👍 #797 – The Results of My Year-Long Laptop Experiment

Featured

Once again, I have a new computer. I documented the process last year, and since this is somewhat unexpected I'm documenting the process once again.

It all started with an experiment.

Also this week

You can save your passwords in Google Chrome. Surprising to many people, though, is that you can see what you saved.

Sometimes deleting messages is important. And being certain that they've been really deleted can be elusive.

It's a moving target, but by now hopefully you know longer is better.

The TEH Podcast

Gary and I touch on politics again (we don't plan to make this regular, though), this time with respect to social media, managing the privacy of your credit card number, easy listening to podcasts, ways to watch ApppleTV and more. The TEH Podcast

Have a great week!!

Leo

Featured

The Results of My Year-Long Laptop Experiment

Last year, I replaced two laptops (an aging MacBook Pro and a lightweight Dell Latitude) and my desktop (a Mac Pro) with a Dell laptop running Windows 10.

I documented the process that lead to my decision in a series of articles, beginning with The Journey to My New Computer: Taking Stock.

It's now a year later, and it's time to assess the results.

Continue Reading: The Results of My Year-Long Laptop Experiment
https://askleo.com/114067

Confident Computing - The Book!

This Week's Articles

View Your Saved Passwords in Google Chrome

Is there a place you can see the actual password Google Chrome has saved instead of the dots you see when signing in?

Yes.

And honestly, that should concern you.

Continue Reading: View Your Saved Passwords in Google Chrome
https://askleo.com/114053

Does Emptying Trash in Email Keep Others from Seeing My Deleted Email?

I'm a very casual user of email. I have two free accounts: one on Yahoo and one on Gmail. I have long passwords, but even so, I can't be assured that my account won't be hacked or that emails won't be otherwise read or distributed. My question is, if someone hacks my email account, can they somehow obtain the emails that I supposedly permanently deleted by emptying the trash container? In other words, am I doing myself any good by keeping my inbox and my trash empty? Thank you.

Emptying the trash is a good approach to making sure messages you've deleted stay that way.

But.

Naturally, there is an exception you need to be aware of.

Continue Reading: Does Emptying Trash in Email Keep Others from Seeing My Deleted Email?
https://askleo.com/6401

How Long Should a Password Be?

For a long time, the common thinking was that the best, most practical passwords consisted of a random combination of upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and a special character or two. If so composed, password length needed to be only eight characters.

Randomness remains important, but as it turns out, size matters more. Much more.

A password today should have a minimum of 12 characters, and ideally, 16 or even more.

Continue Reading: How Long Should a Password Be?
https://askleo.com/4844

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Posted: February 25, 2020 in: 2020
Shortlink: https://newsletter.askleo.com/8338
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I'm Leo Notenboom and I've been playing with computers since I took a required programming class in 1976. I spent over 18 years as a software engineer at Microsoft, and after "retiring" in 2001 I started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place to help you find answers and become more confident using this amazing technology at our fingertips. More about Leo.