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More good apps, and scams to avoid

By Staff | Mar 26, 2015

National Geographic has a new app called Nat Geo View that’s pretty cool. And if you are into recipes, grocery discounts and nutrition guidance, download the app Zipongo.

I’ve looked at many scan apps, but the newest one not only lets you scan but has character recognition, which is fantastic for filing out forms. It’s called Scan Me/PDF Scanner.

I’ve seen so many photo apps out there that do everything you would ever want, but I ran across one that lets you paste in text and all kinds of preset drawings like flowers and birthday stuff. So if you want to send your future ex-girlfriend a picture, paste a message of “Don’t ever call me again; it’s over, honey,” and paste in a figure showing “double thumbs down,” hurry and get this app while it’s free. It’s called Lumis.

Again, I’ve used all kinds of printer apps for the iPhone and iPad, but this new one is the best for printing out photos, docs, e-mail and even websites. It’s called Printer Pro.

The Microsoft telephone scam call is in full swing again. If you get a ring in the middle of the night from someone claiming they are from Microsoft’s tech team, telling you that your unplugged, shut-off computer is sending out viruses, hang up or tell them they’re talking to Bill Gates. I love it when they talk with a foreign accent that you can hardly understand, and they introduce themselves as Joe Smith.

And never let someone take control of your computer, talk you into driving over to Wal-Mart and sending them a money order for $500.

I’ve been getting so many computer repairs from people complaining they discovered weird programs and millions of pop-ups because they went to a site to download Adobe Flash Player. If you Google the word “Adobe,” you’ll get ten sites that claim they can let you download Adobe Flash Player. If you click on www.Adobe.com/India, you are in trouble. Only go to ADOBE.COM – and no “/” slash or country on the end. Also scroll all the way down to the bottom to see if they are adding ten other strange programs, then uncheck the program’s box for each one.

For all of you hating Windows 8, here is a great tip that saves ten mouse clicks. To see the control panel and other good stuff you’ve been used to, press the Windows Key found left of the space bar and press at the same time the letter X. A menu pops up, allowing you to see many of the commands that were in XP and Windows 7.

Safe computing! Aloha, George.

Send your computer-related questions to mauimist8669@yahoo.com.