​​As a “senior”, and I say that begrudgingly, I find that I am thinking more of my health, and possible health emergencies. The smartphone can be a useful tool in emergencies. It can hold health information which may be accessible to a person that is trying to help, like an EMT. Also, it can automatically call 911 if you can’t. It has a couple of different ways to call 911, in fact. If you press the side button enough times, for instance. I did that accidentally once. On an iPhone, I think it’s 5 times.
 
I like the health related apps on my iPhone, and I look forward to them becoming more sophisticated. My iWatch can already check my pulse and blood oxygen. At some point in the near future Apple is supposed to come out with a watch that will take my blood pressure and do a blood glucose reading. Still waiting on that one though.
 
You should be aware of your smartphone’s emergency capabilities, just in case. Check out the article on that HERE. 

On an iPhone
You can add a website icon to your iPhone Home Screen for quick access to that site.
From the website, tap the Share button, then tap Add to Home Screen.
The icon appears only on the device where you add it.

​You can also do this on an Android
 
Android
Launch “Chrome” app.
Open the website or web page you want to pin to your home screen.
Tap the menu icon (3 dots in upper right-hand corner) and tap Add to home screen.
You'll be able to enter a name for the shortcut and then Chrome will add it to your home screen.

I was looking for a tech tip, and pondering what a good subject might be. I use Google to search that sort of thing. I can barely get through a day without looking how to do something on Google. I know it will come as a shock to many folks, but I am NOT actually a genius. I do, however, know how to search things on Google.

The tech tips for seniors were mostly annoying me though. There were a bunch of really young-looking kids doing high school projects making videos for seniors. I found it just a tad condescending. And also quite helpful. But enough of that. If you’re interested, then Google: Tech Tips for Seniors. Those whippersnappers are annoying as all get out. I hope that sounded very curmudgeonly.

I did find a good video explaining iCloud on the iPad or iPhone, by an adult, and a Canadian, so 2 points there. You can watch it below if you are interested.​

From Rick's Daily Tips

Have you ever received a telephone call with your own number showing up on the Caller ID?
Yeah, me too. And it’s quite frustrating to say the least.

When that happens the natural instinct is to answer the call and give the scammer a piece of your mind, but that’s a very bad idea.

These days there are lots of unethical telemarketers (aka scammers) who spoof their victims’ own phone numbers to fool them into answering their calls.

Many of those scam calls can be hard to identify as such simply by looking at the Caller ID, but calls from your own phone number are ALWAYS fraudulent. That makes it easy to recognize and avoid them.

What happens when you answer those types of calls? Well, you unwittingly confirm both of the following to the scammer:
1 – Your phone number is in working order and hasn’t been disconnected.
2 – Calls to your number are answered by a human being instead of a machine.

You can answer those calls and rant and rave all you want to the scammers but that won’t prevent you from receiving more scam calls in the future. In fact, it will do just the opposite.

When you answer a scam call your number automatically gets placed on the scammer’s “Active Numbers” list. That list is then sold to other scammers.

Before you know it you’ll be receiving several of those calls each and every day. And every time you answer one of them your number will end up on yet another list.

Once your number is on one or more of those “Active Caller” lists the game is over – and you’ve lost because the scam calls will never stop.
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At that point you’ll only have two options to choose from:
1 – Live with the aggravation as best you can while only answering calls from numbers you’re familiar with (but not your own!).
2 – Change your phone number.
Yes, you can block numbers that call you over and over, but that won’t really help much in the long run.
The government won’t be of much help either since most of these calls originate from foreign countries.
Bottom line: The only effective way to deal with a call that appears to have been placed from your own number is to not answer it. Just let it ring and go to voice mail.
Bonus tip: This post offers 7 tips for effectively dealing with Robocalls.

I’ve been on Windows 11 since day 1. I like it, just as much as Windows 10. There are those of you out there on Windows 7 and are happy. Yes, I loved XP, but the world progresses, and the operating systems do need to move forward as well. Aesthetics change, functionalities shift, security is a constantly moving target.

That said, Apple has kept their OS looking and feeling the same for a very long time, all the while moving ahead with the world. So be it.

There are some tweaks you can make to your Win 11 to make it look and feel a bit more like 10. Why did the stuff on the task bar get centered? Anyway, you can read an article on that HERE.  

Starlink update:
It’s still running great. It hasn’t blown off my roof. There seem to be quite a number of Starlink users in our area. To those using Starlink that haven’t already reported to me, please email a short message about your experiences. [email protected]
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