Comcast Email Hacked

If you use Comcast email or Internet services you might just be in for a big headache. Last night, unknown hackers got in to Comcast email, despite extensive security measures that were taken by the company to prevent such hacking. Last night, the Comcast.net website (which is linked from Comcast.com as well) was broken in to and displayed a cryptic hacker’s message. Users could not get to their email accounts and the main page is down. Comcast has since taken back control of their domain, although there are still several problems with their website. The website still may not display … Continue reading →

Identity Theft Threat to iTunes Users

Users of the popular Apple iTunes online music store may find themselves the victim of stolen identity theft. That is because a new crop of thieves are out to target iTunes users, and so far have had some limited success. The identity theft threat to iTunes users comes in the form of “Phishing,” a technique that has long been seen connected to online banking, PayPal, Ebay and mainstream retail stores. Until now, no one seems to have dared to touch Apple, but recently, however, that has changed. Phishing is a term used to describe the strategy that crooks use to … Continue reading →

Are Cookies Tracking You?

When surfing the Internet, are you worried about cookies tracking your every movement and reporting it back to the bad guys, or advertisers (also sometimes known as the bad guys)? How can something with such an innocuous name strike fear and annoyance into the heart of Internet users? Cookies first appeared on the web to help websites keep track of certain data or preferences to help increase the load time of websites or to serve up appropriate content. Since that time, users have been cautious about cookies, or just plain angry that they are there. But does the average cookie … Continue reading →

Protect Your Kids! Cell Phones and Predators

Cell phones provide an easy path to your child from sexual predators. You should know how to protect them. Most parents know all about children, sexual predators and the Internet. We protect our children by installing firewalls and monitoring software and blocking software. We keep the computer in a communal area of the house and watch our kids when they are online. We think that we have done everything we can to create a wall between predators and our kids. But one think we fail to do, by the thousands, is to protect them from predators getting in through their … Continue reading →

Identifying E-Mail Hoaxes: Protecting Yourself

Do you know how to protect yourself and your family from an e-mail hoax? Some hoaxes are time wasters that clutter your inbox, while others are more dangerous hoaxes that may cost you money or compromise your safety. If you missed it, you might want to check out Identifying E-Mail Hoaxes. Here are some ways to snoop out the phony stuff. When in doubt, delete it out. If you get an e-mail from someone you don’t recognize, the easiest thing to do is to simply delete it. You can also create filters in your e-mail program that only let in … Continue reading →

Military Bans Popular Websites

A policy effective today (May 14, 2007) bans military serving worldwide from visiting twelve popular websites. The Department of Defense has chosen to block access worldwide to YouTube, MySpace and more on its computers and networks. Military soldiers often turn to those websites for news from home, updates from their loved ones and entertainment while they are in Afghanistan and Iraq. While they will still be able to access the banned sites from their own computers and networks, the reality is that Defense Department computers are generally the only ones available to those serving in the war. The news comes … Continue reading →

Tech Q&A: Submit Your Question

Starting this week, I’d like to introduce a new feature to Computing Blog — Tech Q&A. Do you have questions about your computer? Need recommendations for hardware, software, or getting rid of spyware or viruses? Whatever problems you have, the Computing Blog is here to help! Send your questions to BarbaraEB@families.com, and I’ll do my best to assist you. By submitting your question, you will be giving permission to feature your inquiry in an upcoming blog. Your name and email address will not be published. ** Q. I’ve had my computer for about a year and now it seems to … Continue reading →

Are You Going to BlogHer ’07?

Have you been to BlogHer.org? Following the hugely successful first annual BlogHer Business Conference in 2005, BlogHer.org set up shop to address a question that had been hanging in the air until that time. Where are all the women bloggers? They’re at BlogHer, of course. More than sixty contributing editors give you their take on what’s hot across the blogosphere, tackling topics from business, career, personal finance, feminism, technology, politics and news. Oh yeah … and home and family too. BlogHer is a girls – only club filled with some of the freshest, most intelligent female voices the web has … Continue reading →

Vista UAC Annoying and Possibly Unreliable

One of the new features (or annoyances, depending on how you look at it) of Windows Vista is the User Account Control (UAC). Theoretically, it helps stop unauthorized changes to your computer by requiring confirmation before an administrative application or task is run. Practically, it’s a big pain in the butt. I don’t mind the warnings that come when I want to install a new program: “Warning- an unidentified program wants access to your computer. Cancel or Allow?” With the abundant occurrence of back door malware installations, it’s reassuring to have a little extra security. I start to get a … Continue reading →

How To Set Up A Firewall

In recent blogs I have talked a lot about computer security and what you need to do to keep you and your family safe from spyware and computer viruses. One important step in computer security is setting up a firewall. I think one of the main reasons people don’t have a firewall set up on their computer is because they don’t know how. If you are running Windows XP, here are instructions on how to set up a firewall on your computer: 1. Go to Start (Bottom right hand corner of the screen) 2. Go to Settings 3. Go to … Continue reading →