Keyboard Shortcuts – A Lesson from Tony in Lethbridge, AB

April 25, 2017 by Tony Whitney

Over the past several weeks our Tech Tips Thursday’s have focused on shortcuts. That series wraps up over on Facebook later this week. If you haven’t yet, follow us over there. This post will serve as a summary and expansion for Keyboard Shortcuts. We’ll review the ones we covered and I’ll point you in the direction of some new ones to try out.

First I should explain that, while, for simplicity’s sake, I only referred to text in the Facebook posts, but almost all of those commands can also be used for files on your computer. I’ll show you a bit about that as well.

To use a shortcut press and hold the first button in the combination, then press the second while still holding the first button. If there are three buttons in the shortcut, you must hold both the first and second buttons while pressing the last one. For example if the shortcut is Ctrl + V, you would press and hold Ctrl then press V. For the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Delete you would press and hold Ctrl, press and hold Alt while still holding Ctrl and finally press Delete while still holding both Ctrl and Alt. Some shortcuts can be activated by hitting the buttons simultaneously, but it’s simpler to just do them in sequence.

Cut, Copy, Paste and Select All

Moving text around is a breeze when you remember these shortcuts. Whether it’s copying and pasting an e-mail address to send a message or cutting and pasting text to better organize your thoughts in a Word Processor, it’s simple to do with these shortcuts:

	Windows	Mac	Detailed Explanation
Cut	Ctrl + X	Command + X	Removes Selected Items and moves them to the Clipboard
Copy	Ctrl + C	Command + C	Copies the selected items and moves them to the clipboard, while leaving the original in place.
Paste	Ctrl + V	Command + V	Pastes all items on the clipboard to the selected location

These shortcuts are also extremely useful when organizing your files. In Windows Explorer or Mac’s Finder, you can use these same shortcuts to move files around between folders or even different drives connected to the computer. For example, everything you download from the internet might automatically be saved to a ‘Downloads’ folder. If you wanted to organize this so it was a easier to find things you could create folders (Bonus Shortcut! Ctrl + N | Command + N!!?) within the ‘Downloads’ Folder. You can create different folders for different types of files and use the shortcuts we have learned to Cut the files from the ‘Downloads’ folder and then Paste them into specific folders so you can find them later and avoid clutter. The Copy shortcut comes into play with files mostly when you want something on your Computer to also be on another drive (like for a back up). Again, Copy works the same as Cut, but it leaves the file in the original location as well as adds a copy where ever you Paste it. Select All (Ctrl + A | Command + A) also works for files. Want to Copy all the files within a folder? No need to waste time doing it one at a time! Simply hit your handy shortcut for Select all.

Application Switching and Show Desktop

Probably one of my most used short cuts and one of my least used. I often have multiple applications open. If I’m working I might have a virus scan running on a client’s hard drive, my ticketing and Invoice software, a web browser, and a music application all running and probably more than that if I’m not working with YouTube, Netflix and games added to the list. The quickest way to move among these applications is Alt + Tab on Windows and Command + Tab on MacOS. This is great for switching back and forth between your web browser and a Word Processor for example to write about a subject you’re researching. Or just switching between Facebook and a music player to skip a song you’re not feeling. The uses are myriad, and can it can save almost everyone a lot of time.

	Windows	Mac	Detailed Explanation
Switch Applications	Alt + Tab	Command + Tab	Switches between open applications
Show Desktop	Windows Key + D	F11 or Fn + F11	Minimizes open windows and displays the desktop

I can’t say I use show desktop very often. I like to keep a fairly clean desktop, with all my most used application and files either on my taskbar or in my start menu, so heading to the desktop isn’t high on my list. However, I see many people store their most used files and programs directly on the Desktop. If you are one of these people, hitting Windows Key + D will get you straight to all of your files.

Keyboard Shortcuts - A Lesson from Tony in Lethbridge, Alberta | Y-Not Tech Services

Please don’t let you desktop look like THIS though! How do they find anything?

Undo and Redo

Making mistakes can be annoying and time consuming. However, with the Undo short cut, you can get back on track quickly and easily. This shortcut can be used in many different situations and applications around your computer. It can be used to quickly undo the results of using of the other shortcuts, like paste. If you pasted something in the wrong place and need to get rid of it again, simply use the undo shortcut. Deleted a file you need? Undo. Erased half the picture you are editing? Undo. Play around with this one. You might be surprised how many places it works! Just make sure to have the Redo shortcut handy in case it has an effect you didn’t expect.

	Windows	Mac	Detailed Explanation
Undo	Ctrl + Z	Command + Z	Reverses the last action taken.
Redo	Ctrl + Y	Command + Shift + Z	Resets to before Undo was done

Remember the Undo command and you’ll never need to reach for the white out again!

