Protect Yourself from the Equifax Data Breach

The Equifax credit breach was a bad one. A VERY bad one. There’s an excellent chance your information was stolen.   What can you do? Check to make sure your info was involved, and then put a fraud alert on your credit. That will make it impossible for a hacker to open new credit with […]

I’m About to Go out of Town. Should I Turn My Computer Off?

Under normal circumstances, yes. But there are exceptions. Do you use your computer as a media server with Plex or something similar? Then leaving it on allows you to watch your shows remotely, thanks to the digital age. Is it tied into your home somehow, perhaps monitoring your smart devices? You can probably access your […]

Don’t Get Scammed with a Cashier’s Check!

Be smart, folks. Scammers are everywhere. I have my business phone number on my website as well as on this public page. I was contacted this last weekend by someone who claimed that they worked for a large company which I do have a working relationship with. He wanted me to reformat the hard rives […]

Bring Your Computer Back to Life with Linux

In the 80’s and 90’s, computers were making quantum leaps in speed every few years which made old equipment hopelessly obsolete. That progress has slowed, to the degree that a ten-year-old computer can still have a lot of life in it, especially if it’s running Linux. There are Linux distros that will remind you of […]

Keep those Browser Add-ons Under Control

Add-ons are essential for web browsers. But too many can turn your browser into a dog.   If your web browser has been dragging its feet lately, go into your settings and see what add-ons you’re using. You may have some on there that you never use, despite their being there using your system resources. […]

How About a Chromebook?

What do you use your computer for? Surfing the internet? Reading email? Creating/reading documents? Looking at pictures from your phone? You might be a good candidate for a Chromebook.   The Chromebook is a computer that uses the internet to work. It does have an offline mode, but by and large it depends on a […]

Surf Safely Incognito

Your smartphone’s web browser has a secret weapon that will help you stay infection-free: on Chrome, it’s called incognito. Open a new incognito tab, and you have a session that’s “sandboxed,” i.e. anything that you do gets erased when you close the browser.   Use the incognito function whenever you can. Your phone or tablet […]

Don’t Let Your Documents Get Out of Control

Keep your files organized. If you have a couple of dozen files called “New Document” followed by a number, then go through them, and either give them meaningful names or delete them.   Create a folder called “Archived” in your Documents folder and move anything there that you haven’t used in the last year.   […]

Check that Rumor Before You Pass It On

Facebook is fake rumor central. Example: Jayden K. Smith the hacker. That one has been kicking around since 2009. When someone forwards you a message warning about some dire evil on Facebook, and asks you to pass it on, why not take a minute and type it into Google and see what comes up.   […]

Does My Choice of Web Browser Make a Difference in how the Internet Acts?

Absolutely. The internet runs on an open standard: HTMl. Web browsers vary as to how well they translate it into the web pages that you see, Chrome and Opera are just about the best, Firefox and Edge are not too far behind. Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer bring up the back of the pack. […]