Deal Alert: Hulu only $0.99 Month
Black Friday Deal, Hulu offering its ad-supported plan for 99cents a month for 12 months. Hulu only $0.99 Month
Deal: T-Mobile Customers 1yr Paramount+ Free
T-Mobile Customers 1yr of Paramount+ Free
If you are on a postpaid T-Mobile cellular plan, a T-Mobile home internet customer, or on a legacy Sprint plan, you can now get 1 yr of Paramount+ streaming service for free. The offer is good for both new, as well as for current Paramount+ subscribers. With the offer, you get the basic $5 a-month Paramount+ plan. After 12 months, you will get billed the $5 subscription via your T-Mobile account. T-Mobile Customers 1yr Paramount+ Free
For Those Who Want To Sign Up To Paramount+
If you are a T-Mobile customer and are interested in signing up for Paramount+, it’s an easy 3 step process. To sign up do the following….
- Step 1
From the T-Mobile promotion page, click on the Get Started button except if you are a Sprint Customer. For Sprint Customers, the link is Click Here
Once you click on the link, log into your T-Mobile (or legacy Sprint account).
- Step 2
Once you are verified and logged into your account, you will get redirected to create your account on Paramount+
- Step 3
Once redirected, create your account info and the promotion will be automatically applied.
NOTE: While creating your account, you will get prompted for a payment method, but you won’t get billed until after 12 months.
For existing Paramount+ subscribers, you will receive a code to enter on your account to activate the offer.
What Do You Get With Paramount+ Essential
With Paramount+ Essential you get access to virtually everything on the streaming service. Paramount+ is home to almost all of the Star Trek Universe, so you get access to shows like Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and the upcoming Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. You also get access to Yellowstone, as well as the new Mayor of Kingstown spinoff.
On the sports front, having Paramount+ gives you access to Champions League Soccer, the NWSL, and your regional NFL games live.
The drawbacks with the Paramount+ Essential plan are that you will get advertising with the on-demand content, and you will not get the live feed from your local CBS TV station. In addition, the Essential plan does not include 4K content. T-Mobile Customers 1yr Paramount+ Free
Source
- T-Mobile – Paramount+ Free 1 Yr Offer
How to: Uninstall MS Office on Mac
The following post will go over the How to uninstall MS Office on Mac.
If you are a Windows user and want to uninstall a program, simply go to the control panel, programs, and features, and then select the program you want to remove and uninstall. To uninstall a program on a Mac can vary depending on the developer, and how it was installed. Unfortunately on a Mac uninstall isn’t always simple. The following post will explain how to uninstall MS Office on Mac.
One of the more common requests for IT involves having to uninstall Microsoft Office since almost everyone seems to use it. If you need to uninstall office, the process is slightly different, depending on which version you are using (Office 2011, Office 2016, Office 365). In all cases, you will need to delete each app, and then go look for specific files/folders to remove.
Uninstall Office 2011
If you are still on the older Office 2011 version, then you have the least amount of steps for uninstalling. To uninstall Office 2011
- Navigate to your Applications folder.
- Select Microsoft Excel.
- Hold down the Command key and select Outlook, Powerpoint, and Word.
- Drag them all to the Trash and empty it.
This will uninstall Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook from your Mac.
Uninstall Office 2016 / Office 365
Uninstalling the newer versions of Office (Office 2016 / Office 365) is more complicated than uninstalling Office 2011 because you need also need to locate files in several different folders and move them to the Trash. That is in addition to removing the applications themselves. To uninstall Office 2016 / Office 365
- Open Finder -> Applications
- Hold the Command
button on your keyboard while you select all of the Office Applications 
- Hold the Control button on your keyboard and select Move to Trash after highlighting all of the MS Office applications. This will remove all of the selected applications.
- Now In the Finder, click on the Go menu and choose Go to Folder, or press Command+Shift+G.
- In the box that opens, type:
~/Libraryand press Go. - Locate the Containers folder and open it.
- Find each of the folders listed below and drag them to the Trash (keep in mind some of the folders listed below may not be there)
com.Microsoft.errorreporting
com.microsoft.Excel
com.microsoft.netlib.shipassertprocess
com.microsoft.Office365ServiceV2
com.microsoft.Outlook
com.microsoft.Powerpoint
com.microsoft.RMS-XPCService
com.microsoft.Word
com.microsoft.onenote.mac - Click the back arrow in the Finder window to go back to ~/Library and open the Group Containers folder.