If you can remember to use these shortcuts, they can be a real time saver for you. It Is much more time consuming to go through and undo the mistake manually. Two key presses can get you back to work almost instantly. And if once you Undo something it doesn’t look any better, or you change your mind, Redo is there to undo the undo. Sometimes when I working with images I’ll end up using the Undo shortcut repeatedly. I’ll change a lot of different things while trying to make it look the way I want only for it to look bad. So I just spam the Undo Shortcut until all the changes I made are reversed and I can start over trying something else.

Open New Tab

My wife is always making fun of me for having about 100 Internet Browser Tabs open at once. I guess I might over use this shortcut. There are many things I do in a web browser. E-Mail, Netflix, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, a few different discussion forums, working on my webpage and so on. If my browser was a desktop it would look the one above. I’m sure you have a different list, but that you still have a reason to open more than one tab at a time. Modern Web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari and even Microsoft Edge make it easy to get new tabs open. It just takes a keyboard shortcut. On windows systems Ctrl + T will open up a new tab and for Safari on a Mac you can use Command + T. As an added bonus, when you open a new tab this way, the address box will take focus so you can immediately start typing the address of the webpage you want to visit, or your search terms for the search engine set to run in your browser.

Barely Scratched the Surface

Hopefully the shortcuts I have explained here are helpful. There’s a good chance you already knew and used some of them. That’s great! There are many other Shortcuts available. Windows and MacOS have more shortcuts ready to use, but so do almost all of your favorite applications and programs. If you use a program regularly, why not have a look around and see if there are shortcuts for your most used actions. You might find these listed in the menus next to where or hidden away in a help file. Either way, taking the time to learn them could save more time in the future and make your workflow simpler.

If you enjoyed this lesson on Keyboard Shortcuts, be sure to follow me on Facebook and consider contacting me for one on one training on the subject of your choice. You can book an appointment below:

I’ll leave you with a link to Shortcuts for Windows and then one for Mac.

Windows Shortcuts:

You can find a huge list of shortcuts for windows here:

http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/master-list-keyboard-shortcuts-windows-10

Mac Shortcuts

A Big list of MacOS shortcuts can be found here: https://www.danrodney.com/mac

In Response to Josh at KISS 107.7 on Google Voice Storage

April 18, 2017 by Tony Whitney

Today Josh at KISS 107.7 (I still want to call it The River) in Lethbridge, AB posted on Facebook about voice recordings Google takes on Android phones. By the way Josh, if you use Google Search app on your iPhone the same thing will happen. If you use Siri or Voice dictation on Apple then that data is also stored (and allegedly sold to third parties – I don’t have time to research this at the moment, but a quick google search reports that they admitted to it). Should we care?

Google Voice Storage Debate with KiSS 107.7 in Lethbridge, Alberta | Y-Not Tech Services

This FB post generated some interest and got me thinking

Personally, I don’t mind. If Google wants to use recordings of me saying “OK Google, what’s the weather like? … OK Google, Remind me to go back to work in 30 minutes… OK Google, remind me to buy milk when I’m done work” to improve their voice recognition, then I’m OK with that. Google and Apple both have expansive privacy policies. As an end user it is up to me to read and understand them. I don’t personally view it as a violation of my privacy that they store these recordings. Especially not when they make them available to me and I can choose to delete them at any time. I can also choose to turn this feature off completely. Here’s how:

Visit https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols (this page is also home to other Google Activity Switches – look around and choose what you want them keeping)
Sign into your Google account if prompted
Scroll down to “Voice and Audio Activity” and flip the switch (see image below)
You can also choose to click Manage Activity and listen/delete stored data.

Turning off Google’s Voice and Audio Activity Collection is Actually very simple

Google claims Voice Activity is only saved after you say OK Google or touch the microphone. Some users report they found saved data in their Activity page even though they don’t use those features. I’m still working on trying to find out why this would be. My first guess is that it would be like a pocket dial… You know, when you leave a 15 minute voice mail and it’s just you watching Netflix because your phone got activated from your pocket. The same could happen with the microphone button on your phone. And with Google Assistant now, all it takes it pressing and holding your home button for Google to begin listening to you. If you don’t want Google to have this information, simply follow the above directions. Apple’s site says that when you delete Siri and Dictation that they will delete your stored data

Who Pays for Google

Google is a huge company with huge profits, yet they offer us a lot of services for free. Gmail, Google Search, Google Photos, Google Assistant, Google Drive and it’s suite of online office compatible programs, and the list goes on and on. So how is this all paid for? The answer is mainly through Ads. Google is first and foremost an advertising company. When you search, there are paid results at the top of the list. There are ads in your Gmail inbox. And to make those ads match you, Google uses the personal data we give it to build up an advertising profile on us.

