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How to Reboot your Amazon Firestick

Rebooting your Amazon Firestick can be beneficial in several situations. Firstly, if your device starts to feel sluggish or unresponsive, a reboot can refresh its performance and resolve minor glitches, allowing it to run smoother and faster. Additionally, after installing or updating apps, a reboot ensures that all changes take effect properly. Furthermore, if you encounter connectivity issues with your Wi-Fi network or experience buffering problems during streaming, restarting your Firestick can help reestablish a stable connection. In general, performing a reboot every now and then, especially if you notice any performance issues or connectivity issues, can help maintain the optimal functionality of your Amazon Firestick and enhance your overall viewing experience.

Follow the directions below to reboot your Amazon Firestick.

Click Settings on the far right of the home screen.


Find and click on My Fire TV.


Scroll down and click Restart.


Click Restart again.


A ‘Powering off’ message will appear on the screen and your Amazon Firestick will reboot. If the troubles leading up to the reboot are still occurring, try clearing the cache on your Amazon Firestick, next!

How to Clear the Cache on your Amazon Firestick

If you seem to have continual issues with a certain app on your Amazon Fire TV Stick, it could be caused by a large build-up of cache.

First of all, what is cache? Alost all apps create a cache, which is saved on your device storage. The cache is created when the app is running and in theory is supposed to be temporary and delete itself when the app is closed, but is not always the case. If cache files continue to accumulate they can get to be very large, which can cause issues with your device. However, don’t worry, there is an easy remedy!

If a specific app seems sluggish, buffers frequently, crashes intermittently, it could use a good old clean-up. Follow the steps below to clear the cache on your Amazon Fire Stick:

  • From the Fire TV menu, select Settings.
  • Go to Applications.
  • In Manage Installed Applications, select the app causing issues.

  • Select Clear Cache.

Repeat steps for any other apps that may have issues. After clearing the cache on an app be warned that it may take a little longer to load the first time opening, but once it’s loaded up it should be smooth streaming!

Phishing 101 – Everything You Need to Know About Those Suspicious Emails

Phishing emails are fraudulent emails that are designed to trick recipients into sharing sensitive information, such as login credentials, financial data, or personal details. These emails often look like they come from a legitimate source, such as a bank or a social media platform, but they are sent by cybercriminals with the goal of stealing personal information or money.

Phishing emails often use social engineering tactics to persuade recipients to act, such as clicking on a link, downloading an attachment, or providing personal information. They may create a sense of urgency or use a threatening tone to convince the recipient to act quickly. They may include links to fake websites or attachments that contain malicious software. These emails can be very convincing and sophisticated, so it’s important to be vigilant and take steps to protect yourself from them.

To avoid falling victim to phishing emails, it’s important to be cautious when opening emails from unknown senders or emails that seem suspicious. Look for red flags such as poor grammar, spelling errors, and unusual requests. Don’t click on links or download attachments from unknown sources and be wary of emails that ask you to provide personal information. Always verify the authenticity of an email by checking the sender’s email address, hovering over any links to see the destination URL, and contacting the organization directly through a trusted channel, such as their official website or customer service phone number.

In the case that you do open a malicious email and click the links, it is important to change all passwords and monitor your accounts for strange activity. When changing your password, we recommend using at least 16 characters with upper/lower case letters and at least one symbol. An easier way to come up with a password that is long enough is by using a sentence instead of a single word. By using a passphrase instead of a password, not only will it be easier for you to remember, but it will also be more difficult for someone to hack into your account. If you notice that money has been taken from an account, it is also important to contact your bank immediately. When the bank is notified of fraudulent activity within 24 hours, you are more likely to get your money back. These emails can be worrisome, but remember, when in doubt about suspicious email, the delete button is your best friend!

To avoid falling victim to phishing emails, it’s important to:

– Be wary of emails that ask you to provide personal or sensitive information.

– Verify the authenticity of the email by checking the sender’s address, looking for spelling or grammatical errors, and examining any links or attachments carefully.

– Never click on links or download attachments from emails unless you are absolutely sure they are legitimate.

– Use a reputable antivirus program and keep it up to date.

