The Web has a lot to offer — from email and Web surfing, to shopping and bill-paying, to Web site creation and social networking.

But we all know that it also has several annoying features; things that aren’t bad enough to make you stop visiting the sites that you like, but are bad enough that you [more...]

With everything that we’ve learned over the years about its never-ending list of serious security vulnerabilities, I find it really hard to believe that anyone would choose to run Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web browser any more.

Personally, I switched to Mozilla’s much-more-secure, free and open-source Firefox browser — first in Windows, and then in Linux — on the [more...]

Did you know that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple fame used to make and sell electronic devices that allowed people to make free long-distance phone calls?

Did you know that Jobs once used one of those device to call [more...]

Many years ago, I used to buy PC parts and supplies at my local Best Buy store. Their selection was good and their prices beat every other local store. Their name described their store.

But it’s been a long time since I bought anything at Best Buy because, over the years, they changed. Their once diverse inventory shifted [more...]

Regular readers of this Journal know that I’m a technophile who loves to keep up with all of the latest gadgets and technologies, but who can’t afford — or doesn’t need — very many of them.

If you had to list ten gadgets that [more...]

As the year — and the decade, depending on when you think it started — draws to a close, it seems like everybody’s churning out lists of what they think were the best and worst things of the year, decade, lifetime, etc.

Here are a couple of the latest ones: [more...]

I hope that you’re still finding things to be thankful about, even though it’s the day after Thanksgiving, so no one’s running around, reminding you to do it.

As Linux user, I’m thankful that Linux gives me a completely free, secure, powerful, customizable operating system that [more...]

Have you ever used any pirated software?

Do you have any pirated software on your computer right now?

Does the organization that you work for have any pirated software? [more...]

I remember it like it happened just a few months ago: It was the end of my last day of high school, and I was sitting in the back of my school bus as it pulled out of the parking lot. I looked back at my high school and triumphantly thought to myself, “I’m never, ever going to have to sit in a classroom again!” [more...]

It’s not Microsoft’s first effort at releasing a Windows security application, but it may be the company’s best effort so far.

Or it may be a useless piece of junk that’s going to put users at risk by [more...]