Google products and services are not free. We just don’t pay for them with cash. We pay with our data. Everything we type in or say to Google is considered our giving them that data. So far I haven’t heard any reports of Google using this data in negative ways.

With large companies gaining access to more and more of our data this is a conversation that needs to be had. We need to make ourselves aware of who has our data and what they are doing with it. Both Google and Amazon have devices that are designed to sit in our homes and listen to us. There has been at least one case where data from an Amazon Alexa device may have been able to solve a murder. So is this an invasion of privacy. Which is more important: Protecting our data or solving a crime?

In conclusion, my personal stance is that I’m not worried about Google having my personal data. The data of my clients, however, is encrypted and I only use secure payment options. As I said, if google wants to store me asking for directions to Disneyland on their servers, that’s fine. I understand why some people are upset by this. I guess part of why I’m not upset is because it has never come as a surprise to me that this data is being stored. To many people it is a surprise, and that surprise leaves them feeling somewhat violated. My honest advice: If you don’t want a company to have data on you, don’t use any product from that company. For Google this would include Chrome, Keep, Android, Search, Gmail, Drive, Chromebooks, Assistant, Google Now, and other products and services offered by Google. The same can be said for other companies like Amazon, Apple, Samsung and Microsoft. It’s increasingly hard to get away from data collection, and in many circumstances legislation is still lacking in dealing with this.

Let me know in the comments how you feel about this. Do you feel your privacy is being invaded by these companies? Do you plan to delete whatever data you can? Will you be reading the privacy policies and End User License Agreements (EULA) more closely before using digital devices?

If any of this was confusing or you’d like help sorting out your privacy settings on any device, you can book an appointment with Y-Not Tech Services and we can help. Why not let Tony take care of it?

About Tony – Computer Repair in Lethbridge, Alberta

April 11, 2017 by Tony Whitney

Hi, my name is Tony Whitney. I am the owner and founder of Y-Not Tech Services in Lethbridge, AB. I thought I would write a little about myself so that you can get to know me. I feel it is important for my clients to trust me and knowing a bit about my past and my love of computers might help in that respect.

Growing up my family didn’t have a computer in my younger years, but I learned early on that I loved them. The old Apples with 5 inch floppy disks in my elementary school’s computer lab, the single newer PC in the same school’s library (it had a CD-ROM!), the computer at the office where my mom worked and the hours I would spend on it. Later on, the computer my grandparents owned. I would spend as much time on all of them as I could. I would fiddle around with the settings and loved seeing how things changed based on what I did. I eventually learned that I could control these things. And it was wonderful. My family got a computer of our own when I was in Junior High School. By this time the internet had started to come into its own and I taught myself how to build webpages using basic HTML code. The family computer became my favorite place. I would spend hours after school sitting behind that old CRT monitor, chatting with friends, writing web pages, playing around with Windows Registry tweaks, reading all the technology news I could find online, and avoiding writing that English essay that was due the next day.

About Tony - Computer Repair in Lethbridge, Alberta |Y-Not Tech Services

Had to go way back in the archives for this one

My Junior High School had a computer lab too. It was a bit more up to date than the Elementary School’s was. It was a small school and my computer teacher was… Well, she told me the only reason she taught the computer class was because she needed the computers in her classroom so she could teach the accounting courses she specialized in. She didn’t know much more about computers than what the curriculum explained, and some of that wasn’t completely clear to her. Don’t get me wrong, Mrs. Franks was a great teacher and I learned many wonderful things in her class! But I quickly discovered anything she taught us was just barely scratching the surface of the topic. I was intrigued by these things and started to research them further. Mrs. Franks saw that while she showed the class a WYSISYG (what you see is what you get) web page designer, I would write a web page using HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) code instead. This led to me first explaining the basic code that makes up webpages to my class. Then later she would come into my other classes and pull me out so I could come and explain it to her other students. This continued with some other subjects as we covered them in class, even going so far as her ordering an extra copy of software she had to teach so I could take it home to learn and then teach it to her so she could teach it in her classes. I found an appetite to explore and learn the world of computers and technology. I love teaching myself about computers, figuring out how to solve new challenges. This is how I learned to solve computer problems.

Apart from the Computer Classes throughout Junior High and High School, I don’t have any formal training. I have taught myself through experience, personal research and online courses. After graduating from High School I started working at a retail store that sells Computers and other technology items (they sold other things too, but I tried to stay in the technology section) as a part time sales associate, and then as the Head of the computer and technology section of a new store location when it opened. My career with this company would last 6 years. I enjoyed my time in these positions, especially the times I could speak with customers and help them find the right products to fit their needs. At one point my store was in need of someone to take over the Technician position and I jumped at the opportunity. I had been dealing with customer complaints for some time about our previous Technician. Customers would wait for weeks to get their devices back, with no updates on the status of the work. The tech was smart. He had an A+ Certification and knew how to fix computers, but he was disorganized. He would forget about customers from the week before while working on the ones that just came in that morning. When I took over the position our average turn around time went from over a week to 2 days and our store started having the highest numbers in the district. And I found my true calling. I loved locking myself in that room, surrounded by computers. Life was good. Mostly.

