On Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent helps Richard figure out why there are duplicate photos of the same picture in his photo folders! Plus, Mikah answers Lance's question about Windows 11 and some devices being labeled as removable external storage devices. And Mikah shares a follow-up from Jack about his problem with his Gmail storage space.

Host: Mikah Sargent

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On Hands-On Tech, Mikah helps Lars, who is seeking help for a friend who is being flooded with spam emails and is looking for a way to filter out the spam emails!

• Mikah strongly recommends transitioning away from ISP-provided email addresses, as they often get shuffled between companies and can face service disruptions
• There are also some options to consider when moving from an old email account, such as setting up auto-responses directing to the new address or configuring your new email account to pull from your old account.
• Mikah suggests two things to do. The first is to create a Gmail account to leverage its excellent spam filtering capabilities, then configure it to pull mail from the Cox address and connect it to Outlook.
• The second option is to use local spam filtering software like Mailwasher, which offers Bayesian filtering that learns from user input to improve spam detection over time.
• Other software options to consider are Spambully, Spamfighter, and clean.io, though some may not work without MX record access.

Read the official blog post about the change to Hands-On Tech.

Send in your questions for Mikah to answer! hot@twit.tv

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech

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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent tackles a unique smart home dilemma from a viewer named John, who runs his home automation through Android while his wife uses Apple devices. John wants to know if he can use an old iPad as a home hub to give his wife easier access to their home's smart features, like thermostats, greenhouse controls, and outlets, without having to go through his phone.

• Android-first setup is actually advantageous, as it means devices are already configured independently rather than being locked into Apple's HomeKit ecosystem
• For HomeKit-compatible devices, adding them to the wife's iPhone/iPad is as simple as scanning the HomeKit codes in Apple's Home app

Some suggested approaches for the iPad hub:

• Use as a portable control panel that can move between rooms
• Mount it permanently as a dedicated control center using a device such as elago's Home Hub Mount, which allows for clean cable management.
• Mikah recommends using Home Assistant (home-assistant.io) as a powerful third-party solution that works with more devices than just HomeKit or Google Home, has robust automation capabilities, and has apps for multiple platforms, making it accessible to both users.
• Mikah also emphasizes the importance of "smart," which means proactive automation, giving examples like automatic fan control based on humidity sensor readings, proximity-based lighting control, and custom scenes triggered by pressure sensors.

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit