When to choose a password, when to choose a PIN

Like a password, a Personal Information Number (PIN) allows you to prove that you’re you, so that no one else can access your data. The obvious difference is that a PIN is limited to numerical digits (0-9), while a password can contain numerical digits, upper- and lowercase letters, and punctuation.

But that doesn’t explain the advantages of each.

PINs are easier to type, especially on a touchscreen. With much fewer options, you can tap a few big buttons rather than a lot of little ones.

Android keypads for a PIN and for a password

So why does anyone use passwords? Because they’re more secure. You have only 10 options available for each digit in a PIN, but a password can have as many as 95 (assuming it accepts every character you can type on a conventional keyboard, including Space). And the more options you have for each character, the harder the password is to crack.

How big a difference does this make? There are ten billion possible 10-character PINs. But there are 59,873,693,923,837,900,000 possible 10-character passwords. That’s about eight billion possibilities for every person alive today.

Then consider this: A ten-character password is considered relatively short, while a ten-digit PIN is unusually long. Most use four or six digits; that’s 10,000 and 1,000,000 possibilities, respectively.

So why would anyone use a PIN when they can use a password?

The real danger of getting your password hacked is on the Internet, so that’s where you need the most protection. Passwords are much safer for online accounts. But PINs are safe enough for unlocking a device that’s in your hands.

Windows 10 really makes this difference clear. Assuming that your Windows account is a cloud-based Microsoft account (the default), Windows requires that you set up a complex password, because it can be hacked in the cloud. But you can also set up a PIN for convenience. This stays on your computer and never goes out into the Internet. Locally, a PIN is safe enough.

Even then, I wouldn’t recommend the common four-digit PIN. Use six or more.

Apple Says Farewell to Flash in Safari 10

Apple is showing Adobe Flash the door in Safari 10.

When the next-gen browser ships this fall with macOS Sierra, Flash will be deactivated by default. Sites that have HTML5 and Flash will go with HTML5. But for sites without HTML5 that require Flash, Apple will display a pop-up that gives users the option to install it.

"When that's clicked, Safari offers the user the options of activating the plug-in just one time or every time the user visits that website. Here too, the default option is to activate the plug-in only once," Ricky Mondello from Apple's Safari team wrote in a blog post.

The new policy applies across the Web; there is no built-in list of exceptions. If a website requires a legacy plug-in, users can manually activate it on that page.

"If you're a Web developer, you should be aware of how this change will affect your users' experiences if parts of your websites rely on legacy plug-ins," Mondello said.

He urged developers to test how the upcoming changes will impact their sites by installing a beta of macOS Sierra; betas of Safari 10 for OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan are coming later this summer.

Cupertino, during a security presentation at WWDC this week, also announced plans to require all iOS apps to connect to the Internet via HTTPS by Jan. 1, 2017.

Last month, Google announced that later this year, HTML5 will become the "primary experience" on Chrome, if a website offers it. As of Sept. 1, Chrome automatically pauses many Flash ads by default to improve user performance.

In April, Microsoft said its Edge browser will automatically pause certain kinds of Flash content while you're browsing the Web. Firefox blocks some versionsof Flash—mostly older ones.

How the Internet works, literally....

Ah, there you are. That didn't take too long, surely? Just a click or a tap and, if you’ve some 21st century connectivity, you landed on this page in a trice.

But how does it work? Have you ever thought about how that cat picture actually gets from a server in Oregon to your PC in London? We’re not simply talking about the wonders of TCP/IP or pervasive Wi-Fi hotspots, though those are vitally important as well. No, we’re talking about the big infrastructure: the huge submarine cables, the vast landing sites and data centres with their massively redundant power systems, and the elephantine, labyrinthine last-mile networks that actually hook billions of us to the Internet.

Thanks to Ars Technica for this definitive explanation on exactly what physically happens when you connect on the internet.  Click on the link above or this one.

3 ways to recover an older version of an existing file

You can’t recover an older version of an existing file the way you can recover deleted ones. The file, as it existed last Wednesday, has almost certainly been overwritten by a later version. But hopefully, there may be older versions of that file elsewhere. Here are three places to look.

