Every computer system has the capability of crashing. Some self-recover better than others, and some manifest it more elegantly than others. Make no mistake, regardless of what kind of computer you are using, your computer can crash. I am not particularly loyal to one hardware set or to one operating system. I use them all…
Recently I told you several things that you need to know about passwords. Today I’ll give you step by step instructions on how to make a strong, secure password that will meet requirements and that you will eventually remember. Trust me, you CAN remember them. The sentence method: Open up a program on your computer…
All logins are not created equal, and they don’t all need to be. There are some places I visit on the web that don’t need a secure login, because they aren’t storing anything significant about me. I have a login for my RSS reader (if you want to know what an RSS reader is, check…
Truth: Microsoft Technicians are NOT going to call you and offer to help fix your computer. That means that anyone who calls you claiming to be a Microsoft Technician is NOT telling you the truth. There is no division within Microsoft tasked with calling users to help them fix their computers. Furthermore, there is no…
With the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico is enjoying a rare sleet/snow/freezing rain storm, most roads are closed and most businesses have put their operations on hold. This has left me with an opportunity to catch up on several projects that have been quite neglected, and it has provided me with a reminder that…
A reporter from Wired magazine recently got schooled in password security, which generated a lot of conversation in the tech space on keeping yourself safe in cyberspace. There is one simple thing to do to stay safe in cyberspace: stay out of it. Yeah right. That’s what I thought. So here’s the rundown: Strong passwords,…
I remember the early days of spam emails, before there was a way to block them. There weren’t nearly as many as there are today, but we still spent a lot of time keeping our mailboxes clean. It was pretty easy to spot one, too. They were always selling something, and it was always obvious…
What do Bill Gates, Hans Vestberg, John Thompson, John Donahoe, and Alan Mulally have in common? If you don’t know, you’re not alone, and if you don’t follow these circles nobody would blame you. Throw in the name Steve Ballmer and something might ring a bell, but I won’t keep you guessing. Steve Ballmer has…
When you finish up with your bank, or your credit card, or your electric company, make sure you look up for that little button or link that says “Log Off” and click on it. These websites have put lots of security in place but the session is still open. Even if you close the browser…
Multi-core processing is one of those terms that geeks love to use when they tell people about their computers because having multiple cores means wonderful things. Let’s start on what a processor is: A processor is a component that processes instructions from the different programs and makes outputs. That’s obviously a simplified explanation, but that’s…