Safe, Secure Voting – What Everyone Needs to Know

Did you know every State offers mail-in (or Absentee) ballots? Do you know if you’re still registered to vote this election? Do you know the deadline to register to vote and the deadline to request a mail-in ballot? if you have questions like these, you’ve come to the right place.

Video Conference Etiquette Part 2 – Lights, Camera, Zoom!

If you follow these simple things, you will look like a professional presenter.

Video Conference Etiquette

If you are lucky enough to have a job that allows you to work from home, you still have to talk with co-workers and attend office meetings. But there are some things you need to practice before going “On the Air”.

Wash Your Hands—And Your Phones Too!

With more people relying on their phones more than ever, the medical community says phone hygiene is a more important way to prevent the spread of the corona virus than wearing a face mask.  So play it safe and clean your phones and computers regularly and often.

2020: Out With The Win 7, In With The Win 10

Microsoft will no longer provide Windows 7 updates after January 14, 2020. But there’re still ways to keep your Windows 7 computer safe.

Support your local shop on Saturday November 30th!

With all the “Occupy Wall Street” protests across America and people generally tired of seeing the gap between the 99% and the 1% getting wider, here’s something you can do that will hit the 1% where it hurts — in their pockets!

Scareware is in the air!

It’s that time again! Everyone’s getting into the Halloween Trick or Treat spirit–including scammers using Fear to trick you to steal your personal information.

My Human has been getting a lot of calls and want’s me to let you know what tricks you should watch out for.

Big money in identity theft (sadly).

Identity theft has become such a lucrative international business, the bad guys can buy sophisticated equipment and professional call centers with operators that don’t sound like they are from a different country.

As the holidays-and tax season approaches, these bad guys target people in the U.S. over 50 years old, and the Baby Boomers.  They use “scarewords” to make people to respond without thinking. Things like “your social security number has been cancelled”, “warrant”, “charges”, “IRS audit”, “must respond now to prevent…”

Using a little common sense (to save your cents).

If you think about it and apply some common sense, what they say in those calls doesn’t make any real sense at all.

Personal finance cat columnist Michelle Singletary wrote an excellent article explaining these scams in the Washington Post that you can read in this link here.

Pass this information on to grandparents that might be a target. Halloween is for giving out candy (or sardines) to monsters, not information!

~ The Computer Cat

Internet in the Palm of your Hand

Have you ever been someplace where your iPad, tablet, or laptop won’t connect to the Internet like it does at home? I’ll explain why Internet is not everywhere and what you can do to get your device connected when you’re not at home.

“Hobbit” Trails To You…

In L.A.,  this would be “Wil-Shire Boulevard.” 

At For the Love of Nike, Jennifer takes us on a photographic tour of Hobbiton — the land of the hobbits as filmed in The Lord of the Rings — in Matamata, New Zealand.

via One Travel Destination to Rule Them All — Discover

What You Can Do for Net Neutrality Day, Wednesday July 12th

Explains what is Net Neutrality & what you can do for Net Neutrality Day, Wednesday July 12th.

Weekend Windows Attacks Can Hold Your Data for Ransom

The WannaCrypt (called WannaCry if your become a victim) has caused world wide panic. Here’s how to protect yourself.

The Attraction Between Cats & Computers

Photo courtesy of Brian Ashcraft, http://kinja.com/brianashcraft

First, take a look at some videos of some funny, cute computer cats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD8-fdhVah4

Humans have always wondered about cats and computers. So much so, a Japanese site, http://news.MyNavi.jp, actually did research to find that reason. You can read their “findings” (in English) and “solutions”:

• http://kotaku.com/5991046/why-cats-love-sitting-on-keyboards
• http://news.petmeds.com/news/pet-training/keyboard-cats-why-are-cats-drawn-to-the-computer-keyboard/

Let me let you in on two little secrets:  One: We just hate it when you ignore us. Before there were computers, you humans would read newspapers and books. And what did we do? We would walk across your paper and spread ourselves out covering all the paper! And it’s not just sitting on a laptop–I will curl up in my humans arms while she’s typing, walk across her keyboards, and my paws can do some amazing swiping on a touchscreen. We cats believe that you humans read too much–you should just sit down and watch videos and reality-shows, so we can sit on your laps.

Two: We’re still holding a grudge with you buying flat-screen TVs!  Since the first televisions of the 1930’s, generations of cats happily snoozed on top of those warm, boxy cathode-ray sets.  Now, all we find are those skinny TVs in our houses. Do you know how hard it is to sit on one of those?! Since you took away our nice warm TV-watching spot, guess what? Your lap is now our new TV spot!

Now let me squeeze myself between my human and her keyboard!

~The Computer Cat