- Locate the 3 folders (highlighted in the below picture) and move them to the Trash (again, some may not be present).
UBF8T346G9.ms
UBF8T346G9.Office
UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost
Once you have done all of that,
- Empty the Trash.
- If any Office icons are in the Dock, right-click on them and choose Options>Remove from Dock.
- Restart your Mac.
Final Thoughts
After going through all of those steps, you have now successfully uninstalled Office 2016 / Office 365 from your Mac. For all of the success that Macs have found in recent years, it is still surprising that there is no uniform standard for uninstalling applications for a Mac.
FYI – iPhone 12 owners with no sound issues
Apple has a service program for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices that have no sound in the receiver.
For the most part, iPhone hardware has had very little in the form of issues. However, it seems with iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro that may not be the case. Apple has a service program for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices that have no sound in the receiver. Today’s post will go over the details. iPhone 12 owners with no sound issues
About The No Sound Issue Service Program
According to Apple
Apple has determined that a very small percentage of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices may experience sound issues due to a component that might fail on the receiver module. Affected devices were manufactured between October 2020 and April 2021.
So if all of a sudden you can’t hear anything coming from the receiver, you may have one of the affected handsets. That is why Apple has started the No Sound Issue Service Program for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro
To Get service you should find
- an Apple Authorized Service Provider
- make an appointment at an Apple Retail Store
- or contact Apple Support online to arrange for mail-in service
Things To Know Before Getting Service
A couple of things to keep in mind before getting service on your phone
- BACK UP YOUR DEVICE. You want to make sure that everything is backed up to iCloud or your laptop. Someone will be taking your device and there is a good probability that it will be wiped clean and reformatted as part of the repair process.
- FIX YOUR DEVICE OF OTHER ISSUES. If your device has a cracked screen then you will need to repair that 1st, at your cost, before Apple will take the phone in for the No Sound Service Program.
- YOU WILL LOSE YOUR PHONE FOR A BIT. This is NOT a trade-in program, Apple won’t just be taking your phone and handing you another phone. They will take your phone and repair it and then give it back to you. This means you could lose your phone from a few days to over a week, depending on what service arrangements you make, so make arrangements. You could do something like have your calls forwarded to another number via your provider.
- NOT ALL iPHONE 12 MODELS AFFECTED. If you own the iPhone 12 mini or the iPhone 12 Pro Max, then you are NOT affected by this issue or included on this service plan.
- IT DOESN’T EXTEND THE WARRANTY. Your original warranty time still holds true. This service program is specifically to repair the 1 sound issue. It does not extend any existing warranty on the overall products in question.
- THE SERVICE PROGRAM COVERAGE. The service program itself covers affected iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices for 2 years after the initial retail sale of the unit.
iPhone 12 owners with no sound issues
Source
How To: Upgrade To Windows 10 Free
Are you still running Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows 8? You can upgrade to Windows 10 for FREE, legally. Today’s post will go over the steps you need to take to upgrade your pc from Windows 7 or Windows 8 to Windows 10 legally and for FREE.
Requirements For Windows 10
The first thing you need to figure out is if your computer has enough in it to run Windows 10. How old is your computer and how much you paid for it, could have a hand in answering the question if your machine can handle Windows 10. The Windows 10 minimum requirements are
- 32 Bit Version
- 1Ghz or faster processor
- 1GB of RAM and
- 3GB of space
- 64 Bit Version
- 2GB of RAM and
- 4GB of space
- 32GB or larger hard drive.
The reality is, your computer should have for either version
-
- 4 GB of RAM or more
- 80GB Hard Drive with at least 10GB free space
To See Information About Your Computer
If you want to see the system information on your computer you should take the following steps
- Hold down the Windows Key and press R. Doing so will open Run window, which is a program that allows you to run system commands.
- In the Run Window, type msinfo32, and click on ok
- This will open the System Summary Window.
In this window, you will be able to see the type of processor, amount of memory, hard drive size (and free space). If you have the hardware to upgrade to Windows 10, the upgrade is free (legally).
When You Are Ready To Upgrade
When you’re ready to upgrade to WIndows 10, follow these steps to upgrade to for free
- Go to the Download Windows 10 webpage and click the Download tool now button.
- Once the download is complete, open the file to run the Media Creation Tool. You will get a screen with some options.
- If you are looking to upgrade to Windows 10 on the machine you are using, click Upgrade this PC now then Next, and the download will start. If you want to install Windows 10 on a different machine, click Create installation media for another PC and then insert a USB drive with at least 8GB of space, and follow the prompts to create the USB.
