How to stop unwanted calls and texts

You may find this surprising. Many of us remember when people’s names, addresses, and phone numbers were listed in the telephone book and distributed for free. All we ever worried about were junk mail, telemarketers, and the occasional prank call.JavTimes have changed. Phone books are now history. You can message anyone you know (or don’t) on Facebook, Twitter, or other means. And most importantly, your phone number is a gateway to your primary means of communication, entertainment and safety. Once your number is compromised, it’s far more intrusive than ever before.


Spam texts and robocalls

Every year or so, a hoax burns like a wildfire through email inboxes and social networks warning that all cellphone numbers are about to go public. It also says there's a deadline to register your cellphone, and, once registered, it only blocks your number for five years.

Oddly enough, the only thing the hoax message gets right is the number to call. For the record, mobile telephone numbers have never been in any danger of being made public or released to telemarketers. Additionally, there has never been a deadline to register your cellphone. And you don't need to renew every five years (this was a rule for landlines that was axed in 2007).

If you get an unsolicited marketing call on your cellphone, first ask the caller how they got your number and firmly tell them you don't want to be contacted again. If they call back, file a complaint with the FTC at donotcall.gov or 1-888-382-1222.

But these days, many companies find it cheaper, easier and more profitable to send advertisements by text.

You may also receive a host of “robocalls,” pre-recorded messages that automatically play when you pick up. With so many cellphone numbers being collected in databases, companies have a massive list of potential customers.

Remember that texts, robocalls, and telemarketers may just as likely be scammers in disguise. Use extreme caution when answering these messages, and never give away personal data.

Better yet, you can install apps on your phone that keep annoying telemarketers off your line.
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People know it is you calling when your caller ID pops up on their phone, but it doesn’t have to be like that. There are two ways to keep your identity secret while making a call: one is permanent; the other is temporary on a call-by-call basis. Here’s a tip that covers both methods.

When you receive an unwanted solicitation by phone, you may wonder: How did they get my number? You’ve only given it to friends. You haven’t posted your number on social media. You barely use your phone to make calls anymore. So what gives?

One way to protect your cellphone number is to examine your apps and what permissions they require. People hand over their numbers often without even realizing it. When you install a new app, you receive a lengthy “terms of service” document. Buried in that fine print, there is often a clause about releasing your number to third parties. By accepting these terms of service, you typically give the company permission to use or sell your cellphone number.

For example, PrivacyGrade took a look at the Brightest LED Flashlight app and found it can read the phone’s current state information like phone signal, carrier, device ID, and phone number. Three years ago, the Federal Trade Commission settled with the creator of a different flashlight app for sharing users' information to third parties without their consent.

Before you install an app, take a moment to learn exactly what information the app is collecting and how the developers intend to use the data. Fortunately, most of the heavy lifting has been done for you.

Social media and phone numbers

Many people are careless on Facebook, giving criminals heaps of personal information without a second thought. They post their birthdays and home addresses, and they even indicate when they’re home or away.

Putting your cellphone number on social media can be hazardous, especially if you have a lot of "friends" who you don’t know in real life. You may have tight privacy settings, but if you agree to be friends with a stranger, your data could be easily copied-and-pasted into nefarious hands.

Use your thinking cap. You may find it easy to find volunteers for your upcoming benefit by posting your cell number on Twitter. You may take a picture of your “Missing Dog” sign and post it on Instagram. But the short-term benefits aren’t worth the potential data breach.

Phone numbers and security verification

Password? Check. Secret security question? Check. Phone number?

More and more, secure websites are using your phone number to verify your identity. If you have an Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft or Apple account, give them your cellphone number in your security settings. This way, if someone signs into your account using a new device or location, you receive an immediate alert.

In addition, you can also receive an alert if someone tries to change your password. If a hacker steals your password and tries to log in to your account on an unknown computer, the site will ask them for the second code. Unless the hackers also stole your phone and were able to unlock it, they would not have the second code needed to log in.

It’s called two-factor authentication and it’s an important safety measure. If you have not set it up yet, don’t wait for something bad to happen.Jav Doctor

Are you starting to wonder what other kinds of data that you’re sharing without realizing it? I cover this topic regularly on my national radio show. Be sure to listen or download my podcasts, or click here to find it on your local radio station. You can listen to the Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet or computer. From buying advice to digital life issues, click here for my free podcasts.

I've taken AncestryDNA and 23andMe genetics tests — here's what I tell people when they ask me which one is best

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I've sent my spit off for more genetics tests than I can count.

Each one I've tried so far has offered a different experience, a different approach to how they present the data, or what information they provide — whether it's my great-grand relative or how much Neanderthal DNA I have.

Every so often someone asks me which test I would recommend.

Genetic testing companies have proprietary sets of data and different ways they analyze the data, which can also play a role in decision-making, but to me it all boils down to one question: What do you want to get out of the test?

Let's take the two direct-to-consumer ones I've tried out: AncestryDNA and 23andMe.
23andMe



Provided by Business Insider 23andMe kit
23andMe currently offers two versions of its tests:
The $199 version, which comes with both the health and ancestry components.
The $99 version, which will just have the ancestry test.

