Author: Bill Scobie
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Daily Reads
I am always interested in what people read on a daily basis on the web so here is what I read and why I read it. I am sure you won’t be surprised by its slant towards the geeky. slashdot.org One of the first geek oriented sites to pull together stories submitted by the community,…
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Getting offline after death
And, now for something that we don’t think about that much with the internet. planning for what happens to our virtual selves after death, what to do with all of our virtual affairs. There are at least two parts to this, the first one is to have a list of all the logins and passwords…
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Keeping it all up to date and clean in Windows
Here is the challenge, you know you are supposed to keep all your software up to date, you have come to realize that Microsoft Windows will download updates in the background and even force you to install the important ones when you shut down the computer, but what about all of the other things you…
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Playing it safe on public wifi networks
Public wifi networks are great when they are free, like they now are at Starbucks, but you should practice some basic safety. Most public wifi networks do not use encryption passwords to get on, it makes it easier for the baristas and cashiers who don’t have to troubleshoot why the password isn’t working on your…
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Facebook and your friends
It is great fun to use Facebook and yet do you know what they are doing with your information? They recently enhanced their service with “Like” (a part of their Social plugins program) which Facebook is touting as a great way to share even more with your friends However, it also could end up letting…
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Three fingers to terminate pesky programs
There are times when a program freezes, either on a Mac or a PC, when nothing seems to work and most people reach for the power button and push it for five or so seconds to turn off the computer (or they will pull the power cord, and the battery if the computer is a…
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iPad mania
April 3rd is the day the rest of us may experience what could be either a laptop screen without a keyboard or just an iPhone on steroids. So, what can the iPad really be? Although I am not one of those blessed with time and access to play with one of the prototypes, I did…
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Passwords, where to keep them
You have to have passwords on the internet, for email, banking, online purchasing, even those sites that require you to register and sign in just to see more information. Everyone says not to use the same login and password for all those places, but there are very few people who can actually remember all of…
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Corners of knowledge
Adobe has fixed some serious security flaws in their PDF Reader, Acrobat Reader, so you should go to http://get.adobe.com/reader/ and follow the steps to update your Acrobat Reader. While you are there, update Adobe Flash Player also, as it has also been updated with security fixes last fall, http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ is the place for that update.…
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2010 Computer resolutions
Subscribe to podcasts so that you can listen to those radio shows you keep missing. Back up data, spend less money ahead of time than you will have to after a hard drive crash. Use less paper and ink, learn to use your printer’s draft mode and figure out if refilled cartridges work as well…
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Computer shortcut heaven
In trying to come up with my top ten keyboard shortcuts, the ones where people say, “Wait, what did you just do?” I have come up with the following 13. But, in my defense, I could say that cut, copy, and paste may not count, as many people may have already learned those keyboard shortcuts.…
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Don’t get tagged in sending SPAM
Don’t get tagged in sending SPAM Wanting to keep up with everyone to see their latest photos, you feel you should be using the latest in technology and services on the Web. But this can lead to embarrassing moments like signing up just to see some photos from a friend and then finding out that…