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What you need to know and do about Windows updates In May 2017 one of the largest ransomware attacks of all time struck more than 100 countries, thousands of businesses and affected millions of computers. When users tried to open a file on their computers, they got a scary screen message announcing that they’d been…
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Part two of a three-part story. This is the second installment of our series about how easy it is for you to get hacked when using the free Internet at a coffee shop or airport. In Part One, we saw how a hacker (Mr. H.) was able to see the Internet activity of others at…
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Let’s play word association, just like when a psychologist asks you what comes to mind when you hear certain words: What do you think when you hear the words “Opera. Safari. Chrome. Firefox.” If you think of the Broadway play version of “The Lion King,” maybe it is time to see a psychologist. However, if…
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Internet privacy is a hot topic. Today, people are wondering if government agencies are capturing their online information and reading their emails. With what’s come out in the news the past year, that concern is understandable. More importantly, people want to know — if the government asks the leading websites for peoples’ private data, do…
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The anonymous Internet is not as scary as you think. What is being “anonymous” online? It doesn’t mean that you don’t have an identity online. For the everyday computer user, it simply means a few things: That you can go online to any website and you won’t be blocked because of your IP address. That…
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A Web beacon is a hidden, transparent, but nonetheless “graphic” image that finds its way onto your computer. They’re small “objects” that are embedded into a webpage or an email and are “activated” when you visit the site or open the email. Web beacons are placed on a website or in an email and they…
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How to prevent your smartphone from being hacked What are the signs that your phone has been hacked? Today’s smartphones can do MORE than computers did 30 years ago, and can do more than some of today’s laptops, at least in terms of versatility. That’s great news for those of us who have active online…
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Has your computer been moving slower than normal? There may be a reason—malicious software. When the performance of our hardware begins to behave unusually, our default reaction is to think that it’s a virus. Though a virus is always a possibility, more often than not the issue is a specific type of infection known as…
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Your browser is your gateway to the World Wide Web but it’s also how hackers, drive-by downloaders, and other malicious actors can get into your computer. Installing security-focused browser extensions that block pop-up advertisements and completely encrypt website traffic from being monitored or tracked will definitely increase your privacy—and may even speed up your browser.…
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How to Prevent a Stolen Laptop (or Stolen Phone) and the Data on It While many criminals today are finding ways to steal information from the comfort of their home by using malware, there still exists the thief who seeks the thrill of the touch—the touch of your phone or laptop, that is. The sad…
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Did you know there are a handful of steps you can take today that can help you protect your browser and your personal information? Many of the things you can do involve changing the privacy menu settings/options on the Internet browsers you use or your favorite social media websites. Those options have been there all…
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Whether your portable computer is new or a few years old, following a few tried and true laptop-tips can help it last for years. Having a laptop is more convenient for most active people than being tied to a desk with an unportable computer. Students, novelists, salespeople and entrepreneurs rely on their laptops to do…
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Much like the famous LoJack for cars, LoJack for Laptops does nothing until needed; that is, when you report your laptop’s theft the company’s recovery experts start the recovery process. Over 100 devices are lost or stolen every minute and more than 12,000 laptops disappear weekly from U.S. airports alone. According to the Computer Security…
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Kodi is free, open-source, home theater software that turns any computer, smartphone or tablet into a digital set-top box or streamer. Kodi acts as a playable media library that not only stores and plays media files, but also intuitively organizes information on its own. That is, when you add movies you own, Kodi will download…
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What do you mean I have two IP addresses? One day, as you’re poking around your computer’s networking preferences or maybe hooking up a new router, you might suddenly become aware of an interesting bit of information. There are two different IP addresses involved with you’re getting online and connected to the world. There’s the…
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A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is essential for anyone who wants more security on the Internet because it addresses the top three online concerns: security, privacy, and anonymity. Along those lines, a VPN kill switch is a feature you want on your Virtual Private Network. It helps ensure your IP address isn’t accidentally and unexpectedly…
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Hey, Mom—you know how Uncle Steve gave me his old desktop to use when I started high school? Well, it works for school stuff just fine, but there’s a bit of a problem, at least in my eyes. That’s because the computer just doesn’t let me do other things I really want to do. You…
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From the beginning, computers had games you could play. Today, PC-based games have become more sophisticated because of the technological advances in computer chips, animation software, and computer hardware. Even though you can play many of today’s games on today’s new computers, to play the more sophisticated games, and to get more out of your…
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DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line, and it’s one of the many technologies used to bring an Internet connection and information into homes and businesses. What makes DSL unique is that it uses existing telephone lines/connections, with special adaptations. DSL started to become popular in the 1980s and 1990s. In the early days of the…
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Hard drive. Memory stick. Keyboard. Monitor. Those are all pretty straightforward and well-known computer terms. And then there’s the dongle. Yes, dongle. It must be the strangest name since the “scuzzy” port/connector from days past, which derived from “SCSI” (Small Computer System Interface). The word dongle has been around for a long time, but its…
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Over a decade ago, someone estimated that there were 70 million computer crashes every day around the world. 70 million! And that doesn’t even factor in other dangers to your devices, like theft, ransomware, or getting dropped on a hard surface or into water. If something like this happened to your phone or computer, how…
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What you should know about viruses, malware, IP impersonators, and more. Have you ever had a computer suddenly go bad on you? Maybe the programs just froze all the time, or maybe you could no longer go on the Internet without a lot of strange things happening? You may have thought it turned to the…
[Read More]Please be aware that the use of proxy servers without the express permission from the owner of the proxy server may be illegal in some states and/or countries. Use them at your own risk. Use your favorite search engine and search for ‘proxy server list’. You’ll find many sites with lists of proxy servers, their…
[Read More]Sometimes technical terms are both misleading and confusing. Here’s an example: user-agent. It sounds as if it could be someone who represents your rights as a computer user. But it’s not. Or maybe it’s what you call a spy for a software company that tracks your online behavior. But that’s not correct either. The fact…
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The way you plug things into new computers is changing. An article about the history of computer cables might seem uninteresting, even unimportant. And maybe even boring. However, this article about cables we use every day is somewhat important. (If it isn’t today, it will definitely be someday—and maybe for you, sooner than you think.)…
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