Windows’ previous versions tool

Windows has a tool that automatically saves old versions of your data files...if and when it works.

To access this feature, go to the folder containing the file in question. Right-click the file and select Restore previous version. Or you can select Properties and click the Previous Versions tab.

Unfortunately, at least in my experience, this comes up empty more often than not. For one thing, Windows only saves these changes when a restore point is created, and it’s surprising how rarely that can happen. But there are other tricky configuration issues that can keep Windows from backing up old versions.

In other words, if you’ve taken no other precautions, this might work, and it’s therefore worth trying.

Cloud-based syncing and storage

If you use a service such as Dropbox or Google Drive, and the file in question is located where it will automatically be uploaded to that service’s cloud server, you’re probably in luck. Most of these services save older versions of a file for about a month.

Dropbox lets you easily recover old versions. Right-click the file in question and select Use previous versions in the Dropbox section of the menu.

This takes you to a webpage where you’ll find many versions of the file. You can download any one of them.

Recovering an old version of a file from Google Drive is a little harder. Point your browser to drive.google.com, then click My Drive on the left pane (if it’s not already selected). Find the file. Then click the three-dot menu icon on the toolbar and select Manage versions.

Microsoft’s OneDrive has a similar way of working, but it has one big problem: It only saves older versions of Office file formats. In other words, you can retrieve an older version of a .docx file, but not a .jpg.

I might add that if you use cloud-based applications to create and edit your files, these may also save versions. For instance, in Google Docs, you can select File > See revision history to see what older versions are available.

Backup programs

There’s really no excuse for not backing up, and every file backup program worthy of the name stores multiple versions of files. (This isn’t necessarily the case with image backup programs.)

For instance, if you use Windows 10’s built-in File History file backup tool, you’ll find that the Previous Versions tool discussed above works just fine…so long as you plug in your backup drive.

Another example: If you use Carbonite’s cloud-based backup program, all you need do is right-click the file and select Carbonite > Restore previous version for a dialog box where you can make your choice.

Bing bans tech support ads—because they’re mostly scams

There's a thriving industry of tech support scammers that take advantage of unsuspecting Windows (and occasionally OS X) users, persuading them that their systems are broken or misbehaving in some way and then charging them extortionate fees to "repair" their machines, or worse, installing malware directly. Many of them cold call their victims, but others advertise in online search engines, buying up ads with tech support keywords and acquiring their victims this way.

That's no longer going to be possible on Microsoft's Bing search engine. Any and all third-party tech support services are now prohibited from advertising on Bing because of the abundance of illegitimate offerings.

This comes a few days after Google announced that it was taking further measures to protect consumers from exploitative advertisers. From July 13, Google will no longer accept ads from payday loan companies. Facebook similarly prohibits payday loan advertising on its site. The advertising gatekeepers appear to be taking a rather more proscriptive, protective stance to try to make advertising a little less harmful.

Samsung Gear VR - It's Awesome

Many of you may have seen the advertisement for Samsung Gear VR.  It is a virtual reality headset that works with certain Samsung Phones.  You buy the select games from the Oculus store and you are off in 3D land.  I am personally an Iphone user, so the Samsung phone requirement was a bug for me, but one that is somewhat reasonable to overcome.  After a couple of days of searching on Craigslist for somebody wanting to rid themselves of a Samsung Note 5, 6/6S, 7 or 7 Edge, I found a 6S.  The experience is awesome, scary good to be honest.  My son plays Minecraft and he is still trying to cope with actually being in the Minecraft world for real.  I tried Smash Hit and a game called Jump.  Jump is quite simple, you jump from rooftop to rooftop, but doing it in 3D is a bit unnerving, at times I felt like I was really falling.  In short, the experience is awesome.  A few notes for those who will take the plunge, the Gear VR headset is $100, many games require a game controller, so you will need to buy a bluetooth game controller.  The Steel Series controller for Android is exceptional, and will set you back another $60.  For the games, you will have to buy the games from the Oculus store, as those are made for the Gear VR.  The headset requires no power, it functions off the power of the phone.  In short, it is legit and great to play.  Have fun and dive in!