Have I Been Pwned?

Data breaches are so frequent, that it’s quite likely your email or phone number has been involved in one. It’s usually not your fault. When hackers get through a big company’s security, they may take a copy of whatever valuable account data they can. That can include your name, email, phone number, password… Even worse, … Read more

Brief Freeze-Up Bug in Google Chrome

I’m hearing a lot of reports that Google Chrome is frequently freezing up. But only for several seconds, and then it unfreezes. Other report that refreshing & reloading the page seems to shake things loose… until they walk away for a few minutes and return to yet another stuck page. In any case, it’s an … Read more

Vaccines.Gov

Need help getting your COVID-19 vaccine? Check out Vaccines.gov, for everyone in the USA. Give the website your zip code and it’ll offer you a long list of pharmacies, stores and other companies nearby that offer vaccination appointments. Call any listing to check your eligibility, or to schedule. You can also search for locations offering … Read more

The Norton Auto-Renewal Scam

Many people get annual emails that announce upcoming antivirus auto-renewal charges. So the Norton Auto-Renewal Scam tends to works well, because it lines up with people’s expectations: There is nothing true about this message, yet it still grabs people and compels them reach for the phone. The urge to undo that $500+ charge almost blocks … Read more

Shentel Email Scam for April 2021

Shentel Email users, beware the latest email scam coming to your inboxes!: This message is not from Shentel! If you look closely, you’ll see it came from an odd address ending in “buckeye-express.com”. DO NOT CLICK the Update button, as it will take you to a deceptive website. I’ll show that website here, without putting … Read more

Windows File Manager

These days, we use File Explorer to navigate the files and folders on a PC, but back in 1990, Win 3.0 offered the first tool for organizing your data: Windows File Manager. If you want to relive a small part of Windows 3.0, you can get the Windows File Manager for your modern computer, for … Read more

Paywalls & Private Browsing

Last month, I posted the basics about Private Browsing, but I skipped mentioning one of its important uses: Bypassing paywalls. When a website insists that you pay for access, Private Browsing can sometimes get you in without payment or logging in. This most commonly works for news websites and other pages that offer you “5 … Read more

The FCC Wants to Hear from You!

The Federal Communications Commission offers a broadband map website, where you can research internet offerings in your region. But there’s a problem with it. It’s based only on self-reported ISP data. This government tool is only as good as what the ISPs tell the feds about themselves. To improve the situation, the FCC has just … Read more

The Cricut Debacle

If you have a Cricut device or are thinking of purchasing one, you should definitely be aware of this news: Recently, Cricut made a change to their product, and it angered a large part of their user base. Cricut users learned that they would soon be subject to a 20-file per month limit, unless they … Read more