– Use a unique, strong password for each of your accounts. We recommend using a passphrase instead of a password.

– Enable two-factor authentication wherever possible.

– Educate yourself and your family members about the risks of phishing scams and how to avoid them.

Below is the PowerPoint presentation from our Phishing 101 community class we held earlier this year. Keep an eye out for more classes coming up!

Phishing-101-final

Wi-Fi App How-To Videos

Did you know there’s an app for your Wi-Fi? There are many benefits to using the CommandIQ app, so let’s get your app set up!

Now that you’re all set up, here’s a quick overview of the app and the main dashboard!

TV App Virtual Demo

Let’s take a virtual tour of the Dakota Central TV app! This 2-minute video highlights the features and benefits of the Dakota Central TV app- available to stream on Amazon, Apple and Android devices!

Campground Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is available at Spiritwood Lake, Pelican Point and Smokey’s Landing! Here’s how to connect:

· In your Wi-Fi settings, find the network “Campground_Wifi” at Pelican Point or Smokey’s Landing, or “Spiritwood_Lake_Campground” at Spiritwood Lake.

· Choose the network, and this page will pop-up in your web browser:

· If you choose “Free Access” you will have access to Wi-Fi for 15 minutes.

· Once the 15 minutes have expired you will need to subscribe to a plan in order to continue using Wi-Fi.

· To subscribe, click “Sign Up” under Subscribe Now! and choose your plan.

If you have issues connecting, call 952-1000 and we’ll be happy to help!

Manage Recordings

Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Apple TV

There are two tabs: Recorded (programs that are available to view) and Scheduled (upcoming programs that are scheduled to record). Content is grouped by Series and Movies within each tab section.

When the user selects a series, the user sees a list of the recorded episodes. In addition to various actions that can be taken. These actions take effect either at the series level or the episode level.

At the episode level, the user can choose the following actions: Play, Info (visit the details page) or Delete. If the episode is currently recording, the user will see two additional options: Stop (ends the recording at its current position) and Extend (enables users to add additional time to the recording which is primarily relevant for sports programming). 

At the series level, the user can choose from the following actions: Recording Options, Cancel Series Recording, or Delete all Recordings.

  • Recording Options. When selected, an additional menu appears in which the user can select to record New Only or New & Reruns. The user may also indicate the channels on which they would like to record the series and whether they would like to extend the recording on an ongoing basis.
  • Cancel Series Recording. When selected, a message will appear requesting confirmation that the user would like to setup an ongoing recording for or cancel all future recordings. This action does not delete any recordings.
  • Delete All Recordings. When selected, a message will appear requesting confirmation that the user would like to delete all existing episode recordings. This action does not affect the status of ongoing scheduled recordings.

When the user selects a movie from the Recorded content list, on overlay will appear with the options of Play, Stop, and Info.

If the user wants to cancel a recording that is in progress, they may select stop recording from the inline info module on the live guide, and a dialogue box will appear verifying that they no longer want to record the program.

Mobile

iPad

Recorded Episode List

Android Tablet

Parental Controls

Parental controls enable users to restrict mature content. When parental controls are enabled, the user will need to enter a PIN to play any content with a parental guidance rating of TV-MA, R, NC-17 or NR regardless of the profile.

In order to set up parental controls, the user will need to set up a PIN, which will remain until the it is changed. When parental controls are enabled, they will take effect on all devices associated with the account.

If the user does not remember their PIN, there is an option to select Forgot Pin. This will bring up Operator’s support number that the user may call for assistance.

TV – Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Apple TV

Profiles

Profiles allow households with multiple members to have a truly personalized experience in terms of recommendations, resume watching, recently watched and subscriptions. 

Adding and managing profiles can be performed on the Manage Profiles screen available from settings on TV and PC. 

Each time an authenticated user launches the app and there is more than one profile on the account, a Who’s Watching? screen appears.

Given that phones are not shared by multiple individuals in the same way that a tablet, TV or PC can be, the last active profile on the device will be automatically active for mobile users (i.e., they will not see the Who’s Watching? screen) unless they switch profiles from settings or have just finished successfully entering in their username and password on account with multiple profiles.