How to – Page 16 – Paul's Tech Talk

How to Protect your privacy online

PaulJune 22, 2021

Online Data

52 percent of respondents shared personally identifying information through social media sites. — Dan Raffer

Do you know how much of your personal data is out there? There are many people who will not know just how much data is available on the internet. You could literally find information about a person where they live, their phone number and even their email address if you really know where to go to search for this information. No I am not joking, it is really not hard to find this information and that is what most people just don’t realize. As you might think, most people are leaking their information in many ways from their hair color to their favorite food on social media sites and this just as dangerous as you might not realize.

Hearing what I just told you, how do you feel about it?

“Most browsers — including Chrome, Firefox and Safari — offer some sort of private browsing window.” Christian Stewart

You can protect your privacy somewhat by using this private browser such as Chrome’s Incognito window but this is only the first step to protect your privacy online. You should also disable third party cookies and also use a good privacy focused search engines such as duckduckgo (duckduckgo.com), or Wolframalpha (wolframalpha.com) to help keep people from tracking you. These are all good and will help you not be tracked as much on the internet and keep your privacy safe.

Be skeptical

More than 99 percent of threats observed required human interaction to execute. – Gamelearn

Did you know that it could be as simple as being very skeptical of any links you have been sent or browsing on the web. Not every link on the internet is safe for us to click. So How do you know if it is safe to click? These are good questions that need to really be thought out before you click any link you want. Some of the common questions I ask myself are:

Did I receive this link without being told?
Was it a popup message or something like that?
Do I know the person who sent it?
Is the URL link hidden from my site?
Was it sent on a Social Media site?

If you answered yes to at least one of these questions you should be very cautious to click the link. Most of the time if you received a message saying your system is infected you would be quick to click that link but that would be the wrong. Most virus authors will pray on your emotions and social engineer the attacks that will get them the most results.

Stop with the easy passwords

This is the most valuable tip I can give you, everyone who’s anyone will not create complex passwords because we aren’t complex. Humans especially when it comes to passwords will not create a really hard password because it will be hard for them to remember it. Definitely don’t write down your passwords for others to see. You’ve seen shows or movies like Ready Player One. If you seen the movie Ready Player One, in the movie Sorrento leaves his password on the rig and well you know the rest but it makes a great point that there are better ways to keep your passwords safe. I recommend using a password vault or a password manager that will do the job. I currently use Lastpass for all my needs but I am sure there are other free password managers that will create, encrypt, and even save those passwords for the next time you visit a website. Any good password manager is really going to be better at create a unique password than you would.

Use 2 factor authentication

It’s time to use 2 factor authentication. It is something you have and not something you know, you should make it extremely hard for any key-logger or other such methods from controlling your account. This is where 2 factor authentication comes into play, they might know your password but they will also need to know or have a way to authenticate in other ways. So it is best to have this turned on even if you are using your cell phone, it will provide another layer of protection and will keep your accounts safe.

When it comes to privacy, it can be a big struggle just to keep your information safe. There are several ways you can keep it from those big baddies that want to use your information for piracy and identity theft. We can never really understand why but we can at least work hard at making sure our information isn’t in the wrong hands.

How to find a cheap graphics card to hold you over until you can get that high end GPU.

PaulJune 16, 2021

Graphics cards are expensive

Well with everything going on from bitcoin miners trying to make money and buying all the GPU’s lately, you’re probably like the rest of us and can’t find that really high end graphics card to play games with. You could also just be wanting a better graphics for your graphical editing or even for programs like autocad that can be used for business. Either way, you’re still waiting for the Low Hash Rates to come out or start being sold but until then you are probably like everyone else trying to get the cheapest graphics card you can for the price and buying those can seem very hard to get even if you do try to do the Newegg Shuffle. Even then there is not much you can do for that system that needs that graphics card to run the programs or even just because the CPU doesn’t support any Graphical hardware on the motherboard. What’s a person to do?

Buy a used low end GPU

The first way you can do this is to go searching for low end used graphics card. I am going to talk about where you should look to buy that low end card and what you should look for when you finally find that card that will keep you going until the prices drop to where you can afford to buy the card. This isn’t going to be a big list but it will be a list that I’ve used in the past and seems to work really well.

