Tech Sense October 2023: Using our Tools: The Spreadsheet
As long promised, I am now ready to begin my “Using our tools” series on the spreadsheet. Dan Bricklin developed Visicalc, considered by...
top of page
An All Volunteer Newspaper
contact us at
editor@beltsvillenewstoday.com
Enter your email in the box below if you would like a pdf of the paper emailed to you each month.
tech sense
John Bell
- Aug 8
- 4 min
Tech Sense August 2023: Back 2 School 2023
Back to School 2023 Another August and another school year. Welcome to our annual Back to School Edition of Tech Sense. The last two...
1 view
John Bell
- Jul 4
- 5 min
Tech Sense July 2023: Phishing
Phishing This month I thought I would revise an article I wrote about three years ago. This year I am thinking about my vacation and...
1 view
John Bell
- May 23
- 4 min
Tech Sense June 2023: June Potpourri
June Potpourri Last month I had the opportunity to do a presentation for the Laurel Senior Friendship Club. We designed this as a...
5 views
John Bell
- Apr 28
- 5 min
Tech Sense May 2023: World Password Day 2023
World Password Day 2023 May the 4th be with you. This year World Password Day occurs on Star Wars Day. It seems like such a long time...
14 views
John Bell
- Mar 29
- 4 min
Tech Sense April 2023: Using our Tools: The Word Processor pt. 3
Part 1 of this series is available here. Part 2 of this series is available here. Word Processing Part 3 This month we conclude our...
1 view
John Bell
- Feb 27
- 4 min
Tech Sense March 2023: Using our Tools: The Word Processor pt. 2
Part 1 of this series is available here. Word Processing Part 2 This month we continue our “Using our Tools” discussion of the Word...
7 views
John Bell
- Jan 25
- 4 min
Tech Sense February 2023: Using our Tools: The Word Processor
Using our Tools: The Word Processor This month we continue the “Using our Tools” series with the Word Processor. Word processing was one...
5 views
John Bell
- Dec 19, 2022
- 5 min
Tech Sense January 2023: Using your Tools: The Browser pt. 3
Part 1 of this column can be found by clicking here. Part 2 of this column can be found by clicking here The Browser Part 3 So here we...
11 views
John Bell
- Nov 29, 2022
- 4 min
Tech Sense December 2022: Using your Tools: The Browser pt. 2
FYI: Part 1 of this column can be found by clicking here. The Browser Part 2 This month we will continue our “Using our Tools” series and...
5 views
John Bell
- Nov 3, 2022
- 4 min
Tech Sense November 2022: Shopping for Holiday Tech
Shopping for Holiday Tech 2022 In some ways I am feeling the way Costco must feel when they start to put Christmas merchandise out in...
14 views
John Bell
- Sep 30, 2022
- 4 min
Tech Sense October 2022: Using your Tools: The Browser
Using your Tools: The Browser We have been back to school for a few weeks now and I thought it might be time to learn how to better use...
10 views
John Bell
- Sep 1, 2022
- 4 min
Tech Sense September 2022: Back to School!
Back to School 2022 School is about to start again, and for the first time in a long time we are expecting a more normal school year with...
4 views
John Bell
- Aug 1, 2022
- 3 min
Tech Sense August 2022: Finding Ebooks
Finding eBooks This month I am on vacation as I write the column. As a result, I will be revisiting a topic I last touched on in 2019 to...
5 views
John Bell
- Jul 10, 2022
- 4 min
Tech Sense July 2022: Upgrade
Upgrade This month I thought I would briefly cover a variety of topics, staring with updates you may want to consider for your home and...
8 views
John Bell
- May 27, 2022
- 5 min
Tech Sense June 2022: Computers and Cars
I have been writing this column for several years now and it is hard for me to believe that I have never written about computers and...
7 views
John Bell
- May 6, 2022
- 4 min
Tech Sense May 2022: World Password Day 2022
World Password Day 2022 World Password Day is on May 5th this year and is observed by updating your passwords and verifying your security...
6 views
John Bell
- Mar 28, 2022
- 7 min
Tech Sense April 2022: Q & A
Tech Sense Q&A Every now and then I get questions that I put aside and answer when I have room left in my column. I have accumulated a...
9 views
John Bell
- Mar 1, 2022
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Pi Day March 14
Pi Day - March 14th Monday, March 14th is also known as Pi Day. Pi is of course the number that represents the ratio of a circle’s...
42 views
John Bell
- Dec 31, 2021
- 4 min
Tech Sense: A Safer New Year
A Safer New Year I believe that the New Year is a great time to improve your security posture, so with that in mind I have a few...
4 views
John Bell
- Dec 1, 2021
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Holiday Shopping Ideas 2021
Another Holiday season and we are feeling the economic impacts of nearly two years of COVID. There are shortages of many popular...
5 views
John Bell
- Nov 2, 2021
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Potpourri 2021
Potpourri 2021 This month I thought I might touch on several short topics before we go into the holiday season. Windows 11 Windows 11 was...
5 views
John Bell
- Sep 26, 2021
- 3 min
Tech Sense: Wireless
Wireless This month our topic is wireless technologies. We will try to briefly cover three wireless technologies that we find in our...
