Working from home, social distancing and adjusting to how we use the Internet all are topics of concern right now. When using video conferencing software, turn off the video to improve your audio quality or at least reduce the video quality (aka bitrate—usually some number with bps or just p after it.) Schedule who needs […]
Category Archives: Software
Facebook Info and Google Tips
Facebook is revealing more information about what they track across the Internet, and they also have options available to control how they track you. Their new tool is called “Off-Facebook Activity,” and you can find it under “Settings” then “Your Facebook Information.” You can even cut down on future tracking, but all that really does […]
Virus Updates and Trackpad Hacks
Despite ending support for Windows 7 on January 14 of this year, Microsoft will continue updating the virus signatures for Microsoft Security Essentials, their anti-virus software. This doesn’t mean total protection, but Microsoft seems to be realizing that not everyone is going to jump to Windows 10 by the middle of January. Google’s Chrome browser […]
Tips for Phone and Computer Security
The iPhone has a reputation of being hard to hack, but how can you know for sure? There’s an app for that. Although Apple has strongly limited access to data that security tools would like to access to tell if the phone has been compromised, a new app called iVerify includes a series of detailed […]
Protect Your Computer and Yourself
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) are a necessary addition to protecting your computer (and other electronics) from both power spikes and power drops or brownout conditions. UPSs are a combination of a battery and a surge protector, with some of the outlets just providing surge protection and the remaining ones designed to provide battery power. The […]
Windows Security and Updates
One of the top antivirus programs for Windows 10 is Microsoft’s free Windows Defender, which is surprising to many who feel that free programs are less capable. The independent IT security institute AV-TEST found that Windows Defender was one of a few programs to attain top scores across its testing criteria. One of the least […]