Buy it off of Facebook – Although you can find some really good cards that seem like they are good. You still have to do your research and make sure the buyer has either some good ratings or maybe even has some good used GPU.
Mercari – Is another site I like to watch and have notifications for products that either go on sale or even products that reduces their prices. They have a great way to watch products that will allow you to watch for that GPU that might work for you.
Google Shop – You can look for that cheap GPU or find a really good used GPU that you can use until the price of the High end GPUs start to come down. Either way you can get notified when there are new products that are for sale and or get notified when there is products in your area that is for sale.
Ebay – Although this is one that I don’t support anymore because of how much people have increased the price on GPU and made it extremely hard to buy good GPU’s. I am just throwing this out for those who might want to check it out. You might be able to find a low end GPU that will work for you until you can afford to get a good GPU.

Buy a High end GPU

So you’ve decided to buy a higher end GPU and you don’t want to pay the ridiculous prices that you are seeing from Amazon, or even other sites like that. You want to get it for as cheap as possible but you don’t know how or where to look. I’ve going to give you a few options that I know of but that will likely only be good for a small chance of getting a high end graphics card for cheaper than most.

NewEgg Shuffle – This is one those that I might get you a decent chance of getting a GPU that is closer to the MSRP or even at MSRP rates. I just don’t like it when they bundle GPU’s with something that won’t work or you don’t need. It sometimes does have the GPU’s that are sold by themselves and thus can be good sometimes.
Google Shop — Another good one because you can get notified when you find a cheap High end GPU that might work for your needs. It however isn’t always accurate and thus you will need to keep that in mind when it comes to finding that high end GPU.
Shop Local Computer Repair Shops – If you’re local shop has a website that will notify you when they have GPUs this would be a good time to keep watch on when they have a GPU. You might even be able to find it closer to the MSRP.

Well these are just a few recommendations on how to either find a cheap Graphics card or if you are looking to try to find a high end gaming card for as cheaply as you can. If you are really going to try to find a cheap Gaming Graphics card, this would be the ways I would do it. Either way, you will most likely just always be looking until you find one that will work for you.

What’s some ways you have found a GPU that can work for your needs? Why not leave a comment and tell people how you did it yourself. I know these aren’t the only way to buy cards that are closer to the MSRP. Like what you read, why not subscribe and find out more stuff that might help you with your computer parts.

How to build a Gaming Computer Cheaply!

PaulJune 14, 2021

Building that Cheap Desktop

Even now people are still trying to build cheap gaming desktops because it is fun to build it yourself. You can however order a gaming desktop from either your local computer store or even online such as Origin but then you will be paying more. Either way, you will probably be paying more for the labor and maybe even the price of some of the computer parts. This is why I like to build my own desktop and customize it to my liking. Each time I make a desktop for clients or even me, I ask myself what do I want to have in my system. I’m an INTEL person myself and will always go with Intel due to the fact that it works really well with Windows and other programs natively. I also ask myself some common questions before I begin my build.

Will it Be Intel or AMD? (To each their own preference)
How much speed do I want to have?
What type of HD will I most likely install it it? (examples: NVME, SSD or HDD)
What type of Graphic card do I plan to have in it if Any? (Nvidia, AMD or no Graphics card at all)
Will I want to have max memory or just the standard 8Gb or 16Gb of memory?
Will it be for Gaming or Work, or Both?
Will I need a lot of power to run this PC?
Will it be Watercooled or Air Cooled?
Will it have RGB on it or will it be non RGB? (This too is a good question because RGB will take additional power but it isn’t going to be a lot)
What Games if any will I most likely be playing on this desktop? (Each Game has minimum requirements that need to be met, so look carefully at the games)

Time to do research

This is where it starts to get interesting because most of the time, I will start with Motherboard and CPU. This is the first place I start looking for the right motherboard and cpu for my needs or at least to start off with. You can always buy a slower CPU and gradually upgrade it as you get more money. So you don’t have to always have the fastest CPU to start off with. It does help but it will also help with keeping it cheap. This is the time you decide if it will be AMD or INTEL and then look for the board that will work with the CPU. Also you will need to pay extra attention to the socket types and how many PCI Slots. If you are going to install a Graphics Card, you will need to have the right PCI slot and also if you intend to install any other peripherals which might need a pci slot.