- If this is for another machine, once you create the USB media, move it to the machine you want to upgrade, and reboot. During the reboot process change the boot up drive to the USB media. To change boot up drive, it is usually hitting Enter or F12 while on the 1st LOGO splash screen and then selecting the USB drive. When you 1st boot machine, pay attention to under the computer makers logo. There should be a message under the logo that will tell you the correct key combination to “Interupt normal bootup”.
- Whichever option you go with, follow the instructions on screen to complete the Windows 10 upgrade.
Final Thought
If you have a newer computer that has the power to run Windows 10, there is no reason why you haven’t upgraded yet. The upgrade is FREE from Microsoft. With the upcoming Windows 11, there is no telling how much longer Microsoft will let you upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
How To: How Much Venmo Info Are You Sharing
Venmo is one of the most popular forms to send/receive money, however, not everyone realizes how public their information is on Venmo. Do you use Venmo to send or receive money? Have you checked what the default Venmo settings are? Today’s post will go over the steps you should take if you don’t want others to know about your Venmo activity. How Much Venmo Info Are You Sharing
Introduction To Venmo
Venmo, which is owned by Paypal is used by millions to send and receive money from friends and family. In addition, Venmo can be used to make payments with select approved businesses. Venmo is unique in that it allows users the ability to share and like payments and purchases through a social feed. For millennials, Venmo seems to be the Go-To option to send and receive money.
The Problem With Venmo Settings
Signing up for a Venmo account is easy, just download the app. Once downloaded provide your name and your email address, and in a matter of minutes, you have an account. However, the social feed part of Venmo means that your account by default is public. All the settings in Venmo, by default, are all set to public and not everyone wants to share all the details of their life with everyone.
What To Check With Venmo
Once you have your Venmo account set up, what you want to check is the following. Click the 3 lines on the top right of the app
- Select Settings -> Privacy
You will find the Privacy setting set to public. You will want to change that to Friends if you want those you know to be able to see what you do, or Private if you want only the person you send or receive money from to see.
- Now Select Past Transactions.
This is the setting for all of your transaction history. Again, you can either make it Friends or Private, depending on what setting you prefer.
- Go back one screen from the Past Transaction screen, and then select Friends list.
If you don’t to be seen by everyone on Venmo, this is where you can select if you want to be seen just by your friends, or not be seen at all. If you select Private, for others to find and add you, they will need to get your info from you. They won’t be able to search for you on Venmo.
How Much Venmo Info Are You Sharing
Final Thought
Some people may not care and are willing to share everything they do. However, for most, they want to have some control. These steps will give you some of that control with Venmo.
How To: Add Shared Mailbox Outlook For Windows
About A Shared Email Mailbox
Keep in mind, if you are reading this and wondering about your personal @outlook, @yahoo, or @gmail email, they don’t offer shared mailboxes as part of your benefits. Shared email mailboxes are something that is offered and available as part of business email accounts and will be accounts that end with @yourbusinessname. The basic goal of a shared email account is to allow a group of people to have access to and monitor a specific public email account without the need for a direct log-in.
Adding A Shared Mailbox To Outlook In Windows
-
To manually add the shared mailbox to Outlook in Windows:
- Open Outlook.
- Choose the File tab in the ribbon.
- Choose Account Settings, then select Account Settings from the menu.
- Select the Email tab.
- Make sure the correct account is highlighted, then choose Change.
- Choose More Settings
- Now select the Advanced tab > select Add.
- Type the shared email address, such as info@yourcompanyname.com.
- Choose OK > OK.
- Choose Next > Finish > Close.
At that point, if you added it correctly, the shared email will appear in the advance tab, under “Open these additional mailboxes”.
Final Thought
Source
- Microsoft – Open and use a shared mailbox
Deal Alert: Apple iPad Pro
If you are looking for a deal on a larger iPad, then B&H may have the deal for you.
Deal Alert: Apple Airpods / Airpods Pro
For those considering getting Apple Airpods or Airpods Pro, they are ON SALE! We have multiple vendors who have them on sale. Today’s post will show you some of the options if you are about to buy a set of Apple Airpods / Airpods Pro. Deal Alert: Apple Airpods / Airpods Pro
The Apple Airpods / Airpods Pro
With the Airpods you have a choice of a wired case, wireless case, or the Airpod Pro w/ wireless case. If your goal is to just get Airpods, the wired case may be enough. If you want noise-canceling, you may want to look at the Airpod Pro. The below break out gives you the difference between the 3.
