Senior Voice -

This month’s Tech Talk is a little different. Nearly all of it was written by a computer. This technology has been under development for decades. It has been a staple of science fiction movies since I was a kid. Recently, one of the most advanced...

Q. Every few weeks my iPhone nags me with an alert that my storage is almost full. What should I do? A. There are two common storage errors on iPhone. One is “Storage Almost Full” and the other is “iCloud Storage Almost Full.” There may be mi...

Q. I received an Apple Watch as a gift. I love the Minnie Mouse watch face, but do not know what else to do with it. Please help. A. The small screen on an Apple Watch can be difficult without practice, but I hope to show you that working through cha...

Q. Is the Apple Pencil useful? A. For me, it fits into the “nice-to-have” category. I have avoided writing about Apple Pencil before now because it was something of a curiosity. It only worked with pricey iPad models, and it seemed like a...

Q. I have promised myself that 2023 is the year I finally organize my passwords. What do I need to know? A. The list of things we have to remember grows longer each year. As phones have become the center of our digital lives, almost everyone has more...

Q. The built-in weather app on my smartphone is pretty basic. When I search for a more advanced app, I’m presented with an overwhelming number of choices. Is there one you would recommend? A. To paraphrase an old adage: Someone with one weather app...

Q. I want to add home automation devices to my house. What is the best way to get started? A. When the topic of home automation has come up in previous columns, my advice has been to hold off investing in expensive hardware. Most of the devices you...

Q. Years ago I converted a box of family photos with a desktop scanner. Are scanners still around, or have they gone the way of the fax machine and pay telephones? A. Tabletop flatbed scanners are still available. And far less expensive than they...

Q. What is the least expensive way to improve Zoom calls? A. Adding more light and positioning the camera so you look straight ahead are the easiest things to upgrade. But the improvement that delivers the biggest impact is better sound. Most people...

Q. Is it possible to block a website from view? A. Yes, but like so many questions, the how-to part of the answer begins with “it depends.” There are many different apps that filter website content. They use various methods behind the scenes and...

Q. How do I listen to podcasts? A. As the old saying goes, “there is an app for that.” Many different apps, in fact. And beyond apps, most podcasts are just a click away on the Web. Podcasts are audio-only programs that have exploded in...

Q. Is there a good image editor for making my photos look better? I want something like Photoshop but less expensive. A. Free tools to retouch photos are installed on many devices and bundled with cloud services like Google Photos. The power of...

Q. I love making printed photo books on my computer. Is there a way to make something like a photo book, only with text instead? A. There are dozens of different tools for creating printed books on computers, but most of them are complex and hard to...

Imagine losing access to your phone and all the data you ever created. If that thought scares you, read on. The terms “Digital Legacy” and “Digital Inheritance” describe what happens to digital information created by someone who is deceased....

Q. My computer is seven years old. Everything seems normal when it first starts up, but the longer I use it, the slower it runs. After an hour, the wait is awful. Restarting returns it to normal, but the slowdown repeats. Help! A. This is a...

Q. When I visit certain web pages, a video starts playing automatically. Is there a way to disable this annoying behavior? A. The simple answer is yes, there is probably a setting you can adjust to stop most videos from automatically playing. Where...

Q. I was able to install Windows 11 on my PC. What should I do now? A. Move that Start button back where it belongs! The Start button has been at the bottom left of my screen for decades, and that is where I think it belongs. To move it, right-click...

Q. What is the latest information on the Windows 11 upgrade? A. Since I wrote about it last month, the picture is much clearer. Windows 11 will be available on October 5. Moreover, thanks to Microsoft’s refreshed PC Health Check app, you should be...

Q. Is there a dictionary for Emoji? A. What a delightful question. There is not just a dictionary, but an entire encyclopedia! Point any web browser to emojipedia.org, your one-stop shop for all things emoji. While many people know about emoji, fewer...

In the decades since George Jetson previewed his push-button lifestyle, some of us have dreamed of a smart home of our very own. Yet this branch of technology has resisted the kind of progress that has put supercomputers in our pockets. Most home...

Q. How do I make the text on my phone larger? A. The good news is that both iPhone and Android have system settings to make text larger, and many apps support adjustable-size text based on these settings. The less good news is that these settings...

Q. I am excited about Windows 11, but I do not want to wait until December to try it. Is there a way to get an advance copy? A. It has been six long years since Microsoft launched Windows 10, and from what I have seen so far of Windows 11, it was...

Q. There is an app on my phone that I do not use. Can I save space by removing it? A. Not only will you save space, removing unneeded apps will make the phone much less cumbersome to use. When I set up my mom’s new iPhone, I removed all but the...