191–200 of 215 posts
Get them a linux laptop, or a ChromeBook and enable 2FA on their Google accounts.
NEVER get them a linux laptop. ChromeBook is fine. Linux can be very advanced even for a regular starbucks user.
This just almost happened to me and my family. My parents are pushing 70 but still try to keep up with things. My father decides he wants to call PayPal regarding a return request from eBay. I'm in the room and "PayPal" tells him they need to go to a secure line and he needs to download an app. That's really strange I think, but generally scams are from phone calls to you, not you making the call. So I remain skeptic…
I think installing an AdBlocker is one of the first things I do when asked to help someone. While I understand and regret the impact on people's business models, it seems to really mitigate issues for those less tech-savy (anecdotally that is). Something like uBlock Origin or the like might be a good idea to avoid this issue.
The only thing, I did for my mom was to install adblock plus in chrome/firefox and taught her a thing or two about 2FA. I set that up for her bank accounts. Most of her work gets done by Google products. Not that great for privacy, but keeps her relatively safe.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16997272
[2] Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpa... Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...
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Its the backups that save you from crypto malware.
True, but I have yet to find a reason to prefer full (or even incremental) backups over CoW. Full backups are just too big and slow, and good reliable open-source and cross-platform incremental backup software is hard to find. I've found using Syncthing for Client-->NAS-->Off-site with BtrFS snapshots on both servers to be just perfect (of course, YMMV).
I've been using rsnapshot for at least a decade, and it's available wherever perl and hard links are available (which isn't windows, at least pre-WSL).
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I would hope that my parents could tell me from another caller :-)
I believe the standard strategy here is to say you've been in an accident, you're in the hospital while traveling, your jaw was broken, and that's why you sound different. Or you're having the nurse call them. Something to explain why your voice isn't what they expect.
I'm really surprised at the replies in this thread, some are almost patronising. Parents might be old, but they're not dumb. People underestimate older people. Obviously there are some vulnerable adults that need a helping hand, I get that, but try just talking and teaching, it works wonders. The key is patience really.
Also, on the Windows vs. Linux debate, a significant number of programs break if you're not running Windows as admin. I just installed Bitdefender and you can't do things like shut down protection to see if it broke something that was working fine if your account isn't admin. Nobody calls this out one Windows. Any programmed who did this on Linux would be hailed as the heir to the throne of idiots.
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She's a knowledge worker, highly paid and was in her 20's when computers became ubiquitous. Her education, the job she's supposed to do... it's like a carpenter who don't want to learn about electric screwdrivers. As soon as you try to get a bit more general: “Ctrl-A works in any applications or folders or anything with multiple items... it allows you to select everything at once.” She shuts down and gets back to her…
>The thing is: computers aren't magical enough yet for that kind of user. Isn't it the other way around? Ctrl+A does nothing on my machine, because I haven't set it up to do anything. I think the problem is that most OS's were designed with programmers in mind, then have had a kind of 'user-friendly' face lift pasted over fundamentals that have remained more or less the same. I can see why non-computer people don't w…
Is that trolling ?
Dude... she's not banging some Perl in emacs... She's writing words in Microsoft Word running on a Windows like a gazillion of people do in the 9-5 workforce, with the occasional excel spreadsheets and file manipulations in explorer.
Ctrl-a, ctrl-c, ctrl-v everywhere, all the time.
It has been for 30 years. The fact it has no logical consistency (although I am pretty sure ctrl-all is a good candidate) it's not an excuse to forget about it everyday. Does she forget where the brake pedal is in her car ?
I am dev. I know computers are voodoo and run on magic.
But it's not a reason to forget how to turn it on every morning.
Keep them offline. Get them smartphones, preferably iOS. Educate them about scams. My parents still conduct the majority of their personal business offline, and though I have scoffed at this in the past, it makes more sense for them and also keeps them safe. Their bills come in the mail, and its not uncommon for them to go to a department store and pay the bill for that chain's credit card in person. They meet with t…
> Get them smartphones, preferably iOS As much as I dislike Apple and their ecosystem, iOS is the way to go. But I went with tablets over phones, just for practicality with browsing and such. With an iPad (as opposed to an Android tablet) I don't have to worry about them installing some fake app. It also helps a that anyone can figure out iOS (although it has gotten more complex over the years). I've also installed P…
Ohhh you would be surprised of the amount of fake apps on iPad!!
I know an old couple who burned a good amount of money on their new iPad trying to install some app they knew from Android (something not available ipad, I think it was WhatsApp).
Keep them offline. Get them smartphones, preferably iOS. Educate them about scams. My parents still conduct the majority of their personal business offline, and though I have scoffed at this in the past, it makes more sense for them and also keeps them safe. Their bills come in the mail, and its not uncommon for them to go to a department store and pay the bill for that chain's credit card in person. They meet with t…