An estimated 148 million robocalls are made to Americans each day, according to call-blocking app YouMail. That's about 54 billion calls over the past year.
Robocalls represent over 50% of all phone traffic. They have become the modern equivalent of mail addressed to "occupant." Some of these calls appear to be coming from your own area code. That's what really throws people. Because you think, maybe it's Uncle Max. On the other hand, maybe you don't want to talk to Uncle Max.
We use the "call screen" feature on our two Google Pixel phones to avoid robocalls. But the new Pixel 4 has something better.
The Pixel 4 phone won't ring at all if it senses a robocall. What happens if the phone detects that it's not a robocall, but it's not someone on your contact list either? In that case, the phone rings a few moments later with info on who's calling and why.
For non-Pixel phones, turn on "Do not disturb" in settings, blocking all calls except those from contacts. That choice is right there when you tap "Settings," "Sound," and "Do not disturb." On an iPhone, go to "Settings," then "Do not disturb," and tap "Allow calls from." From there, "All contacts" is one of the choices.
But that's risky. Some calls that are not from your contacts may be legitimate. A young relative missed a crucial job interview that way. If you do decide to turn on "Do not disturb," make sure you've added important people to your contact list.
YOUTUBE SHARING
A reader writes: "I used to enjoy sharing a special song now and then but I've been blocked since '17." He'd like to share his YouTube playlist of 2,107 videos.
Here's what's confusing on YouTube: There's the word "share" when you're sharing a single video, and an arrow meaning "share" when you want to share a whole playlist.
To share a video using the YouTube app on your phone, click the word "share" beneath it. Then tap your email account, Facebook, or other social network, and YouTube will put the link in for you. To create a playlist on your phone, tap the three dots next to the title of a video you like and then "Save to playlist." Keep doing that for other videos until you have your list. Then click the arrow beneath the list to share it.
It's a little different on a computer. First go to YouTube.com. To create a playlist, click the plus sign next to three stacked lines that appears below the video. Repeat this step for all the videos you want to include in your list. We created a playlist with songs from our favorite musicals, such as Oklahoma, West Side Story and Singin' in the Rain. Click the arrow under the playlist to share it, then the word "copy." Now you can paste it into an email using "Control V" in Windows or "Command V" on the Mac.
INTERNUT
Search on the phrase: "Museums are keeping a ton of the world's most famous art locked away in storage" for a fascinating article from business news website Quartz.
Bob was trained as a curator at the Smithsonian Institution. He learned that about 95% of a museum's collection is never displayed.
According to qz.com, the 5% that museums do show off isn't displayed all the time, because even that would be overwhelming. The "culturally important" works are rotated. Most works never see the light of day.
WINDOWS ANNOYANCE
We find it very annoying that Windows makes us sign in again when we've only been away from our desks for a half hour. Here's how to remove that.
Type "Sign in options" in the Windows search box. Look for the sentence: "If you've been away, when should Windows require you to sign in again?" Choose "Never" if you don't want to have to sign in. This reminds us of a New Yorker cartoon. A guy on the phone says: "No, Thursday's out. How about never -- is never good for you?"
Bob and Joy Schwabach can be reached by email at bobschwab@gmail.com and joy.schwabach@gmail.com.
Business on 12/28/2019