Apple and Google have proposed a method of doing contact tracing using the Bluetooth on our smartphones. It’s done using fancy cryptography and such, but I wanted to explain the basic mechanics in a simple way. Skip down to the bottom if you just want that part. We are all now learning way more about

During our global COVID-19 self-quarantining, video conferencing usage has exploded. I’ve tried to find hard statistics, but they’re rising so fast that anything I post now will be stale tomorrow. That said, I’ve seen usage growth figures as high as 400%. And since we’re all staying home now (right?), video chatting is a great way

I know I just touched on COVID-19 scams last week, but given some of the articles I’ve read since then, I felt compelled to discuss this particular topic in more depth. Never let a good crisis go to waste. While normally applied to politics (and that still applies here), it’s also the motto of opportunistic

[UPDATED: See the end of the article] Obviously, the corona virus (COVID-19) is on everyone’s minds these days – largely because you can’t avoid the super scary, 24/7 news coverage about death tolls, cruise ships full of infected people, global heat maps, and all the click-bait articles. But whenever there is a big, scary news

Everyone hates passwords. They’re the bane of our modern digital lives. Password managers have allowed us to create truly strong passwords, unique for every single one of our dozens of accounts. This was a big improvement and still the method I recommend for most people today. But the hope is still that someday we can

Well, it’s that time of year again: tax time. And today I have a simple tip for you: how to find the real Free File version of all the popular tax software. It’s not as easy as you’d think – and that’s no accident. A Brief History of Free File Back in the early 2000’s

Your privacy is under assault. I don’t just mean online privacy, I mean every day, real world privacy, as well. In the name of “better” marketing, we’re being tracked not just by our browsers, but also by our smart devices and even by our faces. I used to worry that people didn’t care about their

If you’re still running Windows 7 on your PC, it’s time to bump up to Windows 10. As of January 14th, Windows 7 will no longer receive software updates. It has reached the end of extended support from Microsoft. That means that when the next Windows bugs are found, your PC will be forever vulnerable.

I self-published the first edition of my book in January 2015. The third edition was picked up by Apress and I just officially started work on the fourth edition! Should be out later this summer. (Suggestions welcome!) About three years ago, I started the newsletter, blog and podcast. This has been quite a journey so

[Note: See the latest list for 2021 here.] 2019 is almost gone and 2020 is upon us. You know what that means: New Year’s Resolutions! I’ll let you worry about signing up for a gym membership or quitting smoking or whatever… I’m here to give you concrete steps you can take next year that will