Like many readers, I own an Amazon Kindle. What you may not know is that when it comes to learning and studying books, product manuals or PDFs, I often use the free version – “Kindle for PC”. There is a comparable version for the Mac.
Quick Tips
How to Check PC Specs With Free Windows Tools
Recently, I was trying to track down some system specs for my computers and ran into a snag. It had to do with this Meltdown and Spectre chipset nonsense. It seemed that some articles referenced the “chipset” and others the “code” name. I didn’t have a decoder ring so decided to see if various system utilities could help me check my computer specs. I came away thinking that these profiler tools vary widely in information and details.
InSpectre Takes the Guesswork Out of Meltdown & Spectre
One of the biggest security problems to hit this year has to do with some design flaws with various computer processor chips from notable vendors. The breadth of the problem is pretty wide, but the details for consumers is a bit lacking. Much of the info out there is technical and yet there is still a lot we don’t know. A new freeware app called InSpectre sheds some light.
Alexa Routines Show Promise and Limitations
It shouldn’t be any surprise that I’m an Amazon Alexa fan. Naturally, I was intrigued when Alexa added a new feature called “Routines”. As the name suggests, it allows you to standardize certain actions for consistency. In theory, this works well, but it didn’t give me the flexibility I expected. I was hoping that anything I could speak, I could use in a routine. However, it’s still something worth exploring as it can make things easier.
How to Find Out More about Suspicious URLs
I’m sure this experience has happened to many of us. You see an email comes in from a friend, but something just doesn’t look right based on the preview. Parts look normal, but some stuff was suspect. This happened to me this weekend and I decided to research it more.
Essential Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts & Customization
Keyboard shortcuts are a great way to enhance your productivity. The benefits are compounded the more you use a program like Gmail. The problem is learning them and committing them to memory. In the case of Gmail, there are quite a few and some don’t seem intuitive to me.
Stop Being Lazy and Get a Password Manager
Before you get mad at me for the lazy reference, just know I’ve been called lazy too. Lazy people try to find systems so they don’t have to do mundane stuff. This article is a remake of one I did over a decade ago about predictability and passwords. However, the password strategy I outlined years ago is no longer recommended.
Could Your Printer Be Vulnerable to an Attack?
I know we’re sick of security warnings, myself included. But have you ever thought of your printer as a security threat? A recent article by Tenable, a network security firm, referenced some unexpected issues with a line of Hewlett-Packard (HP) printers including the default settings. Regardless of your brand, I would be inclined to check your printer settings. The reason is that automatic updates may not be enabled.
See Which Apps Access Your Google Account
We’re living in an interconnected world which offers a lot of conveniences. We can use Google, Facebook, OAuth to connect us to online services and apps. The downside is that there are more “bad actors” trying to trick us and gain access to our info.
Can Your Eyes Spot this Security Problem?
This is a time when people like to hunt for Easter eggs. Either the traditional ones or the clever ones that are hidden by software vendors. Both of these are fun. However, this one is more a rotten egg and it could cost us dearly if we don’t pay attention. And it all starts with punycodes and fake domains. The good news is there are several workarounds.