Everyday Computer User

 The big tech companies are getting together to do something about the insecurity of passwords. The FIDO Alliance--Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and others--and WC3 are pushing to implement passkeys as a replacement for passwords to login to your web accounts. Passkeys use public key-private key cryptography. Your device works with the website or app to create a passkey with a public part, analogous to a lock, and a private part, analogous to a key. You own the key and maintain possession of the private part; it never leaves your device. The credential manager (a.k.a. password manager) on your device manages passkeys once they are set. You only have to remember how to unlock your device. Since this may be a biometric such as facial recognition or your fingerprint, you may not have to remember anything most of the time. If you use a password or a PIN to unlock your device, you will have to remember them (or write them down someplace secure away from your device). Passkeys are mu...

 I'm not a "regular" blogger. What I mean is that even when I had a  regular blog  from 2010 to 2022, I did not post frequently. I also converted my  website  to a simple place to post some notes about what I read or an occasional thought. But I occasionally feel the need to put some of my thoughts or activities down in more detail than the short "blurbs" I post on my website. So I've come back to this blog. It started back in 2020 as a place to share some of the things I've learned about using computers. Hence the title of the blog. As you can read on my  about page , personal computers have been a hobby (and useful in my work and volunteering) for almost 50 years. So I started out to share some of what I've learned. Then life interfered and I got away from posting. Maybe I can stick with it this time. But this blog will not be limited to computer topics despite the name. I chose to leave the name as is because it does describe me. I use a computer ...

One of the themes you will find in this blog is the use of plain text to create notes, articles, documents, and other information files. Plain text is simple, portable, and durable.  Almost every application has the capability to import and use plain text. The publisher of an application that uses a proprietary format can change that format at any time. Let's look at the example of Microsoft Word. For the 2007 version of Word, Microsoft changed the format of the created documents to one based on XML. The change is an improvement, but older versions of Word cannot open the new format without additional software. In other words, the new format is not forward compatible. Right now, the additional software to work around the incompatibilities is readily available. But consider the situation 10 years from now. As this  article from Macworld magazine  says, sometimes you can't even open your older documents. You never have to worry about that situation with plain text. Or the s...

One of the first decisions you have to make in home computer use is: shall I use a Microsoft Windows PC or an Apple Macintosh (Mac)? If you go to the Internet via a search engine to ask this question, be prepared to enter a "holy war" in which proponents of each type of computer will passionately bombard you with reasons why one is better than the other. I'm going to try to stay objective and factual in this post to give you information to help you decide for yourself. I am a 30-year Windows user. In 2017, I bought a MacBook Pro. This article is basically my personal experience with that purchase.  My journey to the Mac started with an iPad. The volunteer organization at which I teach had begun in 2013 to offer courses about using an iPad. I mentioned to my wife that I probably should get one to keep up with what we were teaching. I was half-kidding. But when my birthday rolled around, she presented me with an iPad Air 2. I was impressed with its performance, smooth scrol...

In the introductory post (What is Everyday Computer User?, 2020-11-10), I noted that I have been using home computers since 1977. I also worked with computers in my job as an environmental engineer. The programs I used on the job were specified by my company and were different from the ones I used at home. As a result, I gained wide experience with office programs (Lotus, Symphony, Excel, Word, Power Point, dBase, Access, Wordperfect, etc.).  At home, my initial focus was games on the Atari 800 (Star Raiders, Chess, Frogger, Galaxian, Centipede, etc.). Much to my surprise, I found out that I really was not that interested in games. I began to use my home computer to access information on the Internet and on bulletin boards such as CompuServe.  Accessing information from home in the 1980s taught you patience. Connection was limited to telephone lines with low (by today's standards) speed modems. For example, my first modem was a 300 baud (bits/second or bps) devi...

 A blog that talks about how I use computers. I'm a computer user. Not a programmer, not a hardware buff, not a hacker. I use computers to keep track of things in my life and to get things done.  I've been using computers for a long time. I got my first personal computer for home in 1977 when I was 32 years old. Over the years, I have learned a lot about computers and how to use them. Learned a little programming, how to do my own website, how to edit photographs, in other words, lots of things. Over the years I've gained knowledge about different programs (those things we now call apps) and different techniques. Now that I'm retired, I focus on using my computer to keep notes, keep up with what's going on the world, maintain all my finances, manage my family photos, and make sure I know what I need to do tomorrow. The basic purpose of this blog is to relate some of my knowledge to those that may be struggling to develop a system of working and record-keeping fo...