Airpods On Sale
The Apple Airpods are on sale from several vendors.
- From Amazon – You can get the wired version of the Airpods for $114 (Normally $159). If you want wireless charging for your Airpods, then it’s $149 (Normally $199). And if you want the noise-canceling features of Airpod Pro it will cost you $179 (Normally $249).
- From Best Buy – If you are looking to be able to pick it up at a local store, or if you just don’t like Amazon (we don’t judge), you can go to Best Buy. At BB the Apple Airpods are on sale for $119. The Airpods with wireless charging is $149. And the AirPods Pro is $189.
Those who prefer Target is matching the Best Buy Prices for all 3 Airpod options
Final Thought
Keep in mind that just because they say Apple Airpods, that they are not only for Apple. The AirPods work on other devices (including Android and Windows). As long as your device has Bluetooth, you can use AirPods.
Deal Alert: Apple Airpods / Airpods Pro
Source
- Amazon – Airpods
- Best Buy – Airpods
- Target – Airpods Pro
Update: More On T-Mobile Data Breach
T-Mobile is confirming that their system was breached. According to details released by T-Mobile, approximately 7.8 million current T-Mobile postpaid customer accounts’ information was stolen. The data also includes just over 40 million records of former or prospective customers. Today’s post will cover the details that T-Mobile has admitted to so far. Update: More On T-Mobile Data Breach
What Has T-Mobile Admitted So Far
As part of the T-Mobile admission (so far), they have acknowledged
- They located and immediately closed the access point that used to illegally gain entry to the servers.
We know that was the case as the hacker had even acknowledged that he no longer had access last week.
- Our preliminary analysis is that approximately 7.8 million current T-Mobile postpaid customer accounts’ information appears to be contained in the stolen files, as well as just over 40 million records of former or prospective customers who had previously applied for credit with T-Mobile. Importantly, no phone numbers, account numbers, PINs, passwords, or financial information were compromised in any of these files of customers or prospective customers.
So even if you aren’t a T-Mobile customer, if you applied at any time, you may be affected by the breach. If you see what T-Mobile posted, the hacker claimed to have the IMEI numbers which are specific to each phone. T-Mobile has not acknowledged if the IMEI numbers are included in the breach. Also, T-Mobile says that PINs and Passwords are not effective for most (just for some – see below). Tech Geek and More and T-Mobile both recommend that all users reset their passwords and pins, and has a post, Change T-Mobile Password & Pin with the How To Info.
- Immediately offering 2 years of free identity protection services with McAfee’s ID Theft Protection Service.
As expected T-Mobile is offering 2 years of identity protection services, to cover this breach. Unfortunately, it’s only 2 years of coverage. What happens after 2 years, because once your data is exposed, it doesn’t suddenly disappear in 2 years.
- At this time, we have also been able to confirm approximately 850,000 active T-Mobile prepaid customer names, phone numbers, and account PINs were also exposed. We have already proactively reset ALL of the PINs on these accounts to help protect these customers, and we will be notified accordingly right away
If you are one of 850k prepaid T-Mobile customers, your pin has already been reset.
Final Thought
This isn’t the 1st time T-Mobile has been hacked. You would assume they would have figured it out by now. Hopefully, they will finally get serious about the security of their customers’ info.
Source
How To: Change TMobile Password & Pin
It’s always a good thing to regularly change your passwords to your accounts. As much as you may hate the process of changing or remembering passwords. It’s especially important to change your passwords or pins after any identified data breaches. Considering T-Mobile has confirmed another breach of their systems, you should consider changing your T-Mobile password and pin. Today’s post will go over how to change your password and pin on your T-Mobile account.
For those who may not have seen the earlier post Alert: Possible Data Breach T-Mobile, it seems a hacker has obtained the data of over 100 million people, from T-Mobile servers. The data in question includes
- Names
- Physical Addresses
- Social Security Numbers
- Phone Numbers
- Unique IMEI numbers
- Drivers License info
Sadly, data breaches are so common, that data from 100 million people (per what the hacker claims to have), doesn’t seem to have the same impact that it used to have. Once your data is breached and on the dark part of the web, there isn’t much you can do to get it back. However, there are a few steps you can take to try and protect yourself.
One of the 1st things to do, is change your log-in info on your T-Mobile account, and any other account you use that you share that log-in info on. Basically, how many other online accounts have the same user name and password as your T-Mobile account. You need to figure that out and you need to change your info on those accounts as well. However, that is step #2, lets start with step #1, which is changing your account info at T-Mobile.
