Starting September 2nd, we’re back here writing about tech and social media. Our first post will be about our new FitBit wristband followed by updates on Facefeed, Facebook and WeChat as well as the normal tech tips we’re known for. We hope you’ve had a great summer. We’re looking forward to helping as many people as we can with our new posts. Tell you friends, share the links, help us out a bit. We’d appreciate it!
Thanks for reading.
Just a note to say that spring has finally sprung here in Toronto. We’ve got a few projects planned so we’ll be taking a break for a few weeks. We will still be posting regular news and items of interest on your Facebook page but unless something major happens in the tech world, we’re off to build our new shed.
Here is the link:Computers Made Simple on Facebook. Thanks for visiting!
Some topics don’t lend themselves to a written post. Trying to describe how to navigate Windows Explorer is one of those topics. Here’s a video that will explain it all for you. What is Windows Explorer? Well, it’s like Google Earth for your computer.
Thanks for reading and for watching. Comments and questions are always welcome. Use the form below or, better yet, ask us on Facebook. Here is the link:Computers Made Simple on Facebook.
Facebook’s latest, and very intrusive, surprise involves videos that play as soon as you see them on your main page. Say you’re scrolling down to see what your friends are up to. As soon as you hit a video, bam! It starts to play. Here’s how to turn this annoying feature off.
1. From any page, click the tiny down-arrow icon up on the top right. Choose Settings:
2. On the left side, look for the word Videos on the very bottom:
3. Click Videos and choose Off. Note that this applies only to your computer. On your phone or other mobile device, it’s necessary to turn the videos off separately.
There! You won’t be disturbed by these videos again. All of this makes you wonder what Facebook was thinking when they introduced this feature. Seems to us that they weren’t thinking of their users.
Thanks for reading! Comments and questions are always welcome. Use the form below or, better yet, ask us on Facebook. Here is the link:Computers Made Simple on Facebook.
Facefeed purports to ‘mimic real life’. We’ve been using the new app for a few weeks now and, in our opinion, that’s not quite the way it is. Facefeed is really a game, no matter how much it pretends to imitate real life. Here’s our post on how it all works, just in case you missed it: Facefeed
On Facefeed, your popularity is carefully measured, just as it was back in high school. You’re either ‘in’ or you’re ‘out’. In order to up your popularity, strangers have to respond to your greetings. Every person who eventually does say hi to you, ups your popularity by ten points. Here’s a screencap:
When you finally get a ranking, Facefeed will tell you just how popular you really are…at least on Facefeed:
People that you finally end up chatting with on Facefeed have no qualms about telling you that they’re only doing it to increase their popularity. That’s why we see it as a game, nothing that resembles real life at all. The more spaghetti that you toss on the wall, the better your chances are that some will stick. It also helps to be funny, attractive, smart or, in some cases, sexy. If your photo stands out, more people will say hi to you. It’s simple really but it’s also completely phony. It’s definitely more high school hallway than main street but, in spite of that, it’s fun and quite addicting. You’re not blowing up pigs with missiles or birds but the end result is the same. You’ve spent some time trying to get a high score and it didn’t cost you a dime.
Who is popular? Here are shots of the number one female and the number one male on Facefeed:
She may be famous, we’re not sure, but she’s very popular. The guy seems friendly but he’s definitely not a ‘hunk’ in the normal sense. In spite of that they are at the top of the heap, at least for today. The list changes all the time. By the way, you can’t say hi to these people when you’re checking out the ‘best of the best’ list. Why not? Well, they are higher than you, silly! Yes, the class system (or the caste system) is alive and well on Facefeed. If you happen upon one of these faces on the normal feed, you can say hi, just as you might on the street. If you see them on the most popular list, akin to the red carpet at the Oscars, you can’t. All you can do is dream about someday seeing your face in the number one position.
Do you use Facefeed? Have you had any fun or crazy experiences? Share them with us in a comment below or on our Facebook page. Here is the link:Computers Made Simple on Facebook.
Thanks for reading!