I’ll never forget the first computer repair job for which I actually got paid. My customer, a fellow named Bob, had one of the slowest computers I’d ever seen. He was stuck in endless cycles of click, and then, wait, wait, wait. I asked how long it had been since he’d...

If you use a computer, wow, have I got a good deal for you: come to the library next week and I will teach you how to keep the Internet bad guys out of your life, for free. That’s right; next Tuesday, June 21, 2011, at 6:30 p.m., be at the Norman Public library to...

Next to surfing websites, email remains the second most popular Internet function. While it may soon be eclipsed by social networking forums offering instant messaging, people still love their email. All that’s left is for folks to understand how email actually works....

Recent viewings of the popular HBO series “Treme” brought to mind the importance of preparation in the face of inevitable disaster. “Treme” traces the lives of New Orleanians in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Remember Katrina? I do. Katrina was the 2005 hurricane that...

Learning things from the Internet is great and reading how-to books is wonderful, but how many times have you wished that you had a real person to hear and answer your computer questions? Next Tuesday, April 19, 6:30 p.m. at the Norman Public Library is your...

Computer repair guys like me usually roll our eyes when some media pundit calls something “the biggest hack of all time.” Seriously, how could it top getting free long-distance phone calls just by blowing a Cap’n Crunch cereal-box whistle into a pay phone (google...

Were you to set up a Facebook profile, would you use it to let your friends, family and others learn more about yourself? Would you talk about your personal history, likes, dislikes and other things that would let people get to know you better? Consider the following...

Who would think that looking at ads found on the London Stock Exchange website could infect your computer with malicious software designed to steal your money? If you can’t trust the London Stock Exchange, who can you trust? That’s a very good question, because on...

On Tuesday, February 15, 2011, at 6:30 p.m., I will teach another mini-class on computer/Internet security at our local library. It is one night only, and will last about two hours. If you use a computer, you should attend. Visit www.pioneer.lib.ok.us/nortop or call...

The US Cyber Challenge: I want someone in the state of Oklahoma (governor, mayor, school teacher, corporate entity, private donor) to get behind supporting and sponsoring the next generation of computer/Internet security geniuses in the Cyber Foundations 2011 National...

Unless you’ve been living on Pluto for the past 20 years, you probably know that computers need to be protected from the dangers of the Internet. It doesn’t matter if it’s a desktop or laptop computer, the same protections are needed. But, what about that computer you...

Most of us are usually able to mindlessly click our way around the Internet without considering the potential hazards behind every click. That’s a good thing; if every click on the Internet meant a virus would infect your computer, nobody would ever go there. Odds are...

Hard-core readers of this column may recall one I wrote back in 2005 titled Computer Forensics 101 (it’s on my website). In it, I described how difficult it can be to truly erase a file from your computer. Simply “deleting” a file and emptying the “Recycle Bin” will...

We looked last week at some of the ways that Mary’s Hotmail email account could have been hacked. They were: fake verification emails, fake login pages; fake “Vote for me!” emails;"man-in-the-middle" attacks; using untrusted computers and/or forgetting to logoff;...

A few weeks ago I told the story of Mary, one of my customers whose Hotmail account was hijacked by the Internet bad guys. The bad guys were using her account to send scam emails to her friends and relatives, trying to steal as much cash as they could. One relative...

What would you do if you received the following email from a dear friend or family member? “I’m writing this with tears in my eyes, my family and I came down here to London, England for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we...

I got involved with computers because I thought anything that had to do with technology was fun; therefore, I figured computers should be fun, too. I have my friend Jack to thank for introducing me to computers and getting me started in my career as a computer repair...

I love my job. I love taking cranky, uncooperative computers and turning them into devices that my customers can actually enjoy, instead of being mad at them all the time. People are mad at their computers because computers simply are not the magical, fool-proof...

A few years back, while at the Defcon computer security conference in Las Vegas, I attended a meeting where the subject of “e-voting” was discussed. “E-voting (electronic voting)” means voting with computerized voting machines, as well as the idea of voting from an...

According the book “Contemporary Marketing,” by Louis Boone and David Kurtz, published in 2007, 342 billion shopping discount coupons are offered in the United States every year. Even though only 3.2 billion of those coupons are actually redeemed, that still works out...