While I would love to write fiction every day, thirty-eight years of IT experience makes it difficult not to comment on what I observe in the IT world. The world breathes on social media. It affects what we know, what we think, and what we do. We are seeing before us how social media, with all it’s potential, can show the worst in humanity. Despite its fundamental propensity toward freedom, it can also be used to apply the most penetrating censorship and control. IT has introduced phenomenal innovation, yet with this new technology we face new challenges.
The Latest
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A Play on Words
The question that one must ask is not what is offensive, but what will happen when the inevitable sin is committed
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Spam Update — How to Avoid Spam
Just as in the real thing, spam comes in many different flavors. First published December 19, 2018 Updated December 6, 2022 Gosh – it is amazing how time flies. Back in November 2016 I posted a blog on avoiding spam. How about an update? Did what I predict work or not? One of the key things…
Complete Listing of Articles
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A Play on Words
Read moreThe question that one must ask is not what is offensive, but what will happen when the inevitable sin is committed
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Spam Update — How to Avoid Spam
Read moreJust as in the real thing, spam comes in many different flavors. First published December 19, 2018 Updated December 6, 2022 Gosh – it is amazing how time flies. Back in November 2016 I posted a blog on avoiding spam. How about an update? Did what I predict work or not? One of the key things…
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Out of Control? – Security Vulnerabilities in Control Systems
Read moreControl Systems. Are they possibly the biggest security vulnerability? By now almost everyone has seen the news media on the cyberattacks stemming from Russia. So far nothing dastardly has occurred at the same scale of the Colonial Pipeline fiasco in 2021. That event involved the deployment of ransomware across the corporate network. As a precaution,…
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The Case of Josh Renaud
Read moreAccused of hacking a website of the State of Missouri, a journalist and his newspaper are being charged for criminal activity.
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SHAKEN, But Not STIRred
Read moreWhat to do with those mysterious links in text messages. A closer look at a new protocol that may help reduce spam and scam. The new protocol is called STIR/SHAKEN.
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Tracking Scams in Phone Messages
Read moreEver wonder how to respond to a suspicious message? Here are a few tips on how to learn more about the scammers.
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Transparency
Read moreNow we have the Internet – where will it lead? Will we be mature enough, as a society, to handle the ongoing presentation of raw information? Will reactionary mobs be the norm, or can we engineer a system of governance that can more effectively respond to raw information?
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CVS Update
Read moreFollow-up article on Computer Vision Syndrome, a debilitating malady that can affect your performance at work.
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Windows 10 and Computer Vision Syndrome
Read moreCoping with Computer Vision Syndrome is a constant challenge, especially when operating systems change. This focuses on Windows 10.
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Computer Vision Syndrome
Read moreA modern day phenomena, computer vision syndrome has emerged to be one of the predominant side-effects of prolonged computer usage. Follow my journey of what is often a painful experience, yet gain from my experience and that of many others.
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Passwords – the Gremlins of Cyberspace
Read morePasswords. They may be too weak, whatever that means. They may be too many, each having to conform to a password standard of a particular web site. They are forgotten, confused and yet hacked by somebody out there. What is it with passwords? Can we master these little devils?
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Spam Filtering: Mastering Your E-mail
Read moreIt is now a fact of life that e-mail traffic is largely spam, unwanted solicitations for your time and money, if not worse. Spam cannot be avoided, but it can be controlled.
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E-mail: A Method to the Madness
Read moreI had finished writing this piece when the latest blow-up over the Clinton e-mails grabbed the headlines. I’ll speak on that later because what I wrote below pertains to them as much as to you. Needless to say, whether you are Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton, how you handle e-mail has significant repercussions.
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Sustainable Printing
Read moreOne fear to dispel, from the outset, is that changing how your printer is setup does not put everybody in an environmentally-friendly straight-jacket. You will discover there are plenty of ways to over-ride default printer settings so that the printing operation fits your needs, yet provides ways to print more efficiently with less impact on the environment.