2026 Meeting Highlights

Image: Open laptop with thirty graphics of app icons looking like they are exploding out of the scre

9-19-26

••• Alexa 9-26 - Amazon’s Alexa can now verify suspicious messages

••• Gmail 7-26 - Everyone Using Gmail Must Turn This OFF Immediately!

••• Phones 1-26 - What do the orange and green dots mean on your phone?

Article ••• TV 9-26 - How to Disable ACR on Every Smart TV: Samsung, LG, Sony, Vizio, and More (2026) ACR = automatic content recognition

Video ••• TV 9-26 Instructional Video: Your Smart TV Is Watching You. Here Is How to Turn It Off (2026)

••• TV 9-26 - Video: 216,000,000 Spy TVs | The LG Smart TV Problem (The Ocala Tech Club is letting you know up front that the rough language used in this video does not reflect the standards of our club, but the video is worth watching.)

••• Windows 9-26 - Microsoft issues emergency Windows 11 patch to fix Remote Desktop and audio, but not AMD GPU crashes

APPLE INFORMATION ========

YES do the OS 26 updates. Then turn OFF Automatic Updates. WAIT to do OS 27 upgrades until version 27.2 or later. 2 Videos for AFTER upgrade.

••• 9-26 Video: iOS 27: Settings You Need To Turn Off Now!

••• 9-26 Video: iOS 27 is here: 10 iPhone features you’ll want to try now

9-12-26

••• W-Fi 8-26 - Wi-Fi signals struggle through walls

••• Checks 9-26 - Still sending checks in the mail? It's time to stop.

••• Callers 3-26 - Why Scammers Stay Silent for 3 Seconds When You Pick Up

••• Callers 9-26 - Why Scammers Panic When You Say "I'll Call You Back"

••• Apple 9-26 - Here’s Everything Apple Announced Today

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DURING MEETING ======

••• AI 9-26 - Anthropic says it blocked state-sponsored attempts to use Claude for bioweapons research

••• Security 1-26 - 7 Best Pen for Check Writing Options to Prevent Fraud in 2026

APPLE INFORMATION ========

YES do the OS 26 updates. Then turn OFF Automatic Updates. (see article below). WAIT to do OS 27 updates until 27.1 or later. Articles about OS 27 upgrading and new features will be posted later after it comes out and is ready for us to upgrade.

••• 9-26 - Apple releases iOS 26.6.2 for iPhone, here’s what’s new

••• How to Disable Automatic Updates on iPhone and iPad

••• Apple has finally killed off Lightning with iPhone 16e — and it's about time

••• Get information about your iPhone (storage, battery, serial # etc.)

••• Mac processor comparison: Apple Silicon vs Intel

Since November 2020, all new Macs have featured one of Apple’s own system-on-chips based on the Arm architecture, sometimes referred to as Apple Silicon, or the M-series. The final Mac to move from Intel to Apple Silicon was the Mac Pro in June 2023.

8-29-26

••• Callers 3-26 - How to make Android say the caller's name aloud

••• Callers 2-26 - Get Your iPhone to Ask Callers Who They Are Before You Answer

••• Email Client - Thunderbird

••• Medical Alert 2-25 - Using Medical Alert Systems With a Pacemaker

••• Medical Alert 11-25 - Does United Healthcare Cover Medical Alert Systems?

••• Medical Alert - Lifeline

••• Meta 8-26 - Buried in Meta’s $18B settlement is a legal pass on kids’ data

••• Seniors - Elder Affairs

••• Seniors - SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders)

••• uBlock 6-26 - Google is finally killing uBlock Origin in Chrome for good

8-22-26

••• Spectrum - Eligible Spectrum Customers Get Amazon Prime Included at No Extra Cost from Spectrum

••• AI 4-26 - AI chatbots could be making you stupider

••• Text 1-25 How to Use Predictive Text

••• Text 8-26 - Google Smart Compose Explained: How AI Predicts Your Writing in Gmail, Chat, and Docs

••• Text - Use Smart Compose in Gmail

••• Text - Check your spelling & grammar in Google Docs

APPLE =========

••• Critical Security Updates - iPhone & iPad 26.6.1 • macOS Tahoe 26.6.2 • Watch 26.6

••• Priority 8-19-26 - Apple just patched a critical macOS flaw that let hackers break in without a password

••• Text - Use predictive text on iPhone

••• iPhone 11-25 - Comparing the Classic and Unified Views in iOS 26’s Phone App

••• iPhone 11-25 - How to Switch Back to the Classic Phone App Layout in iOS 26

8-15-26

••• TV 6-26 - Cancel Subscriptions After a Death

••• Google’s new Pixel 11 puts Gemini at center of AI phone battle with Apple

===== ANDROID CONTACTS

••• How to Share Contacts on Android

••• Easily Manage Your Phone’s Contacts on Android

••• 2 Easy Ways to Assign a Photo to a Contact on Android

===== APPLE CONTACTS

••• Add or edit your contact info and photo on iPhone

••• Make calls more personal: Your guide to creating custom iPhone Contact Posters

••• How to Share Your Contact Photo on an iPhone & iPad

===== ADDITIONAL DISCUSSIONS DURING THE MEETING

••• How to Share Contacts on iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide

••• Pangram - Detect AI-generated content with 99.98% accuracy.

