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

• Have a smart home? A company may change your thermostat.

  Posted on June 28, 2021 at 02:43 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  ---

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  You may be surprised to learn that installing “smart home” devices could mean that a private company can turn your thermostat up and down — no matter what setting you thought you had entered.

  As parts of the US swelter in a heat wave — Houston hit a blistering 95°F (35°C) on June 19 — area residents reported to local station KHOU-TV that energy companies had remotely raised their thermostats from 74°F to 78°F without their knowledge.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.24.0 (2021-06-28).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Electricity, Public Defender, Public Utilities, Smart home