\/strong><\/p>\n Get up to date<\/strong><\/p>\n Depending on how long your new device sat on a shelf or in a warehouse, it might need an update or two. Pop into the settings and look for any software or firmware updates. Sometimes there are a couple in a row.<\/p>\n After that, set a reminder or pick a day to check each of your devices monthly. It only takes a few minutes, but it could save you a huge hassle down the line. Wherever you can, enable automatic updates, so you have one less thing to remember.<\/p>\n Take time to register<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you register your new tech with the manufacturer? It takes a few minutes, but it\u2019s a way to recoup your device if a hacker somehow takes it over. The manufacturer has proof the device is yours no matter what changes a hacker makes to it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also an essential step if something breaks later and it\u2019s still under warranty.<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> Skip the extended warranty. Most problems pop up when you\u2019re still in the initial (free) coverage period.<\/p>\n Photo of a couple of friends, wrapping up Christmas presents, while spending winter holidays together<\/span> (iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Connect the smart way<\/strong><\/p>\n What\u2019s the first thing you do after setting up a new device? Connect it to your home\u2019s wireless internet. The bad news is every connected device is a potential way in for bad actors.\u00a0<\/p>\n I put all my smart stuff on a guest network. If you want to:<\/p>\n Open your router\u2019s admin page and look for a section labeled Guest Network or Guest Networks.<\/p>\n Enable your Guest Network and make sure SSID Broadcast is turned on.<\/p>\n To get to your router admin page, you\u2019ll need the device\u2019s IP address and admin password. Once you\u2019re in your router\u2019s settings, don\u2019t\u00a0<\/i>click any options that say something like: “Allow guests to see each other and access my local network.”<\/p>\n Mother and daughter wrapping christmas presents in their small cozy apartment<\/span> (iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Keep your tech-know going\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n My popular podcast is called “Kim Komando Today.” It\u2019s a solid 30 minutes of tech news, tips, and callers with tech questions like you from all over the country. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts. For your convenience, hit the link below for a recent episode.<\/p>\n PODCAST PICK:\u00a0<\/strong>5-star review bullying, fake AI boyfriends & 10 tech myths<\/strong><\/p>\n Plus, Dr. Ben Goertzel from Prophets of AI created Sophia, the world\u2019s most famous robot. He tells us more about artificial general intelligence \u2014 the AI that thinks like humans do. There’s more: GM says goodbye to Apple CarPlay and surveillance tech to stop drunk drivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Check out my podcast “Kim Komando Today” on\u00a0Apple, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player.<\/p>\n Listen to the podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for my last name, “Komando.”<\/p>\n Sound like a tech pro, even if you\u2019re not! Award-winning popular host Kim Komando is your secret weapon.\u00a0Listen on 425+ radio stations or\u00a0get the podcast. And join over 400,000 people who get her\u00a0free 5-minute daily email newsletter.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n Copyright 2024, WestStar Multimedia Entertainment. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n[ad_2]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [ad_1] Raise your hand if you scooped up some tech for yourself during the holiday sales madness. It\u2019s a great time to score a deal, but I bet you\u2019re also slammed with work and family obligations. Don\u2019t just set it and forget it with your new gear. (Hackers and scammers are hoping you do, of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17022"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![\"man](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1200\/675\/iStock-1350606480.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n
![\"group](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1200\/675\/iStock-850948574.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n![\"mother](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1200\/675\/iStock-1441355116.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n