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This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. Whens the last time you fielded a tech support call from a parent? You want your parentsor anyone you supportto benefit from email, photo sharing, and video calls. You also have to protect them from scams, malware, and unnecessary complexity. Or maybe you are that parent and want to stay safe online. Either way, todays post aims to support you. I periodically help my parents make sense of confusing WebEx conferencing instructions or Microsoft Word settings. So when Wonder Tools reader and tech expert Paul Schreiber offered to write a guest post based on his professional and personal experience, I welcomed his input. Below he outlines specific hardware recommendations, security steps, and practical tips you can implement today. The next section of this piece is by Paul. Paul’s advice Over the past few years, Ive helped my parents and some friends parents stay safe online. Here are some things Ive found work well. Skip the computer Many folks dont need a powerful computer. They just need access to email, messaging, and the web. An iPad or Chromebook for around $300 provides this (along with thousands of apps), while reducing the burden of maintenance. . . . or pick a simple one A MacBook Air is a great choice if they do need a computer. Theres less malware and Apple provides a single, simple source of support. No need to worry about separate or conflicting instructions from hardware and OS manufacturers. Plus, if they already have an iPhone, the Air works with it seamlessly. Replace the router Replace their current router with one or more eero devices. Eeros: Automatically connect to each other in a mesh for large homesno more clunky extenders with separate network names. They also work for apartments with thick walls Automatically configure themselves with the right network settings Automatically stay up-to-date Can be monitored and administered remotely from your phone Add guardrails Make yourself the admin. When setting up the computer, create two accounts: One for yourself, with administrative rights A standard account for your parent If they accidentally install adware or other junk, it will only affect their account, not the whole computer, and itll be easier to remedy. Install an ad blocker Ads slow down the page and trick people into installing malware. I recommend the free uBlock Origin for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. (Note: avoid the similarly named uBlock.) For Safari, consider buying 1Blocker, Wipr, or AdGuard. Set up a family account Apple (iCloud+) and Google (Google One) both sell cloud storage that can be shared with your family. For about $10 per month, you ensure everyones device is backed up and their photos are synced. You can also share some apps without repurchasing them. Make yourself the recovery contact Add your email and phone number as a recovery contact (Apple, Google) for your parents important accounts. This lets you help when they forget their password. It also lets you reset it if they become incapacitated or die. Set up legacy contacts Unlike recovery contacts, legacy contacts control an account after someone dies. Setting these up gives you legal permission to access the account. Each service handles it differently, so read instructions from Facebook, Apple, and Google carefully. Today is trash day Go through your parents computer and/or phone. Delete unused apps. Clean up the downloads folder, removing installers (such as .pkg and .dmg files) as well duplicate or outdated files. Passwords Passwords are a pain. Good news: You no longer need to memorize them. With a password manager, the only two passwords youll need to remember are those for your computer and your email. Your password manager will automatically create hard-to-guess passwords and fill them in for all other logins. It wont fill your password in on sites trying to steal your information. Set up password autofill and teach them to use it Spend a few hours using Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or 1Password to generate new passwords for their 25 most important sites Share key account passwords with yourself Final Tips If you want personalized advice, visit Consumer Reports security planner. If your parents or relatives are easily duped by fake reviews, set up bookmarks for Consumer Reports, Wirecutter, the Good Housekeeping Institute, Vetted, or other trustworthy review services. P.S. bonus toolsrecommended by Jeremy Print Friendly makes it easy to print anything online. Postlight Reader removes clutter from articles, making reading easier. Permission Slip is a free app from Consumer Reports that helps you learn what companies are collecting data about you or your parents or children. You can send a request that they stop selling your personal info. Consumer Reports testing found that paid data removal services often fail to fully scrub personal information from people-search sites. Ive been testing Incogni, which wasnt assessed in that report. So far its been helpful in requesting that data brokers erase information about me that theyre storing and selling. See the big data broker opt-out list for more info. CleanMyMac is a simple Mac app that makes it easy to remove old installers, duplicate files, and other files cluttering up your computer or taking up space. Ive used it for a few years and recommend it. Yorba is another promising new service in beta. It can help in several ways: Unsubscribe from emails. Wipe old unused accounts and associated logins. Cancel subscriptions you forgot about. Its free to start. This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.
