Since 2005, I have written the weekly column titled ‘COMPUTER SENSE’ that appears in the Business section of the Sunday Norman Transcript newspaper. I hope you find it to be helpful, informative and entertaining. Please email your opinions about the column to the Norman Transcript editor at editor@normantranscript.com, and the Publisher at publisher@normantranscript.com. They need your ideas and feedback. Be sure to include your name and location in your email.
Computers and the Internet: great books to read
by Dave Moore, 05/31/2020 With the realms of computers, the Internet, and technology in general changing all the time, people often ask how I keep up with it all. Of course, nobody can keep up with everything, but I work hard to keep up with enough to run a computer...
Computer Forensics 101
by Dave Moore, 05/24/2020 Often I am asked to perform some basic computer forensic analysis for clients who want to know if their computers have been used for "illicit" purposes. One client, the owner of a popular hairdressing salon, needed to know if her employees...
Surviving a cell phone crash
by Dave Moore, 05/17/2020 Smart phones, iPhones, Windows phones, Blackberry phones, cell phones, Android phones, it seems that everyone has some sort of a mobile phone. No longer just a "phone," though, your cell phone is actually a powerful computer that just also...
Cox makes your home a free public Wifi hotspot
by Dave Moore, 5-10-20 If Cox is your Internet service provider (ISP) and you use their "Panoramic Wifi gateway" equipment, Cox is going to start giving away the service coming to your home to other Cox customers in the neighborhood, for free. Cox customers recently...
Get the goods that Apple has on you
by Dave Moore, 5-3-20 Want to know what Apple knows about you, and is willing to admit to? Visit privacy.apple.com. Sign in. Enter any codes they may send you. Go to "obtain a copy of your data." Choose to download your data, and then, sit back and wait. "At Apple, we...
Oklahoma epic fail: 25% of Okies hacked
by Dave Moore, 4-26-20 The wise sage once told me, "Dave, nobody will believe you until they feel the pain." They were right; problem is, way too many people are feeling the pain. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. Take no comfort, though, in the fact that New York,...
Computers are not an investment, they’re an expense
by Dave Moore, 04/19/2020 Over the years, my garage has turned into a sort of computer salvage yard and recycling center. Numerous shelves are stacked with all sorts of bits and pieces salvaged from otherwise dead machines. If you need a replacement thingamabob for...
Bad weather emergency communications and power, 2020
by Dave Moore, 4-12-20 Every springtime, I reassess the electronics communications gear that is available to help Oklahomans prevail in difficult, severe weather situations. Electronics manufacturers change, replace and discontinue things all the time, and so, every...
Online coronavirus criminals target kids
by Dave Moore, 4-5-20 Never ones to miss opportunities to run a good scam, the Internet bad guys are leveraging the current coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic to their advantage, repackaging old scams in new scam clothing, tricking countless social distancers out of...
Scams and Identity Theft, Part Six: more damage control
by Dave Moore, 3-29-2020 Continuing our education in recovering from identity theft, we pick up where we left off last week, beginning with Step 12. 12. Ask the Internal Revenue Service to mark your account to identify any questionable activity by completing Form...
Scams and Identity Theft, Part Five: damage control
by Dave Moore, 3-22-2020 Taking measures to prevent scams and identity theft, as covered in preceding columns, is the best route to take in your digital life. What do you do, though, if you've never taken any precautions at all, and wake up one day to discover your...
Scams and Identity Theft, Part Four: more prevention
by Dave Moore, 3-15-2020 Last week's column covered steps one through seven in identity theft prevention. We continue the list this week, starting with step eight. 8. Get a cross-cut shredder and use it. Do not put anything in the trash that can be connected to you...
Scams and Identity Theft, Part Three: prevention
Scams and Identity Theft, Part Three: prevention by Dave Moore, 3-8-2020 Recovering from identity theft scams is a tremendous amount of work. It's like playing a game of whack-a-mole. You whack one problem down over here, and three more pop up over there. The cycle...
Scams and Identity Theft, Part Two: phone hijacking
by Dave Moore, 3-1-2020 Last week, we looked at how a local couple struggling with identity theft scams was robbed by crooks using an Internet-based banking tool called Zelle. This week, we'll look at another way the Internet bad guys ripped them off: cell phone...
New scams and Identity Theft, Part One: Zelle
by Dave Moore, 2-23-2020 Lately, I've been helping a local couple climb out of an identity theft hole. It is a serious, full-on identity theft situation, with the bad guys making off with many thousands of dollars. Since this column is all about helping you stay out...
Be your own online detective
by Dave Moore, 2-16-2020 Have you ever wanted to track down someone’s whereabouts, but didn’t know where to start and you didn’t want to pay a high-priced private investigator? To the rescue comes the Internet, which is brimming with ways to find long-lost relatives...
Iowa caucus debacle shows e-Voting is still a bad idea
by Dave Moore, 1-9-2020 What is this delusional insistence by many political leaders that everything be done using some type of Internet-connected technology? Even worse, why do people insist on being able to do everything, including banking, bill paying and unlocking...
Time to change your passwords, again
by Dave Moore, 02/02/2020 The changing of the year is my reminder that it's time to change my passwords, if I haven't already. No matter what, January of every year is password changing time. Are you in the habit of regularly changing the passwords for your online...
Internet consumers fight back
by Dave Moore, 1-26-2020 I recently received an email from my bank, notifying me that they were upgrading their security systems, and that my account information needed to be updated. The email included a convenient link which took me directly to my bank’s website. No...
Are the viruses really gone?
by Dave Moore, 1-19-20 The war against malware (short for "malicious software") like viruses, spyware and rootkits is a constant cat-and-mouse game between malware writers and distributors (the "bad guys") and those who write, update and use antivirus and antispyware...