The Thank-You-for-Your-Purchase Scam

A common email scam starts with a message, stating you made a purchase, when you truly didn’t. The Thank-You-for-Your-Purchase Scam may appear to come from Microsoft or any number of well-known companies. Click here or here to view some examples of this scam. $500 for “Microsoft Windows Defender Firewall Online”? Many people will miss that … Read more

Vote by Mail

The pandemic has many citizens looking to vote by mail this autumn, and the time to get ready for this is now. If voting by mail is permitted in your state, it will take some paperwork & waiting to get you confirmed for it. For those interested, go to https://www.usa.gov/election-office and choose the state in … Read more

The COVIDWISE App

UPDATE: In May 2023, this app was retired. For more info, please see: The Commonwealth of Virginia now offers an app that will help in the fight against COVID-19. If you install and activate this free app, it will notify you if you might’ve been exposed to (someone with) the coronavirus. For more information and … Read more

Fax without a Fax Machine

Faxing is almost extinct, but a few companies and industries still ask customers to fax them. This can be a real inconvenience, since most of us no longer have a fax machine. Or a landline, for that matter! If you need to fax without having a fax machine of your own, consider: Many libraries, some … Read more

Wet Electronics & The Rice Myth

When a phone gets wet, many people immediately rush to get a bag of rice. Don’t do this. Resting a soaked phone among dry grains of rice does very little to draw out moisture. And it can encourage starchy particles to get up inside your device, worsening its condition. I know this may hard to … Read more

Fakespot.com

When shopping online, most people rely on product reviews to determine whether to buy something. But some sellers seek to game the system and generate (numerous!) fake reviews on their product listings. Maybe they do this to offset negative reviews or to create false demand; regardless, it amounts to deception. And it’s such a widespread … Read more