Buy RAM

Once you’ve bought the CPU and Motherboard, you’ll know which type of RAM you will need to buy to install onto the Motherboard. This is what I usually do anyways and I start looking for RAM being sold on Facebook or other sites that sell used RAM. You’ll just want to make sure the seller is reliable and has some good ratings before buying the ram. The max speed I usually get for any system nothing more the 4000 Ghz, I usually try to limit it to 3200 Ghz because you really don’t find any more speed coming from the memory at higher rates. I think it is due to the limitations of the motherboards but that might just be something else.

Power Supply

Now is the time to buy the power supply, This can seem easy but really it is harder than most will admit to. You’ll want to buy a power supply that can be used with your system and then add a cushion of 30% or more to the power supply needs. So if you need a 500 watt power supply, I’d buy a 900 watt power supply just to be safe. If you can find one that is modular, that is even because then you won’t have cables that you aren’t using. That’s the only thing good with Power supply. Something like the one you are seeing on the left will work just fine. Most of the time it will work even better than you can imagine.

Video Card

This is essential the most expensive part of the build right now. Depending on where or who you talk to. It can be anywhere from a few 100 dollars to even a 1 thousand dollars to buy the video card new. The trick here is to find a video that will work for you right now and then upgrade it as you need to in the future or as you get the money in the future. So I always tell people to go with the Minimum requirements of games and then work your way up to recommended requirements because that way you can save up for the GPU that is recommended and still be able to play the game you are wanting to play. Just remember don’t bottleneck your CPU with getting a better GPU and not upgrading your CPU in the same the process. Look for people who are selling their GPU’s and or places that might sell you a cheap GPU that still will do what you are looking to play or do with it. Even with Nvidia announcing the Low Hash rates GPU’s, You can expect the price of them to be more expensive than what you normally will see for quite some time.

After That you should really be set to put you system and install what operating system you might want into the new desktop. Once that done you are set to start playing your games.

How the IATA travel pass can verify USA or other countries vaccine cards

PaulJune 9, 2021

Verification of Vaccine Cards

Several countries around the world are wanting people to have a way to verify that people who are coming into their country has gotten the vaccine. There have been a number of news articles of people who have faked the vaccine card for one reason or another usually just because they don’t feel like they need to get the vaccine. Requiring vaccine cards have never been new or original in traveling around the world. There has always been countries that require vaccines like rubella or Hepatitis B vaccine to enter their countries. We’ve seen many countries who would like to proof of vaccine and proven ways to knows that it’s not forged.

Stopping the forgery

Each country is wondering how they can stop the forgeries of vaccine cards. No country wants to have take financial responsibility for someone who might get really sick due to the covid19. This is why countries are really wanting way to provide a way to know that someone has gotten the vaccine. The problem is that some people think they really don’t need the vaccine because of herd immunity, so why are they so worried about it. It’s one way to know that their immune system has been given enough protection from getting the severe version of covid19. I am sure there are other reasons and that is what I always hear.

The IATA Travel Pass Verification

When I say that IATA could verify that each vaccine cards in the USA or other countries to be authentic, is saying something that no other airline could do. If countries are looking to verify that the vaccine cards from countries that don’t want to share their vaccine data due to laws, such as the US. They can at least do some minor things while you register for a vaccine passport on their IATA travel pass app. I’m going to talk in length about this so please be patient and maybe someone will actually implement this in the IATA Travel Pass app.

There are several ways they can verify the picture of the vaccine passport to be authentic. They can have the Iata travel pass do image searches to see if there are images that are unique or close to the same exact type that is being submitted. There are several ways you can do that:

These are only two of several ways they can search the web and find out if it is not authentic or original, from the vaccine card that is being submitted.

Images not on the Internet

What if the criminals are being sneaking and keeping these cards off the internet. What options do the Iata Pass have to verify that it isn’t be used in other countries or accounts on the IATA travel pass? This is where it gets really interesting because there are several ways that can be used to verify that the vaccine card hasn’t been used in the past. They can get the Hash Value of the picture and store it in their servers for later on. Don’t worry, the hash value doesn’t save the picture on the server but keeps a copy of the hash value so they can search for that value and probably even keeps the account that it is associated with it for security reasons.

