TechByter Worldwide 2020-04-17: Making Facebook Tolerable. Short Circuits. Spare Parts.

Facebook can be useful, but the unremitting flood of advertisements and other "improvements" that are forced onto users can be maddening. There are ways to fix the problems. In Short Circuits: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought conspiracy nuts, crooks, and liars out from wherever they normally spend their time. We need honest information and facts. Fortunately, they exist and they're not hard to find. • When I described my experience with a Google Nest Mini in January, I said the device appeared to have some defects. It took far too long to convince Google, but now the problem has been resolved. • In Spare Parts (only on the website): Some applications that are installed on computers have started asking the user to log in. This is a good trend. • This month's Microsoft Patch Tuesday includes a lot of security fixes, so it's not one to delay. • Twenty years ago: Netscape was excited about the release of Navigator 6. Netscape was already feeling pressure from Microsoft and, a few years later from Firefox. Navigator was discontinued in 2008.