Newsletter Archives

• You can stop the avalanche of teen suicides due to social media

  Posted on March 3, 2025 at 02:45 CST by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 22.09 • 2025-03-03

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  The world is suffering from an explosion of teenage suicides and self-harm that are directly caused by the depression and suicidal impulses that young people develop through social-media use, according to medical experts.

  I called attention to these ghastly statistics in my July 8, 2024, column. Suicide rates among children as young at 10 have doubled or tripled since smartphones became glued to teenagers’ hands and social media such as Instagram became kids’ primary method of relating to the world.

  Finally, a respected psychologist — a professor of leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business — has published a blueprint to end the bloodshed and bring children back into a healthy relationship with their electronic devices and each other.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.09.0, 2025-03-03).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Public Defender Age Restrictions, Age Verification, Child Security, Depression, Newsletters, Self-harm, Smartphones, Social Media, Suicide, Teen Depression

• Microsoft and Apple

  Posted on July 1, 2024 at 02:39 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft has spent many years, and made huge investments, trying to bring the Apple ecosystem into work environments.

  In 1985, it brought word processing to the Mac. It has provided the means to allow Word and Excel documents to move seamlessly from Windows to macOS. It brought affordable tools to allow small and medium businesses to control and manage iPhones, thus allowing managed service providers to control devices without needing to invest in specific, Apple-centric management tools.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.27.0, 2024-07-01).

  Apple Apple, Business Computing, Email, Intune, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, Security, Smartphones, Word Processing

• Do you need antivirus for your phone?

  Posted on May 13, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.20 • 2024-05-13

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  For many years, I thought it silly to consider adding an antivirus program or other security software to our phones.

  Phones were seen as gated communities the bad guys couldn’t enter. Windows was the Wild West, where anything could be downloaded, and we found ourselves with malicious software installed on our systems.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.20.0, 2024-05-13).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  On Security Android, Antivirus, App Dashboard, App Privacy, Apple Store, CleanTalk, iPhone, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Private Relay, Smartphones, VirusTotal, VPN

• Phones and MFA

  Posted on April 22, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE

  

  By Susan Bradley

  How do you plan for getting rid of your old phone?

  Eventually, you will get a new phone. Perhaps you dropped your iPhone 9 into the bathtub. Perhaps your iPhone 7’s battery gives you a mere seven minutes of talk time. Perhaps you were seduced by the iPhone 19. Or, worse, perhaps your phone was lost or stolen.

  Eventually, you will get a new phone.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.17.0, 2024-04-22).

  Hardware Migration, Multifactor Authentication, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Phones, Smartphones

• My encounter with Verizon

  Posted on March 13, 2023 at 02:42 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  INTERNET

  

  By Will Fastie

  I had two support encounters of note in the past 60 days, but the one with Verizon is worth noting.

  Second by second, it seems the systems we use are getting more complex.  That’s natural evolution and, for the most part, to be embraced.

  But the complexity of our systems in conjunction with the Internet to which we all connect also continues to rise. Even those who consider themselves experts will need help.

  Here are my two support stories.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.11.0, 2023-03-13).

  Internet Metro by T-Mobile, Networks, Newsletters, Routers, Smartphones, Synchronization, Tech support, Verizon

• What to do before your phone is stolen

  Posted on March 6, 2023 at 02:43 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  SECURITY

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Having your smartphone or tablet stolen is a traumatic event, but there are things you can do beforehand to make loss and replacement much less stressful, risky, and expensive.

  I speak from experience. My iPhone was stolen last month, which was very annoying. But — because I’m a careful nerd — no files or data were lost. The thief was locked out of the smartphone in minutes.

  There are things you should do to make loss of a device less traumatic and easier to recover from.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.10.0, 2023-03-06).

  Security Lost Phone, Newsletters, Security, Smartphones

• Is your smartphone giving you brain cancer?

  Posted on August 9, 2021 at 02:43 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  A group of scientists and researchers is actively promoting findings that the use of smartphones is associated with an increase in brain cancer and related tumors.

  Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley, told the Berkeley News on July 1: “More than 250 scientists … have signed the International EMF Scientist Appeal, which calls for health warnings and stronger exposure limits.” He added that the new 5G standard, which is replacing the old 4G network, “is an even bigger reason for concern.”

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.30.0 (2021-08-09).

  AskWoody Plus membership, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, health, Public Defender, Smartphones

• Anom: A $2,000 smartphone that let the FBI listen in

  Posted on June 21, 2021 at 02:45 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 18.23 • 2021-06-21

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Special smartphones that were supposedly the most super-secretive in the world actually resulted in at least 800 arrests, the seizure of eight tons of cocaine, and the recovery of $48 million in currency from organized-crime gangs on June 6 and 7.

  The FBI, Europol, Australian Federal Police, and the law-enforcement agencies of several other countries announced on June 8 that they had quietly intercepted 27 million messages from what’s being called “WhatsApp for criminals.”

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.23.0 (2021-06-21).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.23.F (2021-06-21).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Privacy, Smartphones
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