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The waters of Cape Cod Bay are coming for the big brown house perched on the edge of a sandy bluff high above the beach. It’s just a matter of when. Erosion has marched right up to the concrete footings of the multimillion-dollar home where it overlooks the bay. Massive sliding doors that used to open onto a wide deck, complete with hot tub, are now barricaded by thin wooden slats that prevent anyone from stepping through and falling 25 feet to the beach below. The owner knew it. He removed the deck and other parts of the house, including a small tower that held the primary bedroom, before stopping work and falling into a standoff with the town. He’s since sold the place to a salvage company that says it won’t pay for work. Officials in Wellfleet worry the home’s collapse will damage delicate beds in their harbor where farmers grow oysters that are among New England’s most prized. A report commissioned by the town projects if nothing is done, the 5,100-square-foot home will tumble into the bay within three yearsand possibly much sooner. Its certain fate is a reminder of the fragility of building along the cape, where thanks to climate change sea level rise has accelerated in recent years. I mean, the cape has always been moving, said John Cumbler, a retired environmental history professor who also serves on the Wellfleet Conservation Commission. “The sand is moving.” History of the home The house was built in 2010 on Cape Cod on the bay side of the peninsula. Its original owners, Mark and Barbara Blasch, sought permission from the commission in 2018 to build a 241-foot-wide seawall to stave off erosion. The commission’s seven membersall volunteersrejected the seawall on the grounds that it might have unintended effects on the beach and the way water carries nutrients in the bay. They also questioned whether it would actually save the house. The property is within Cape Cod National Seashore. The National Seashore Administration supported rejection of the seawall because of the critical location within the seashore and Wellfleet Harbor area, including critical habitat and valuable shellfish operations. The Blasches appealed the rejection in state district court and lost. An appeal to the state’s Superior Court is pending. A New York man, attorney John Bonomi, bought the house in 2022 for $5.5 million, even as its future was in doubt. Bonomi’s attorneys declined to comment for this story. Threat to the bay and oyster beds A report prepared for Wellfleet last year by Bryan McCormack, a coastal processes specialist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant, estimates that the bluffs are eroding at a rate of 3.8 to 5.6 feet a year. The report estimated collapse in up to three years, but likely sooner. The report said a collapse could send debris into Wellfleet Harbor, where the town’s namesake oysters, well-known to shellfish lovers, take two to three years to reach maturity. The house has a lot of fiberglass insulation in it. It has toxic material in it,” Cumbler said. If that toxic material gets into Wellfleet Harbor, which is where the currents will take it, it could endanger the oyster industry in Wellfleet, our major industry outside of tourism. Standoff over what to do with the house Bonomi “came to us back in October and said, yes, we understand the house is in danger of falling into the sea, and we will give you a plan by January for what we will do with the house, Cumbler said. We asked for a plan to remove it from the danger. That plan was supposed to be presented at the commission’s January meeting. But Bonomi’s attorney, Tom Moore, wrote to the town in December to say Bonomi had sold the house to CQN Salvage, a company incorporated in October, that Moore was also representing. Moore wrote that the town “is on notice to take whatever steps it deems prudent to prevent the collapse of the embankment and the other consequences of further erosion. CQN Salvage is ready to work alongside the town in such efforts but will not fund them. It’s not clear who owns CQN Salvage. Its incorporation records in New York state don’t list any officials. Moore declined to speak with The Associated Press. At the January meeting, Moore appeared by video and told the commission that the bare minimum estimate to remove the house was at least $1 million. So, you plan to do nothing and allow it to fall into the water?” Lecia McKenna, the town’s conservation agent, asked Moore. I plan to ask you to not let it fall into the water, Moore responded. The commission voted to extend to June 1 the deadline to comply with its enforcement order. Wellfleet is left to watch and wait For now, the town is left to simply watch the house. When the AP recently visited the site, 20 mph winds were hitting the bluffs and sand could be seen trickling down. The sea level at nearby Falmouth has risen 11 inches in the past 90 years, but the pace is accelerating. An AP analysis of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found the sea level around Cape Cod between 1995 and 2024 was rising at an annual rate of 0.16 inch faster than the prior 30-year period. McCormack, the Woods Hole specialist who prepared the report for the town, said it’s difficult to attribute erosion at a single property to climate change and sea level rise. And he said Cape Cod has been eroding for tens of thousands of years. But he said the bluffs have receded 54 feet since 2014, and the erosion rate over the past decade has exceeded long-term rates published by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. By Andre Muggiati, Associated Press AP data journalist Mary Katherine Wildeman contributed to this report. The Associated Presss climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
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E-Commerce
An X post recently made the rounds for its old money visuals. The video depicting weekends spent sailing Lake Como in tuxedos and candlelit dinners at impossibly long dining tables screams upper crust. Or so we thought. It was another X user who quickly shattered the illusion. Sorry to burst the fantasy, but I know one of the girls in this video, and none of this is casual or real, Louis Pisano wrote in a post. Its an Instagram club where, if you get accepted, you pay to dress up and create old money content with them. This is the Tuxedo Society, a U.K.-based members-only club promising access to experiences in the most iconic locations and a chance to elevate your network by connecting with like-minded people. Founded by classic-car dealer Riccardo Capotosti, the group markets itself as an exclusive gateway to a more glamorous, monied world with the motto Attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places. Having access to this elite club will give you the opportunity to connect with enlightened people from all over the world, the groups website states. Or, as one X user put it: So its basically Disneyland for wannabe socialites. The Tuxedo Society, also known as the Tuxedo Members Club, has two websites: one showing the luxurious lifestyle you can expect with a membership and another for applications, though the latter is still in the Coming Soon phase as of this writing. To join, you must earn more than 500,000 euros per year (that’s around $520,000) or have a seven-figure net worth (although Pisano claims this isnt true, based on his personal knowledge of one of the members). Prospective members must also pass an approval process, including an introductory video call with a board member, according to the website. An annual membership then costs 6,000 euros (about $6,200), and if you dont renew, your spot goes to someone else. Current members, including influencers like Federico di Custoza and model Chiara Basso, pose against classic cars and suited up in formal wear on tennis courts. The most notable member, who can actually claim old money status, is Eugenia Hannover, a model linked to the historic House of Hanover. Fascination with the rich and well-connected is nothing new, but in the age of social media, it’s easier than ever to cosplay as wealthy, even if just for content. The secret lives and unspoken rules of the upper classes have been the subject of countless films and TV shows, from The Great Gatsby and The Talented Mr. Ripley to Saltburn. Remember how those stories ended?
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