Newsletter Archives

• Planning for the unexpected

  Posted on March 10, 2025 at 02:41 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  We all have a tendency to take many things for granted.

  We take utilities, such as electricity and water, for granted. We assume fuel will be there on demand. We expect our computers and other devices to turn on every time. We assume that our software will run properly the next time we use it. Then comes the day when one or more of these things are impacted. Are you prepared? What can you do without?

  I’m going to discuss several items of technology that I rely on that suddenly failed last week. For some, I had ready backups. For others, I was reminded that I need to take better steps to have a Plan B.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.10.0, 2025-03-10).

  On Security Battery Backup, Disaster Planning, Electricity, Email, Internet, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, Outages, Password management, Patch Lady Posts

• How my Internet outage caused security problems

  Posted on September 23, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  I live in a city with electricity, high-speed Internet, and all the other customary modern conveniences.

  In that same city dwell squirrels, birds (including beautiful hummingbirds), possums, kit foxes, bees, and too many others to mention. Although they’re lovely to have around, they are not necessarily the best of neighbors. Interaction with them doesn’t always work out, and sometimes that affects my technology — and even my security.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.39.0, 2024-09-23).

  On Security Insects, Internet, Internet connectivity, ISPs, Multifactor Authentication, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Performance, Security, Squirrels, Wiring, Xfinity

• Home-networking primer

  Posted on August 12, 2024 at 02:43 CDT by Ed Tittel • Comment in the Forums

  NETWORKING

  

  By Ed Tittel

  Nearly 9 out of 10 American households and businesses can access gigabit-speed Internet service. Now’s the time to up your home-networking ante and make the most of what’s available.

  According to NCTA (the former National Cable & Telecommunications Association, now known at the Internet & Television Association), “most Americans have broadband at home.” Here’s a more interesting set of follow-on statistics.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.33.0, 2024-08-12).

  Networking Cable, FIOS, Internet, Internet Speed, ISPs, Networking, Newsletters, Wi-Fi

• Why aren’t you using Edge?

  Posted on October 9, 2023 at 02:44 CDT by Josh Hendrickson • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS

  

  By Josh Hendrickson

  You’re probably reading this newsletter from Chrome. But I’m not. I’m using Microsoft Edge.

  I know, I know. It’s pretty easy to take potshots at Microsoft as a whole, let alone a browser that comes from the company. This is the maker of such “fine” products as Windows Vista, Windows 8, and Internet Explorer. Yes, I agree — the tech behemoth has missed the mark plenty of times.

  But let’s also be fair: for every terrible version of Windows you can name, there is a great one you never wanted to leave (Windows XP and 7, anyone?). The company can put out good products, too, and even good hardware these days (hello, Surface). And the Edge browser is something different — it’s Chrome, but better.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.41.0, 2023-10-09).

  Windows Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Internet, Newsletters, Web Browsers

• Beware of Google’s .ZIP domain and password-embedded URLs

  Posted on May 29, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.22 • 2023-05-29

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  The security community is up in arms, because Google this month started selling domain names with deceptive endings such as .zip and .mov.

  Even worse, some browsers are allowing usernames and passwords to be embedded into URLs. This means following a link can expose users to viruses without any explicit action (such as clicking “OK”).

  Internet-standards bodies years ago prohibited usernames and passwords in URLs — but hackers still do it.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.22.0, 2023-05-29).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Public Defender Domain names, Google, Internet, Newsletters, Security

• The coming battle for control of the Internet

  Posted on April 26, 2021 at 01:06 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  The Supreme Court is not required to explain itself.

  It decides cases by majority vote, and it is up to the justices to decide how much or how little information to provide to explain why they voted the way they did. Typically, there is one opinion explaining the Court’s decision (and, if the decision is not unanimous, a dissenting opinion explaining the disagreement) and an indication of which justices join in the decision. When a justice takes the additional step of writing a separate opinion, it does not change the outcome but does provide valuable information. Not only does it give us insight into nuances of that justice’s view, it also tells us that the justice considers it so important that it is worth the extra work of explaining it.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.15.0 (2021-04-26).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Legal AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Internet, Legal Brief, Supreme Court