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

Norton Power Eraser

Norton Power Eraser is another one-time scan tool for Windows computers. Similar to AdwCleaner and Stinger, it will scour your PC for malware and other baddies and offer to remove them. If you are concerned that something got past your full-time antivirus, this is another good tool to run. https://support.norton.com/sp/static/external/tools/npe.html NPE is a little different … Read more

Is This Thing On?

Are we being surveilled by our devices? I don’t know for sure. Important people at Facebook and Amazon insist their apps are not snooping on us. They swear their apps only access your microphone with your permission, and only when you’re using the app. But I can’t say I’ve ever been 100% convinced by their … Read more