As you can see it’s is really an easy process for phones around the world to hash a picture and send the hash to server to either use it to search for a copy or to record it so no other person can use it. I really suggest you go check out the pyimagesearch site and see all the ways that can be used to search for a duplicate hash. This would be a great resource for people to authenticate if they have a unique vaccine card or not.

Examine the Metadata

Metadata is according to Google “a set of data that describes and gives information about other data.” Basically when you take pictures with your phone, your phone records what type of phone was being used and many different things sometimes including the GPS location of the image being take. So they can examine the metadata and see a lot of stuff from the submitted picture of the vaccine card is coming from and also keep record of that information also in a database for reference for obvious reasons. They can also prevent photos being used if they have been edited before uploaded, for example there is a good little photo editor like Snapseed. It’s a great little app that can be used in Android devices to edit or change a photo.

Once it has been edited the metadata would show that it was edited by snapseed or any other photo editing software and thus should be thrown out for security reasons like that. So if someone is trying to get around the vaccine authentication they probably would have a very hard time in verifying there vaccine card.

This is what I would think should be implemented when making the IATA travel pass to help governments to know that the vaccine cards are as authentic as possible. I won’t say that people will not come up with ways to still submit forgeries, that will always be a problem. It however will make it more difficult for people to do that. It is my hope that we won’t have to use this for very long and this would just be a stop gap way to get travelers back to traveling around the world.

What do you think about this idea? Do you think they did this or do you think they will do this in the future? What’s your experience with the IATA travel pass?

How LDR will change with this Pandemic

PaulJune 1, 2021

It’s Been over a year Now!

The Pandemic has hit every nation and every country hard the last months. We’ve seen a new variant to the covid19 and we even seen several companies develop a covid19 vaccine. It’s been over a year for me personally, it will most likely be 2 years if the Philippines doesn’t open up this fall or winter. I am in a LDR and I still don’t know what to expect from this government. Granted I still have to worry about my own government, but it is nothing compared to what I have been seeing from the Philippine government as of late. I guess this will be a little bit of a rant myself. I really wish everyone would get there act together and figure out a way for Fiances,GF, or BF to be able to see their loved ones.

Philippines open up already

I suspect that it will eventually open up but it been way to long and way to slow to do what is needed to open up. I know I am not living in the country or anything like that but I do think I have a right to complain because I have been patiently waiting to see my Fiance for well over a year and half. There is another petition going around to allow unmarried couples to get into the Philippines to see their loved ones. I am not against them being cautious or take precautions, in fact they make foreign nationals do a lot of stuff to verify we do not have Covid19. Let’s just be a little reasonable that’s all I am asking. We should try to make it where we can have enough time to be with our loved ones. Some Filipinos can really can get out of country due to family obligations or even because they can’t stop working because there is no way they can take time off. So I get that and I support them for doing the right thing.

It’s bound to open up sooner or later

I still think the Philippines will open up later this year maybe November or December. Although this is all speculation on my part and maybe I’ll be totally wrong. I do see things heading that way and I’ll keep preaching this until it either happens or it doesn’t happen. I know most of you have your own theories or maybe even might even see that it might be this year. I am hopeful just like everyone else but it has to open up with economy being like it is will need to open for there people to survive.

Tickets

I suspect that tickets will start to get more expensive as more countries open up. I even suspect that when the Philippines open up the air fare will start to go up. So I will be constantly looking to find those cheap tickets anywhere and everywhere I can think of. Even then I will probably be paying for the time these airlines are trying to make up for the lost revenue they had before this pandemic even started. I am sure we will see a steady spike of prices in all international travel as the air fare will be increased. Some other ways to save money is quite simply knowing when to buy and how to plan your trips. Even then it will still probably be higher than you used to get them, I can pretty much see that happening.

Finally

When each country starts to open up, you can bet there will be a rush of people to get into the country as quick as they can so they prices for tickets will be increased also. Higher demand will ultimately increase the price of the tickets on planes. So once you know, you really shouldn’t wait to find the best tickets but rather buy the cheapest one as quickly as possible or else you might be paying 3 times as much when you finally do decide to buy those plane tickets.