Its health reports can tell you information about traits, (such as if you're likely to have dimples or curly hair), wellness (how well you metabolize caffeine and if you're a sprinter), as well reports on carrier status. These reports can tell you if you carry a mutation for certain conditions that you could pass down to your children. Currently, 23andMe has 41 of these tests, up from the 36 tests it had when it launched in October 2015. Jav S1 NO.1 STYLE


With 23andMe's ancestry reports, users have access to reports that break down the Ancestry Composition (which regions your genes most closely align with), haplogroups (a genetic population that shares a common ancestor), and a person's Neanderthal ancestry. They also get access to something called a DNA Relatives tool, which 23andMe users can opt into to connect them with other users. It also shows if they have close or distant relatives in the system. 23andMe is big on research and getting users to engage in its research.
Verdict: If you're looking at this as more of a science experiment, or a way to get involved in research (most recently I got asked to participate in asthma research), and you aren't as interested in retracing your ancestry, this is the test for you. Or, if all you really want to know is your ancestry percentages and how much Neanderthal variants you have, the $99 version is also a good bet.
AncestryDNA© Provided by Business Insider AncestryDNA test box

Ancestry's test, as the name suggests, is all about family histories and geneaology. You won't find health and wellness reports in its $99 test.

What you will find is information about where your family comes from, and how that connects you to other potential ancestors. Ancestry also helps you link up the DNA test to your self-reported family tree.

There's a lot to discover within that ancestry data — for example, I was matched up with ancestors dating back to the 18th century, and could explore just how I connected with that ancestor.
Provided by Business Insider Screen Shot 2016 03 30 at 4.41.49 PM
Ancestry's site is situated in such a way that if all you want are the percentage estimates, it's easy to focus on those, too.

But if you want to dig deep into your family tree, you can. I would definitely consider purchasing this test for a relative who enjoys researching our family tree.

Verdict: If the idea of tracing back your family tree for generations and connecting with distant relatives gets you incredibly excited — and less interested in getting health information back — this is the test for you.
Other ancestry tests:

Although these are the only two I've tried out so far, there are, of course, other tests out there.
National Geographic has an ancestry test called Geno 2.0 through Helix an Illumina spin-off that's kind of like the "app store for genetics." The test — which is currently $149.99 but originally $199.95 — is different from the others in that it's using next-generation sequencing, instead of the genotyping technology that AncestryDNA and 23andMe use. The test gives a report on ancestry and telling ancestral stories.
MyHeritage, for example just launched a DNA test that's currently going for $79 (originally $99). Its tests, like Ancestry's, are focused on building out family connections and trees.
Others, like FamilyTree DNA (which offers tests from $59) are geared toward those wanting to find genetic links to others and find family members.Jav Office

Conclusion: All the genetics tests on the market today come in at around the same price point. And, as I found after taking both tests, the reports can slightly differ a bit, since each company has slightly different methods, algorithms, and data that they're using. So go with the test that will answer the questions you have. Have fun!

Panasonic's OLED-fighting LCD is meant for professionals

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Panasonic's salad days in the consumer TV space are in its past, but today the company announced a new IPS display technology that might help it win back some of the professional market. Essentially, it's making an LCD panel with the precision backlighting capabilities of an OLED. Thanks to a new backlight technology, these panels can turn off the backlight on a per-pixel basis, granting them an advertised " over 1,000,000:1" contrast ratio. Meaning that blacks will be absolutely black while whites could be eye-searingly bright — within the same image — and HDR and colors should look incredibly life-like.

The company says that these are perfect for use in video production work, while one of the provided sample images shows a 31-inch panel being used to display an x-ray image. Sony has dabbled in the medical display space, as well. What's more, the new light-modulating cells help the screens hit a maximum (and stable) brightness of 1,000 cd/m2. For context, Samsung's KS8000 TV hits 137 cd/m2, and 766 cd/m2 with HDR on, out of the box. So yeah, this could be pretty impressive.

Whether we see this tech hit a TV you can grab from Best Buy is anyone's guess. These types of panels are usually incredibly expensive and not meant for folks like you and me.Good news: Apple finally revamped the MacBook Pro, after sticking with the same design for more than four years. The bad news: It's not quite the notebook we at Engadget had been waiting for. Though the refreshed MBP ushers in a series of improvements — faster SSDs, a thinner and lighter design, a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, brighter screen, more robust audio — loyal Mac fans will also probably have to make some changes to the way they work. For starters, there are no full-sized USB ports here, and no SD card reader. That last point will sting for any of the "pros" who use capture devices to record lots of photo, video and audio files. As for the USB ports, get ready to use a dongle if you typically connect an external monitor or even external storage drive.
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Perhaps the biggest change, though, is the addition of the Touch Bar, which replaces the traditional Function buttons (even the Escape key) with a touch strip whose shortcuts change depending on the app you're using. Though Apple has released an SDK to developers, so far most of the apps that support it are from Apple itself. So far, then, the use cases are fairly limited and superficial in nature. Meanwhile, you can no longer just press a button to adjust the volume or brightness. (Get used to a series of taps and swipes, which is simply less efficient.) Also, in our testing, the Siri icon that now sits above the Delete key frequently got in the way. Grr.

If the Touch Bar sounds annoying, the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro comes without it for $1,299, and has longer battery life. The problem is, you get two USB-C ports instead of four, and you forfeit the Touch ID sensor, which is one of our favorite things about the new MBP. If you want Touch ID, though, be prepared to spend at least $1,799 (yikes) and, you know, come to terms with the Touch Bar. Basically, then, there's lots to like here, and we suspect many of you who have been holding out for a new MacBook Pro will buy this. It's a shame, though: The laptop we really wanted is more a mashup of last year's model and this year's.Jav Big Tits