10 views
John Bell
- Aug 31, 2021
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Back To School 2021
Back to School 2021 School starts again shortly, are you ready for the new reality? We are not certain where our students are going to...
2 views
John Bell
- Jul 28, 2021
- 3 min
Tech Sense: Space 2021
Space 2021 A number of significant achievements have occurred in space technologies in the past couple of months and I thought I would...
1 view
John Bell
- Jun 24, 2021
- 3 min
Tech Sense: Chip Shortages
Chip Shortages I thought for this month’s column it might be interesting to explore the chip shortage which is having an impact on...
5 views
John Bell
- May 28, 2021
- 3 min
Tech Sense: Ransomware
Ransomware I am writing this in May of 2021. As I drive down US 1 here in Beltsville the gasoline prices have all jumped from about $2.40...
8 views
John Bell
- Apr 30, 2021
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Another World Password Day
Another World Password Day I have been writing this column for just over five years now and I have written five columns (one was in two...
3 views
John Bell
- Mar 28, 2021
- 3 min
Tech Sense: The USB Port
The USB Port As I see it part of the purpose of this column is to give the readers insight into technology. This month I thought I would...
6 views
John Bell
- Feb 25, 2021
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Pi Day March 14
Pi Day - March 14th March 14th is Pi Day. Pi is the number that represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. In...
13 views
John Bell
- Jan 31, 2021
- 4 min
Tech Sense: How Search Engines Work
How Search Engines Work Happy New Year! Welcome to 2021, hopefully a better year. Last week I was asked how search engines like Google or...
5 views
John Bell
- Jan 1, 2021
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Free Gifts for the Privacy Minded
Free Gifts for the Privacy Minded The holiday season is upon us as we work, play, shop, and go to school online. For many of us hours and...
12 views
John Bell
- Nov 25, 2020
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Holiday Shopping Guide 2020
Holiday Shopping Ideas 2020 It's November again and time to prepare for holiday shopping. It seems that many companies are running “Black...
5 views
John Bell
- Nov 2, 2020
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Phone Phishing
Phone Phishing From last month, phishing is a means to try and fraudulently collect money or valuable information from a person using...
38 views
John Bell
- Sep 25, 2020
- 3 min
Tech Sense: Phishing Attacks
Phishing Attacks Continuing our series on security and privacy protection this month, we look at phishing. Phishing is a form of social...
120 views
John Bell
- Aug 30, 2020
- 2 min
Tech Sense: Back to School 2020
Back to School Back to school in 2020 is expected to be a lot different from in the past. Currently, Prince George’s County is planning...
4 views
John Bell
- Aug 1, 2020
- 3 min
Tech Sense: Encryption Tools
Encryption Tools Last month’s column discussed encryption. This month, the column looks at tools used to encrypt data for everyday use....
10 views
John Bell
- Jun 26, 2020
- 2 min
Tech Sense: Encryption
Encryption One way of protecting your data involves a technology known as encryption. When you were a child, you may have owned a toy...
10 views
John Bell
- Jun 26, 2020
- 2 min
Tech Sense: Privacy Protection Strategies
Privacy Protection Strategies This month I am finally returning to my series on privacy and protection. In February we discussed who...
2 views
John Bell
- Apr 23, 2020
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Meetings from Home
Meetings from Home It's been a month now, and here we all are still stuck at home. Last month I deviated from my current series and...
7 views
John Bell
- Mar 27, 2020
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Working from Home
Working from Home Due to the fact that everyone I know is working from home because of the threat posed by the COVID-19 virus, I thought...
10 views
John Bell
- Mar 2, 2020
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Protecting Your Information
Protecting Your Information This is the third in my series on privacy and security. Last month, I reviewed one method of creating secure...
9 views
John Bell
- Mar 2, 2020
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Time to Change Your Passwords
Time to Change Your Passwords This month starts my sixth year writing this column. Each year I have written at least one column on...
5 views
John Bell
- Feb 28, 2020
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Protecting Your Information
Protecting Your Information This is the third in my series on privacy and security. Last month, I reviewed one method of creating secure...
4 views
John Bell
- Feb 28, 2020
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Time To Change Your Passwords
Time to Change Your Passwords This month starts my sixth year writing this column. Each year I have written at least one column on...
4 views
John Bell
- Jan 7, 2020
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Who Is Watching Us?
Anybody who has read this column over the years probably recognizes that I am an advocate for both security and privacy. As much as...
32 views
John Bell
- Dec 2, 2019
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Holidays 2019
It's November again and time to prepare for holiday shopping. This year we will start with some new technology gifts that people might be...
6 views
John Bell
- Nov 1, 2019
- 3 min
Tech Sense: The PC Game Industry!
In my last column of 2018, I discussed the game industry covering game platforms and distribution of games for the personal computing...
5 views
John Bell
- Sep 28, 2019
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Smart Home Automation
This month I thought I would start a discussion of home automation and monitoring. Home automation is where devices in our homes do...
11 views
John Bell
- Sep 9, 2019
- 4 min
Tech Sense: Back To School 2019!
Back to School 2019 It's that time again when school is starting, and once again we are scrambling to find the tools our students need...
5 views
bottom of page