The magic, “Drop Dead” date when Microsoft is ending support for XP is nigh upon us. Maybe as you read this it has already passed. You are in a panic because your old reliable computer is still running XP and there are massive predictions of doom and gloom if you don't...

Your “Router” is that small box provided by your ISP to connect your computer to the Internet. Usually it has antennas on it and functions as a WiFi Access point for your Laptops, Tablets and other networking widgets. Sometimes there are two boxes, one being the “modem...

There are two very different models of software development. Much software is developed by paid professionals working in a software development company, and the company expects to sell that software at a profit and thereby pay their employees. This is the straightforwa...

In principle a firewall is anything intended to prevent the spread of a fire from one area to another. We put them in apartment buildings so that a fire starting in one apartment does not spread to others. There is one in your car, between the engine compartment and th...

Unless you never access the web at all, you probably use a Browser, even if you do not know what one is. If you use your computer to visit Facebook, Wikipedia, Ancestry or any other of the thousands of very popular sites on the web, the specific software you use is, ge...

You have twin, conflicting needs on the web. First, you need a password strong enough to foil anyone who might try and guess it, but you also need passwords you can remember. We all remember how in the movie “War Games” the name of the researcher's deceased son “Joshua...

The bad guys can get your password several ways.

(1) They can simply get it from you. This sounds unlikely, but there are all sorts of ways this can happen. If you write it down, they can see it, or steal it. There are many scams whereby they can trick you into giving...