Over the years, I’ve used several methods to do my yearly income taxes.

When I was young, my tax returns were so simple that I could easily do them on paper.

But, by the time I had a home computer, I was happy to be able to pay $30 or $40 each year for TurboTax software, to help me do my increasingly complicated Federal income taxes. And I think I had to pay an additional fee to electronically file (e-file) my completed tax return.

Then, nearly six years ago, [more...]

Over the years, I’ve probably received tens of thousands of emailed spam messages — for awhile, I was getting more than 300 every day.

And thousands of pieces of snail-mailed spam, in the form of unwanted advertisements.

Along with hundreds of unwanted telephone sales calls.

But, over the years, I learned some tricks to reduce those unwanted contacts.

So, nowadays, I receive less than [more...]

I’ll bet that most of my readers use Google’s search engine.

And that many of them also watch videos on YouTube.

And use Gmail.

And Google Maps.

And maybe even Google Calendar.

They might even own [more...]

We’ve all read horror stories of travelers’ dealings with the TSA.

Strip-searched little old ladies.

Frisked babies.

Sexually groped children.

Humiliated disabled people.

Attractive women singled out for [more...]

Where I live, the ground under our feet is not dirt — it’s sand.

And the ground water is just a few feet below the surface.

So you probably won’t find any homes that have a basement.

And very few homes that are more than one-story tall.

Except, a few years ago, about a mile from our house, someone [more...]

The U.S. Congress has been deliberating two new “Internet anti-piracy” bills.

Proponents say that the bills will protect intellectual property and enforce copyright laws.

But critics say that the U.S copyright law is broken, and the bills are overreaching efforts that would result in the end of free speech online.

Many major media providers have [more...]

Almost 26 years ago, in a research paper that I wrote about the future of education, I predicted that, in the future, people would connect computers to their brains.

One result would be quantum leaps in many fields, including education, entertainment, medicine, philosophy, arts, psychology and interpersonal communictions.

Regular readers know that, a couple of years ago, researchers finally [more...]

Eben Moglen is a law professor at Columbia University.

As well as the Director-Counsel and Chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center.

He’s also a well-known privacy advocate.

Eben Moglen is a very well respected in high-tech circles.

So why has he gotten into the habit of [more...]