| We are hopeful that the new COVID vaccine can be delivered quickly and that we can all get back to our new-normal lives. We wish you a happy and love-filled Valentine’s Day. As always, we are grateful to serve you and for your patronage. In this issue 1. Online Self-Scheduling Now Available 2. Technical Tips/Notes What is a VPN and when/why you should use one Check your Comcast/Xfinity modem settings Debit card PIN security tip Brief soundbar review Online Self-Scheduling Now Available We’re very excited to announce that, for your convenience, you may now self-schedule your remote and in-person appointments online on our website www.lamorindatechnology.com. You can pick an appointment up to 14 days in advance. You may also reschedule or cancel appointments online with 24 hours notice. There’s even an app available for your smartphone or tablet that saves clicks. Technical Tips/Notes What is a VPN and when/why you should use one A VPN, (Virtual Private Network), is a tool to protect your information and privacy. When you’re using a VPN, your information is encrypted in both directions between your computer and the website you’re connecting to. If you’re using public wi-fi, you should definitely use a VPN, especially for financial transactions. At home, there’s much less risk, and the potential hassles (speed slowdown, home network device connection issues), may make using a VPN less desirable. Here’s an excellent article discussing VPN benefits and potential issues. Comcast/Xfinity Modem Security May Require Activation We discussed Comcast’s replacement for Norton Anti-Virus recently. In short, they aren’t offering Norton for free anymore, but have moved to adding security to their modem/gateways. Upon further research, it appears that the new security features (Xfi Security), must be manually turned on. Here’s a link to a Comcast article discussing the feature. Please note the last line in the article, which states …“Advanced Security must be activated through the Xfinity app.” We recommend installing the Xfinity app on your smartphone or tablet and making sure that the advanced security feature is turned on. Comcast tech support may able to assist if you have questions. 1-800-XFINITY. Secure Your Debit Card With a Fake PIN We saw this tip online and thought it was ingenious. Your debit card will be locked after 3 unsuccessful attempts at entering the PIN. The tip is to write a fake PIN on the back of the card. Write illegibly, so a thief would be unsure of the numbers and hopefully try at least 3 times, which would lock the card. Brief Review of Amazon Echo Subwoofer and Echo Speakers ($527), Sonos Arc Soundbar ($799), and Nakamichi Shockwafe 9.2 soundbar and surround speakers ($1,399). I’ve been looking for better sound from my LG OLED TV. Often I found that voices were too faint or muddled, and there wasn’t much bass. So I tried out each of the above systems. The Amazon subwoofer produced nice bass, and while I didn’t wind up trying out the Echo Studio speakers, the sound was great, even when using the lower fidelity Echo speakers. The Sonos Arc sound was wonderful but lacked much bass. In order to get more bass I would have had to purchase the Sonos Subwoofer ($699), bringing the total cost to $1,500. Both the Amazon and Sonos setups were not true surround setups, as they only had speakers in the front. I wound up keeping the Nakamichi Shockwafe 9.2 setup, because the sound was amazing for both voice and music. With 2 huge subwoofers, there’s more than enough bass, and I like the fact that there are both side and rear speakers for true surround sound. If you don’t want/need this setup, Nakamich offers the Shockwafe with 2 subwoofers and 2 rear speakers for $999, or with one subwoofer and rear speakers for $749. All sound systems were connected to my Amazon Fire TV Cube ($119). Stay Safe and Be Well, Betina, Ryan and Edward |
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