Newsletter Archives

• 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

• LangaList: Three somewhat unusual, but interesting, reader queries

  Posted on February 11, 2019 at 05:15 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Fred Langa’s back in the groove. This week he tackles three strange reader questions:

  • Getting rid of unnecessary language files
  • When you plug a smartphone into a PC, they used to act like dumb flash drives. Now they don’t. Why?
  • Is a drive heavier, by a tiny amount when it’s full?

  Fascinating stuff about fentograms and MTP.

  In the new AskWoody Plus Newsletter issue 16.5.0 – out this morning.

  Other Fred Langa, LangaList, smartphones