I quickly found that working for a large box store retailer meant that the customers best interests were not always the highest priority. As time went on, more and more policies were implemented that were designed to take value and choice away from the customer and put more dollars into the hands of the shareholders and CEO. I get it. That’s how big business works, but it felt wrong to me. It was at this time that I decided I wanted to work for myself. Every time I would visit my grandparents, their neighbors would have a list of things they wanted my help with.

How do we program the VCR?
Can you show us how to email pictures?
I can’t get my new phone to work properly.
My computer takes 30 minutes to turn on, can you help me?

It always amazed me how much more I enjoyed these interactions than what I was doing at work. Even though many of the problems were the same. The difference was that I could solve them MY way, instead of the way that made the company the most money. This is what I wanted to do! I even started jotting down notes and plans to make it happen.

Around this time my wife and I decided to start a family. That job in a retail store was not paying the bills. It was at this time that I should have opened up my own tech business. But the cost of living in our city was sky rocketing and I was scared I wouldn’t be able to provide for my growing family, so I moved South to Lethbridge and got a job at Frito Lay. It was the safe choice. Maybe it was the right choice, but it didn’t make me happy. 4 years later and I’m still not happy, despite numerous promotions and a wage nearly 2 times as much as I ever made at the retail store. Making Doritos just isn’t my calling. I’m only working there three days a week now (three nights a week) and I want to use my free time to follow my dream of building a tech business with a truly personal touch. One that puts the client first. One where I get to decide how best to meet the client’s needs.

I want Y-Not Tech Services to be your go to solution to all your technology frustrations or needs.

Why not let Tony help you?
Why not let Tony fix that?
Why not let Tony teach you?

Remote Technical Support – Lethbridge, Alberta

April 4, 2017 by Tony Whitney

Not all problems require a technician to be physically on site to solve. Many times a software problem can be fully resolved with a remote desktop connection.

WHAT IS REMOTE SUPPORT?

In basic terms, Remote Support is allowing me to take control of your computer from my office. I can use my computer’s keyboard, mouse and monitor to control your computer as if I was sitting in front of it. This is all accomplished using an internet connection and special software.

WHY IS IT USEFUL?

Remote Support can be used for some basic diagnostics before you need to pack up your machine and bring it to me or have me travel to your location. In a lot of cases, a solution can be discovered and implemented over the remote connection. Remote Connection can also be used for lessons and tutorials in the case of a client living too far away to make in person visits practical. Contact me today to see if you can benefit from using Remote Desktop Connection with me.

HOW DO I GET REMOTE HELP?

I use a program called ConnectWise for Remote Support. When we set up a session I will provide you with a 4 Digit Code. Once you have this code visit www.ynottechservices.screenconnect.com or click on Remote Support from the menu at the top of this page. You will see the following page:

Fill in the 4 Digit Code and click the arrow.

This will Download a small, secure application that will be used to allow the remote connection. Your browser may prompt you to choose a location to save the file. You can save it anywhere you like. If you aren’t sure where to put it, I would suggest saving it to your desktop. Once the download is complete click on the file to open it. You will see an installer running. You might need to accept a User Account Control prompt to run it.

Remote Technical Support - Lethbridge, Alberta | Y-Not Tech Services

Instructions to Join Remote Support Session. Please Click Run or Yes to allow the program to run.

Finally, you may see this screen for a moment or two.

This just means that I haven’t taken control of your computer yet. Don’t worry, I’ll be right with you.

If you have any questions or would like to set up a Remote Desktop session please book an appointment.

Introducing PC Monitoring Service – Lethbridge, AB and Beyond

March 7, 2017 by Tony Whitney

Today, I’m happy to announce a new service here at Y-Not Tech Services. PC Monitoring. This is a simple and lightweight application that you can install on your Windows Computer that monitors the health of your computer and Alerts us both if there is an issue. It also lets you contact me instantly if anything goes wrong and even allows you to send me a picture of your screen so I know exactly what’s going on and how to help. I’m very happy to be able to offer this wonderful service completely free of charge. [Read more…]

Internet Security Basics for Lethbridge, Alberta and Area

September 12, 2016 by Tony Whitney

Greetings. Today I thought I would go over some basic information about staying safe while you’re online. This post will be geared towards computers running a Windows operating system, but for those of you using Apple computers, remember most of this applies to you too. Fun Fact: One of the earliest viruses around hit Apple computers. All it did was display a poem on the screen. Today, many of the dangers online target all operating systems. We’ll cover a few without getting too technical or going into too much detail. [Read more…]