What’s important when you’re shopping for a computer

Tech Talk #61 – Sep. 30, 2017 What’s important when you’re shopping for a computer So, the time has come to replace your computer. You’re ready to start looking at the Best Buy ads and checking out Costco and Amazon for deals. But deals on what? Computer descriptions often include something like Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 - 1TB Hard Drive which can be confusing. Here’s what you need

How does my phone do that?

Tech Talk #60 – Sep. 16, 2017   How does my phone do that? Sure, your smartphone can count your steps, show you which way is north, and point out your location on a map, but how does it do that?   Sensors.   Your smartphone is a sleek slab of plastic, aluminum, and glass that’s packed with sensors. Here are some of the sensors in your phone and what they do.   Accelerometer. An

Passwords – the bad news and the good news

Tech Talk #59 – Sep. 2, 2017   Passwords - the bad news and the good news   First, the bad news.   Back in 2003, Bill Burr, a manager at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), wrote a paper about computer passwords that eventually became the password mess we find ourselves in today. Burr’s eight-page password recommendation document, titled NIST Special Publication 800-63. Appendix A advised people to use irregular capitalization, special