Newsletter Archives
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‘Matter’ wants to talk to all your devices. Should you talk back?
PUBLIC DEFENDER
By Brian Livingston
The most exciting development coming in wireless connectivity this year was quite the rage at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. Since all the cool names were already taken, the new technology is called simply “Matter,” and it promises to unite the devices in your home or office that you can talk to — and which may even talk back.
The platform isn’t the brainstorm of some garage startup. It’s being brought to the market by heavyweights such as Amazon, Apple, Google, and many other household names. They’re united under an umbrella organization called the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which includes more than 400 companies. At first glance, that’s an impressive exercise in herding cats.
Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.12.0, 2022-03-21).
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Anatomy of a malware
ISSUE 18.17 • 2021-05-10 SAFETY
By Ben Myers
Things are not always as they seem. What might appear to be a devastating, PC-destroying piece of malware can sometimes be a spoof.
Recently, a client gave me his laptop, which displayed a frightening message as soon he logged in. This variety of malware is all too popular. Here is a step-by-step process to remove it, expecting that the antivirus software installed in the computer cannot do its job. Along the way, you will see where malware is often hidden.
Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.17.0 (2021-05-10).
This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.17.F (2021-05-10). -
Working outside an admin account: Safe but annoying
WINDOWS
By Lincoln Spector
You’ve probably been told to have both a standard Windows account for safety’s sake and an administrator account because Windows demands one.
But let’s face it, most of us have ignored this advice because … well, juggling two accounts isn’t much fun. It’s especially annoying when using a standard account and you’re constantly asked for the password proving you’re allowed into the administrator sanctum. It’s worse when you’re not asked for the password — and you have to figure out how to bring up the dialog box for entering it.
Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.42.0 (2019-11-18).
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Windows 7: Preparing for an uncertain future
ON SECURITY
By Susan Bradley
By now every Win7 user should know that official support for the venerable OS ends next year.
The final updates should go out on January 14, 2020 (more MS info) — at least they’ll end for those of us who don’t have deep corporate pockets to pay for extra patches.
Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.24.0 (2019-07-01).