••• Why Locking Your Phone When Not in Use Is Essential: A Comprehensive Guide

••• Who Owns US Mobile and What Networks Does It Use

••• Best Cell Phone Plans & Deals (2026): Find the Cheapest Option for Your Needs

8-8-26

••• Get verification codes with Google Authenticator

••• Google Authenticator → Amazon: How to Set Up Two-Step Verification for Amazon Prime, Seller, Associate account

••• Google Drive is ending Photos backups in August - here’s what you need to do

••• 8-26 - The End of Passwords

••• These Android phones support AirDrop sharing with iPhone and Mac

••• Apple 8-26 - Master AirDrop: Your ultimate guide to seamless file sharing on iPhone, iPad and Mac

••• Apple 2-25 - Always squinting? There’s more than one way to zoom in on your Mac screen.

••• Garmin’s next satellite-connected watch appears at the FCC

••• Video - Have you ever tried to teach someone the internet over the phone? Good luck.

7-25-26

••• Apple: Photo to Painting App: BeCasso

••• Android, Apple, Windows - Photos to Painting App: Picsart

••• Apple - Here's How Apple AirTags Actually Work

••• Email - How to Mass Delete Emails in Gmail

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••• Data 7-26 - When you delete a file, the data itself stays on the disk untouched — the operating system only removes the pointer to it, which is why forensic tools can recover files months after they seem to have vanished

••• Gmail - How to Make a Gmail Account Using a Desktop or Mobile Device

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••• Samsung - Galaxy Unpacked July 2026 Show of New Devices Available

••• Samsung - Compare Galaxy smartphones

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••• Windows 7-26 - One in six Windows PCs still runs Windows 10, and the vulnerabilities are piling up

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••• Apple - AirTag 2 vs. AirTag: How much better is Apple’s new tracker?

••• Apple - Upgrades will let users lease iPhones and Macs with Klarna

7-18-26

••• Alert 7-26 - Why 911 can’t always find you when you call from a cell phone

••• Apple - iOS 27 Guide: All the new features coming to compatible iPhones, 2026 release date and more

••• Email - Proton Pass - Generates Spoof Emails

••• Email - MailWarm Email Generator

••• Photos - Turn any photo into a free coloring page in 20 seconds

••• Scam 7-26 - That mystery package isn’t a gift. It’s a warning about your data.

••• Security - Remove my private info from Google Search

••• Security - Incogni - Data Removal from Internet

••• Voicemails 7-26 - Your carrier deletes voicemails automatically. Save the ones that matter tonight.

7-11-26

••• Apple Passwords - Apple Just Crossed A Line I Can’t Ignore - 3 mins.

••• Apple Passwords

••• Captcha Scam - St. Lucie Sheriff - 2 mins.

••• Video 6-26 - Inside The Chip Factory 1,000 Times Cleaner Than An Operating Room

6-27-26

••• Wallet 5-26 - Samsung partners with CLEAR, bringing Samsung ID with CLEAR to Samsung Wallet

••• Chrome 3-26 - Stop Chrome from Auto-Downloading Gemini Nano in Windows

••• Photos 5-26 - Google is phasing out direct Photos sync from the Drive for desktop app

••• Apple 5-26 - How To Know If Your iPhone Has A Virus In 6 Easy Ways

••• Apple 7-25 - I recently got hacked — here’s 5 hidden Apple security features I wish I’d known about

••• Apple 4-26 - 30 hidden iPhone features for Apple's 50th — even super-users don't know them all

6-20-26

••• Organize 5-26 - The 12 Best Organization Apps for Personal & Professional Use: Set Recurring Tasks, Create a To-Do List & More for Free

••• Scan - Scan documents with Google Drive

••• Scan - How to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad

••• 6-26 Dash cams: Are they worth it? The pros, cons, insurance benefits, and best options for drivers

••• Travel 6-26 - Cellphone fire reported on British Airways flight before landing at Las Vegas airport • Watch Video: FAA studying battery fires on planes

••• Travel 6-26 - Searching for your airline’s customer service number online can be costly

••• iOS 27 Guide: All the new features coming to compatible iPhones, 2026 release date and more

6-13-26

••• Vision - Be My Eyes connects blind or low vision users with real-time assistance

••• Accounts 10-23 - How to Delete Your Old Online Accounts (and Why You Should)

••• Video: The 1 red flag in that fake SSA email (The CyberGuy) (2 short ads within video)

••• Wi-Fi 6-26 - Public Wi-Fi: how dangerous is it really?

••• Organize - What to Do When a Loved One Dies - Practical steps you need to take in the early days

••• Apple: Use the Passwords app to create, manage, and share passwords and passkeys across Apple devices

••• 5-30-26 Sharing Your Favorite Websites