6 Things You Should Know About Flash Drives

These little gizmos are fabulous, aren’t they? They make it so easy to carry around everything you could ever need, in some cases even a whole operating system! I have some very geeky friends who have some distribution of Linux on a flash drive, and all they have to do is plug it into some computer somewhere and they have […]

The Top Things to Do To Avoid Malware

As a tech professional, it’s my job to clean up after computer “accidents.” But a more important aspect of my job is keeping them from happening. There is a lot of information on the web directed at cyber safety, and most of it is good.  But there is one thing that you can do more to keep you safe than any other […]

Is Your Computer Hurting You?

We live very different lives than our ancestors did just a generation ago. Many more of us work in some sort of office environment than our parents’ generation. While being a digital device user may not carry as many physical hazards as factory or farm or other industrial work, it is not without any risk at all. Eyestrain, poor posture, […]

You Can’t Just Surf Anymore

It never was really safe to just surf around and clickety-click on interesting-looking stuff, but it just keeps getting truer and truer (is that grammatically correct?) that you have got to pay attention to what you’re doing on the web. You’ve got to pay attention when you get an email with a link or an attachment. (See Cryptolocker) You’ve got […]

Before You Send That Resume…

Before you send that resume, you might want to take a look at your social media profiles, and the stuff you’ve put “out there,” and see what they say about you. While I doubt the validity of requiring your Facebook login ID and password would stand up in any court, employers have ways of checking your online life without it. […]

To Defrag or Not To Defrag??

It doesn’t seem like very long ago that I was recommending to folks that they defragment their hard drives once a month. As with all progress, what was once Best Practices is now either no longer necessary, or downright inappropriate. When hard drives were 40GB and smaller, defragmentation was necessary to make sure all your files were together and not […]

Please Tell Me Your Wi-Fi Has a Password

Regardless of the method used to connect to the internet, if you use a wireless router or access point, IT NEEDS A PASSWORD–and it needs to NOT be set as “password.” If you use U-VERSE from AT&T, the password is on the bottom of the device, and it’s a good password. I don’t know how much configuration you can do […]

Microsoft is Not Calling You!

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 process within your operating system […]

LOG OFF!!!

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 window your credentials could still […]