Changing Your Info – T-Mobile
To change your info, log into your T-Mobile account, and from the homepage, click on Edit Profile Settings. If you don’t see Edit Profile Settings, click where it says My Account on the top right of the page, and then click on profile. Once you get to the profile page, you will see T-Mobile ID
Click that and on the next page you will get the options to change
- Name on account
- Email associated with the account
- Password on account
- Pin/passcode confirmation used with the account
- Primary phone associated with the account
From those options, you really should consider changing the email account associated with your T-Mobile account, password on the account, and Pin/passcode used with the account. In addition to the ability to change your account password info, on the same page, you can set up (and should set up) Two-Step Verication using an Authenticator app.
I know the page says Google Authenticator, but other Authenticators also work. Its very simple
- Click on Manage to the right side
- A QR code will appear
- Open your Authenticator app, and select add acct
- Scan QR code to add T-Mobile to your authenticator app.
- Turn on Always Require, so that you are prompted everything time you log in for authenticator app info.
Final Thought
With this latest breach from T-Mobile that includes IMEI information, someone with bad intentions could use that info to clone your phone. That means they would be able to see all the text messages you send and receive. If you have sites that you log in that send you text codes as part of the log-in, the bad guy could easily see your info. So it’s best, to try to secure your accounts using an authenticator app (Like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator). Lastly, with other breaches of this size, the affected company offered free credit monitoring to its user base. T-Mobile has not announced that yet, however, keep an eye out. Tech Geek and More will post the info if T-Mobile announces it.
Recommended: Uni USB-C Hub
If you have purchased a laptop recently, you realize that most only come with 1, maybe 2 (if lucky) USB-C ports. If you require additional ports (like USB, HDMI, etc), you need to purchase adapters. Today’s post will review the Uni USB-C 8 in 1 hub, which is in stock at Amazon. Recommended: Uni USB-C Hub
To start today’s post, this is NOT a sponsored post. Tech Geek and More is not getting any financial gain from the vendor in this post. This post was inspired by multiple readers who just purchased new laptops (both Mac and MS Surface Pro), that only come with 1 or 2 USB-C ports. After multiple questions on what should they get to expand their port choices, we have today’s post.
The USB-C Hub Used / Recommended By Tech Geek and More
uni makes several computer accessories, and the one that is our favorite is the uni 8 in 1 USB-C hub, With the 8 in 1 hub you get
- A USB-C port that can be used to connect your laptop power supply (up to 100W). This is especially helpful if you only have 1 USB-C port on your laptop. It lets you charge it, while the hub is plugged in.
- An HDMI port that can broadcast up to 4K.
- An Ethernet port for those who prefer to use a wired ethernet connection.
- A USB 2.0 port
- SD Card Port
- Micro SD Card Port
- 2 USB 3.0 ports
The uni 8 in 1 USB-C port can be purchased at Amazon for $59.99
The uni 8 in 1 hub is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, as well as the iPad pro and numerous Samsung Galaxy devices.
Final Thought
If you need a handy USB-C adapter, without wanting to spend a lot of money, check out the uni 8 in 1 Hub. The hub can be ordered via AMAZON. This adapter is used by Tech Geek and More, and this post is being made because we like the UNI device. This is not a sponsored post.
Recommended: Uni USB-C Hub
Alert: Possible Data Breach TMobile
If you are a customer of T-Mobile you should be concerned tonight. It seems there is a possible data breach of T-Mobile data that could affect a very large part of their customer base. This is still a developing story, so details are limited. The information came to light Sunday, Aug 15th, via a report from Vice.
According to the report, the hacker has obtained the data of over 100 million people, from T-Mobile servers. The data in question includes
- Names
- Physical Addresses
- Social Security Numbers
- Phone Numbers
- Unique IMEI numbers
- Drivers License info
Vice reports that they spoke to the hacker, who is selling the data. Of the compromised data, 30 million users’ data is being offered in the underground forum, for 6 bitcoin (or about $270,000). The remaining data is being sold “privately”, which is even scarier. According to the report from Vice, the hacker has lost access to the servers in question, so T-Mobile already probably knows and has patched the access. However damage is done, the hacker has downloaded and has the data.
T-Mobile for their part is only saying they are aware of the claims and are investigating.
Stay Tune for more info as it becomes available.
Source:
How To: Zoom’s New Focus Mode
Zoom has a new feature for those who need better control of zoom video during meetings. Focus Mode