To make your browsing experience more efficient, web browsers cache data, which means they store files on your computer. They do this so when you return to a website, you don’t need to download all if its elements. For example, if you regularly view a web page that contains a number of graphics, not downloading those graphics will save time, and save bandwidth, both for you and for the web host.
Sometimes, however, you may want or need to delete that cache. This is a first-line troubleshooting technique when you are having difficulty displaying web pages. Different browsers have different methods for doing this, and Apple’s Safari makes this complicated, for some reason. Here’s how you can delete your Safari browser cache.
For many people who are working from home for the first time, Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, and other video-conferencing services have become essential communication tools. People use these for meetings, but also to keep in touch with friends and family. These apps are easy to use, but the way you experience them can be jarring if you’re not used to this sort of communication.
Improving the experience in video-conferencing is both about how you see and hear others, and how they see and hear you. The success of meetings and calls with these apps depends on everyone involved in a call or meeting ensuring that their audio and video is as good as possible.
In this article, I’m going to give you some tips to improve your experience on Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, and other video-conferencing apps.
Work, school, and even socializing increasingly take place remotely, and Zoom has quickly become one of the most popular tools for videoconferencing—one-on-one or with a group. Take Control of Zoom explains how to use the Zoom service from start to finish. It offers detailed instructions, warnings, and tips from installing and configuring the Zoom software, through setup and participation, and how to host meetings.
Zoom is the most widely used videoconferencing system in the world due to its generous feature set for free users and the ease of joining video chats by people without prior experience. But you can learn to master some of its subtle, hard-to-find, or confusing features and increase your efficiency and enjoyment as a participant and as a host. Take Control of Zoom takes the pain out of learning how to best use this powerful tool. The book covers a broad range of topics, from which Zoom app to use and how to configure your account and app even before your first meeting, to how to work among Zoom views and chat in a meeting, to creating and managing your own meetings.
Here’s what you will find in Take Control of Zoom:
Learn how to install and configure Zoom.
Decide if a web app meets your needs or it’s something to recommend to other meeting participants.
Configure your physical setup and your hardware for best results on video.
Don’t forget that even if you don’t see a stream of yourself, you’re on camera for other people.
Upgrade your audio for better comfort and quality.
Understand Zoom’s past missteps with security and what it promises now.
Master participating in a meeting, including the various methods of “speaking up.”
Get to know Zoom’s many mobile and desktop views for seeing other people and shared screens.
Become a host and start meetings with one other person or 1,000.
Dig into Zoom’s meeting controls to create safe meetings and manage public ones, keeping participants safe and blocking or removing problematic members.
Find out how to preserve your privacy when sharing apps, presentations, or other parts of your screen.
Record a meeting for later playback, presentation, or a podcast.
Decide whether upgrading to a paid Zoom tier offers enough improvement and features for meetings you host.
The date for this year’s WWDC has been set (June 22). Many users don’t know that the government can access some of your iCloud data (with a warrant). We look at a new Thunderbolt vulnerability that affects Macs made since 2011 (but you don’t need to worry). And we discuss contact tracing apps and new North Korean malware.
Check out The Intego Mac Podcast, which I co-host with Josh Long. We talk about Macs and iOS devices, and how to keep them secure.
Oliver Craske has just published the first biography of the legendary Indian musician Ravi Shankar. Craske knew and worked with Shankar near the end of his life, and carried out extensive research to tell the tale of the man who brought Indian music to the west. (Apologies for the poor Skype audio quality.)
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When you’re at the office, working on your employer’s computer, it’s important not to do certain things. The computer isn’t yours, and, if your company is large enough, your boss may use software to check what you do, which websites you’ve visited, and may even read your emails. The computer belongs to the company, and it’s their right to keep an eye on it.
The same is true if you have a work-issued laptop, or even a phone. These devices aren’t yours, and your boss can, at any time, take them back and check all the data they contain. Since a lot of people are working from home now, they may be using computers issued by their employers. To ensure that your personal data remains private, here are 10 things you should never do on a computer or phone given to you by your business.
You’ve certainly heard people say that “Macs don’t get viruses.” And, while that’s generally true – most malware these days isn’t viruses but other types of malicious software – the Mac has a long history of malware attacks. Viruses, worms, Trojan horses; the Mac has seen them all. Here is an overview of the history of malware that has affected the Mac.
We have friendly robins in the garden. I shot this photo about a foot away from the bird, who was waiting around hoping we would dig up some dirt so he could get something to eat.
This week we’re joined by Chris Niccolls, co-host (with Jordan Drake) of DPReview TV, one of our favorite video resources about photography. Yes, there are hundreds of photographers on YouTube, but we’ve long enjoyed Chris’s and Jordan’s friendly and knowledgable approach to reviewing photo gear and educating viewers about all aspects of photography and videography.
Find out more, and subscribe to the podcast, at the PhotoActive website. You can follow The PhotoActive on Twitter at @PhotoActiveCast to keep up to date with new episodes, and join our Facebook group to chat with other listeners and participate in photo challenges and more.
Work, school, and even socializing increasingly take place remotely, and Zoom has quickly become one of the most popular tools for videoconferencing—one-on-one or with a group. 
