On Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent helps Richard figure out why there are duplicate photos of the same picture in his photo folders! Plus, Mikah answers Lance's question about Windows 11 and some devices being labeled as removable external storage devices. And Mikah shares a follow-up from Jack about his problem with his Gmail storage space.

Host: Mikah Sargent

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On Hands-On Tech, Mikah helps Lars, who is seeking help for a friend who is being flooded with spam emails and is looking for a way to filter out the spam emails!

• Mikah strongly recommends transitioning away from ISP-provided email addresses, as they often get shuffled between companies and can face service disruptions
• There are also some options to consider when moving from an old email account, such as setting up auto-responses directing to the new address or configuring your new email account to pull from your old account.
• Mikah suggests two things to do. The first is to create a Gmail account to leverage its excellent spam filtering capabilities, then configure it to pull mail from the Cox address and connect it to Outlook.
• The second option is to use local spam filtering software like Mailwasher, which offers Bayesian filtering that learns from user input to improve spam detection over time.
• Other software options to consider are Spambully, Spamfighter, and clean.io, though some may not work without MX record access.

Also, be sure to stick around to the end of the episode for an upcoming change to Hands-On Tech.

Send in your questions for Mikah to answer! hot@twit.tv

Host: Mikah Sargent

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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent tackles a unique smart home dilemma from a viewer named John, who runs his home automation through Android while his wife uses Apple devices. John wants to know if he can use an old iPad as a home hub to give his wife easier access to their home's smart features, like thermostats, greenhouse controls, and outlets, without having to go through his phone.

• Android-first setup is actually advantageous, as it means devices are already configured independently rather than being locked into Apple's HomeKit ecosystem
• For HomeKit-compatible devices, adding them to the wife's iPhone/iPad is as simple as scanning the HomeKit codes in Apple's Home app

Some suggested approaches for the iPad hub:

• Use as a portable control panel that can move between rooms
• Mount it permanently as a dedicated control center using a device such as elago's Home Hub Mount, which allows for clean cable management.
• Mikah recommends using Home Assistant (home-assistant.io) as a powerful third-party solution that works with more devices than just HomeKit or Google Home, has robust automation capabilities, and has apps for multiple platforms, making it accessible to both users.
• Mikah also emphasizes the importance of "smart," which means proactive automation, giving examples like automatic fan control based on humidity sensor readings, proximity-based lighting control, and custom scenes triggered by pressure sensors.

Host: Mikah Sargent

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Mikah addresses a listener question about why their TCL TV and cable box sometimes turn on automatically after a power outage. He explains the likely causes and offers troubleshooting tips. Mikah also shares an important follow-up from a previous episode about internet speeds and the limitations of the Apple TV 4K's Ethernet port.

Main Topic:
• Richard asks why his TCL TV and cable box sometimes turn on by themselves after brief power outages
• Mikah explains that TCL TVs have a "Fast TV Start" feature that keeps the TV in a powered-on state to maintain network connections, causing it to turn back on when power is restored
• HDMI-CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) allows devices to communicate and control each other, which may cause the cable box to turn on when the TV powers on
• Mikah advises checking the TV and cable box settings for features like Fast TV Start, sleep/hibernation modes, and HDMI-CEC to adjust the behavior
• Many smart home devices, such as lights and robot vacuums, also have auto-on features that should be configured to prevent unexpected behavior after power outages

Follow-up:
• Thomas points out that in a previous episode (195), the Apple TV 4K used to test internet speeds has a maximum throughput of about 990 Mbps due to its Gigabit Ethernet port
• For the listener (Ross) to accurately test their 2.5 Gbps internet speed, they should ensure their Mac supports the full 2.5 Gbps that the adapter provides
• The Apple TV 4K's Wi-Fi 6 support may allow for faster speeds than its Ethernet port, depending on the router and environment

Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech

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On Hands-On Tech, Mikah helps Omar schedule his daughter's Mac to shut down at a specific time, Jed disables his children's iPads as the two-factor authentication points, and Ben has several questions related to iCloud Shared Albums, along with other viewers' questions!

• Omar is looking for a way to shut down his daughter's Mac at a specific time.
  • For Omar:
  • Type the following: sudo pmset repeat shutdown MTWRFSU 11:00:00
  • Type the following to confirm the schedule has been set: sudo pmset -g sched
  • To cancel the repeating shutdown, type the following: sudo pmset repeat cancel
• Wayne is wondering why he is unable to use a public Wi-Fi network on his phone, even though his phone shows that he is connected to that network.
• Jed is trying to find a way to remove his children's iPads from being used as the primary two-factor authentication points.
• Ben has several questions about iCloud Shares Albums and asks Mikah for as much help as possible.
• And Vernon follows up with Mikah after getting help from a few episodes ago!

Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

On Hands-On Tech, Mikah continues to answer more of your submitted questions, such as reclaiming Gmail storage from deleted emails, connecting an older iPad to a newer Wi-Fi network, and why you might not be getting exactly close to the speeds you should be getting with your internet service provider.

• Jack wonders why, after deleting old emails in his Gmail account, why he doesn't have more space in his account.
• Ronald asks a follow-up question from a previous episode involving his new Mac and whether he can use Spinrite to maintain a formatted external drive.
• Hassan has an Eero router with WPA3 enabled, but he has to connect an older iPad to the network, which won't work on the network. Is there a workaround he can do to get the iPad to work on the Eero network?
• Ray wants to know about uploading his .pst files from his Outlook client to another email provider like Gmail or Yahoo so he doesn't have to utilize the Outlook client anymore when accessing his emails.
• And Ross wonders if he can do anything to get access to speeds as close as the 2.5Gbps he is paying for with his ISP.

Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv.

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

In this detailed episode, Mikah Sargent tackles a diverse range of tech challenges, from bulk email deletion and password management to troubleshooting a freezing MacBook and exploring unconventional monitor setups. Listeners will gain practical solutions for common tech frustrations and even insights into Linux encryption!

• Vernon wants to know how to quickly delete over 83,000 emails in their Gmail account.
• Miroslav wants to know if there's a way to export passwords from Apple's Password Manager on iPhone or iPad without using a Mac or PC.
• Charlotte wants to know why her 2020 MacBook Air keeps freezing when using Zoom and Chrome, and how to alleviate the issue.
• Charles wonders how to properly set up full disk encryption on his Debian and Manjaro Linux installations.
• Mark wants to know if a 55-inch QLED TV can be a good replacement for his current ultrawide monitor for text-based work.

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech

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On this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers questions about what to do with old electronics, extracting photos out of downloaded files and maintaining the original photo names, how to properly manage your phone's battery, and a question from a listen about the best way to manage their router setup!

• Kelli came across some old electronics her father had years ago! She thinks they could be worth something but wonders if she should recycle them instead.
• Ray has their iPhone wirelessly charging at night while on Do Not Disturb. However, it randomly makes a sound at night! How can he get his phone to stop making that noise?
• Sean just downloaded their Google photos to back them up on an external drive. How can he keep the photos' original names when he extracts the files?
• Dan wonders how to manage their phone's battery life best when they keep it plugged in most of the time.
• Alan has three routers throughout his household in his home network. When he goes to different points in the house, he has to change the SSID to the router closest to where he is. Is there a simpler way of doing this before going to a Mesh router setup?

Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

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