This month I have decided to present short insights into the loss of personally identifiable data or identity theft. I will start by looking at some recent data hacks. Data Hacks First, let me point out that I worked for Marriott for many years, but the insights I share about the Marriott breach last November are not based on insider information. The numbers when they were first reported said over 500 million people had their identities compromised. That is more than every ma

I ended my last column talking about games as Christmas gifts, and that has inspired me to write more about the state of electronic games today. The earliest popular video games that were released in the arcades of the 1970s include “Pong,” “Breakout,” and “Space Invaders.” These fairly simple games were built using discrete components and not the microprocessors that were just hitting the market at that time. Nolan Bushnell created Atari and hired a young electronic technici

It's that time of year again where we help the non-technical spouse, sibling, or friend identify gifts for the techno-geeks in their lives. Let's peek inside Santa's bag to see what might be in there. Last Year's Toys Last year we talked about televisions, Raspberry Pi computers, 3D printers, and cell phones. These are all good gifts again this year but with updates. 3D Printer Update It is now possible to find 3D printers for under $100. Kossel Style 3D printers made by LE

This morning I woke up to read that Paul Allen has died. Paul Allen along with his better known partner Bill Gates created the company we know as Microsoft. I also read an article stating that there were no longer any individual inventor's, only large teams of people working together. So keeping these two ideas in mind it occurred to me to write about those people that made large contributions to the technology world we know today. These people are not presented in any ord

We all have telephones in our homes or pockets but this technology is abused by scammers to the point that many of us no longer want to answer our phones unless it is a number that we recognize. Common Scams I work out of my home and I get many phone calls every day. Only one or two of these calls are legitimate. Most are from people trying to scam me out of money or private information. Let's look at the scams are encounter the most. Credit Card Scams I get several of the

It's that time of year again, and this month we have our annual back-to-school column. This year, let's start by taking a look at the equipment your student may need. The Computer Most students heading off for college will need a laptop computer. If your student is in a science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) program, you should be looking for a computer with an Intel Core I5 CPU, 8 gigabytes of RAM, a 512-gigabyte or larger hard drive, and a 1920 by 1080 (or higher)

Multi-factor Authentication I know you have seen in movies where the action character needs to break into a high-security building, and he must determine a way to capture the handprint or retinal scan of a person authorized to enter and play those back for the scanner to unlock the vault. This month, we will discuss practical, multi-factor authentication techniques that are available to the typical technology user. Multi-factor or two-factor authentication schemes typically

More Linux So last month we discussed the Linux operating system. This month, I want to explore Linux more and cover how to explore Linux without installing it by using a Live DVD or USB drive. I also want to touch on how you can use Linux to help in a number of common situations. Linux Live Linux is an operating system that can replace Windows on your computer. Normally, an operating system like Linux either replaces or coexists with your current operating system. Many Linux

Linux According to Wired magazine, 67% of the computers running the Internet are powered by Linux. So what is Linux, and is it only for servers or can it be useful for personal computers? I will try to answer these questions in this month's column. What is Linux Linux is an operating system created in the early 90's by a Finnish computer science Student name Linus Torvalds. We will get back to Linux’s origins in a moment; first, let's explain "operating system." The operatin

Space I know that most of my columns are about personal technology including computers, software, and security, but I thought I would go a little further out this month and look at what is going on in the space launch arena. I have been a fan of anything having to do with space ever since I watched the John Glenn flight as a young boy. Space is again a wonder as it transitions from government-developed technology to commercial technologies. This month, I want to take a quick

Windows Firewall In computer speak, a firewall is a barrier that controls the messages that are allowed to enter or exit your computer. It helps to understand a little about how the computer network operates to understand a firewall. Each computer has an address, the IP address that is used to uniquely identify that computer on the network. Each address has just over 65,000 ports numbered from 1 to 65,535. Ports are used to make incoming or outgoing connections between comput

I frequently use a topic I call "low-hanging fruit" when I speak at events and meetings. These presentations tend to be about effectively using the security tools you may already have in place. Of course, many people do not know about tools that are readily available to them. I thought I would take this month's column and provide a tour of the security and privacy tools that can be easily accessed by the typical Windows 10 computer users and describe some of the things to loo

This month we will cover several topics. First, it is time to change all of your passwords again. Remember to use a different password for each website and make sure your passwords are at least 12 characters long with a mix of numbers, upper- and lower-case letters, and symbols. My recommended technique can be used to generate secure passwords for most websites. This technique requires us to create rules for creating passwords. Your rules should be different from the ones sho

Have a Virtual New Year This month, I thought I would use a theme for the column using completely different topics that all use the word "virtual." This includes virtual reality (VR), virtual machines (VM), and virtual private networking (VPN). Let's start with VPN. Virtual Private Networking Networking in this context is connecting two or more computers together. Most modern computers have network hardware and software built-in allowing connections to a network (typically Et

Gifting Technology It's that time of year again where we help the nontechnical spouse, sibling, or friend identify gifts for the techno-geeks in their lives. Let's peek inside Santa's bag to see what might be in there. If You Didn't Buy It Last Year Last year, we talked about televisions, Raspberry Pi computers, 3D printers, and cell phones. These are all good gifts again this year, but the suggestions have changed. The 3D printer space hasn't changed much, but the prices are

Phones Part 2 This month, we continue our discussion of telephones. We ended last month discussing how Internet phone companies provide the bridge between Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Internet phones often use the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to make telephone connections between Internet phones. An Internet phone can be a dedicated VoIP device, or it can be an application that runs on your computer, mobile phone,

This month, I thought it might be nice to look at a technology that is both old and new, the telephone. We all should know that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and publicly demonstrated the new technology in 1876. The basic principles of the "copper wire" telephone have remained the same ever since. What many people do not know is that he also demonstrated a light wave-based form of communication in Washington. DC, years before voice was transmitted over radio, a

It is back to school time again. Last year at this time, we looked at the traditional office suites, free books, and tools to learn programming and new languages. This year we will stay with the theme but look at other learning tools. Encyclopedias and Dictionaries Research for many children begins with the encyclopedia. When I was young, we went to the library and read the World Book Encyclopedia. Today, most people know about Wikipedia (https://www.wikipedia.com). Wikipedia

Everybody seems to be talking about the "Internet of things" or IoT. The Internet of things has many definitions but conceptually it is the idea that we can attach devices, some with limited intelligence, to a network that eventually connects to the Internet. If you have a smart phone for example, (like an Android Phone or an iPhone) it is a thing on the Internet and is a part of the Internet of Things. This month we will look at IoT devices in your home that you may not even

Talk to Your Device In the original Star Trek TV series, the crew of the Star Ship Enterprise would simply say "Computer," and the ship's computer would respond in a computer voice with an answer to their questions. Fifty years later, voice response capability is nearly ubiquitous working with devices small enough to fit into our pockets. Today, you can talk with your phone, your TV remote, your computer, or though special devices like the Amazon Echo or Google Assistant. I