Microsoft 365’s Deceptive Price Hike

If you subscribe to Microsoft 365, you may have seen their significant price increase in January 2025. Oh, you didn’t notice? Microsoft 365 Personal jumped from $70/yr to $100/yr, while Microsoft 365 Family increased from $100/yr to $130/yr. If this came in below your radar, that’s because Microsoft did it on the QT. And that’s … Read more

Amazon Price Tracking

If you shop on the Amazon website, I’m sure you’ve noticed many discounts and “good deals”. But those deals are often not that good. There are lies and manipulation afoot, to convince you you’re getting a bargain. You can dispel some of the illusion if you use an Amazon Price Tracking tool. Amazon Price Tracking … Read more

Traptops in 2023 v2.0

Just last month, I went on at length about traptops on this blog. I’m sorry to say that I have to return to this topic, as people are bringing to my attention some even sneakier traptops. Let’s pull open the drapes on these shenanigans, so fewer people get taken by this trickery. Here we go … Read more

Traptops in 2023

There is a class of laptop that I refer to as a “traptop”. Buying this class of computer is akin to stepping in a trap, and I have warned my readers about these in past years. And here I am again, writing about Traptops in 2023, because they are changing and still causing harm to … Read more

Online Piracy

Please avoid online piracy. And by piracy, I mean: Downloading movies/music/software from ersatz sources without paying for them. Just don’t do it. You’ll live to regret it. I won’t preach or get all moral about this. That’s for other people to do. And I can’t judge; I’m sure I’ve poached an album or two, back … Read more

Brushing Scams

Here’s a scam that you should know about, but not because it’s particularly dangerous. It’s just weird. But once you know the details about brushing scams, they won’t creep you out, and you can quickly move on from them. Surprise‽ When an unexpected item arrives at your doorstep, it may be part of a brushing … Read more

The End of the Line for Windows 8

For those of you still using Windows 8 computers, you’ll soon meet with legitimate popup messages, as shown below: This is not a scam, and Microsoft is telling you the truth. Windows 8 reaches the end of its lifecycle on 1/10/2023. But Don’t Panic! Here are more details to help you navigate what’s next. You … Read more

Pirate Ship for Cheaper Postage

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! Have ye heard of PirateShip.com? Avast, me hearties: If yer shipping out lots of booty, say, from yer eBay or Etsy stores, this could save you lots of doubloons! At Pirate Ship, you can create a free account for calculating and creating shipping labels for your outbound parcels. It … Read more

Finding Secondhand Books

“Used books,” as if someone else has had the best of them and you get the sere husk, or the lees, as if a book isn’t the one thing, the one product, that is forever new. There’s no such thing as a used book. Or there’s no such thing as a book if it’s not … Read more