TechByter Worldwide (formerly Technology Corner) with Bill Blinn

We'll be back next week and the TechByter website will have a new look. In the meantime, here's a link to last week's podcast.

Security threats continue to mature and become harder to spot. We'll listen as Cybereason's chief security officer, Sam Curry, suggests what we'll see on the security horizon in 2019. In Short Circuits: The Windows 10 October update has been released, again, this time without a propensity to occasionally delete files and folders. If you don't yet have version 1809, you can force the issue or just wait for Microsoft to deliver it. If you feel a certain sense of deja vu when considering the ways communication techniques are changing, perhaps you recall what was called "ransom-note publishing" that cropped up when inexperienced users gained access to design tools in the 1980s. In Spare Parts (only on the website): This year's Darwin Awards (as they relate to passwords) have been released and the White House is no longer the top winner, but a visitor to the Oval Office did take the #1 slot. • Renting a car in China is difficult: Foreigners also need to hire a driver and National Car Rental sees an opportunity there.

Adobe's InDesign 2019 adds several new features that are close enough to magic for designers to wonder where Merlin is hiding. The two most remarkable enhancements use artificial intelligence to size and position images and to modify page contents if the page size needs to be changed. In Short Circuits: Renaming your computer is as easy as renaming your cat and sometimes it's a good idea because the computer's default name will be useless. You're on your own with the cat. Crooks who use phishing emails are getting smarter and that means that we users need to get smarter, too. Updates to Adobe's photography applications in December are subtle, but some of them will make profound workflow changes -- at your discretion. In Spare Parts (only on the website): This is the time of the year for phony shipping messages. • If you're looking for cheap air fares, one on-line service says the key to success is flexibility. • A new service aims to make log-ins from mobile devices easier and thereby to improve financial performance for companies.

The latest version of Acronis TrueImage includes image backups, disk cloning, file and directory backup, and active defenses against ransomware. It's available as a subscription with or without on-line backup or as an application with a perpetual license. In Short Circuits: Microsoft may or may not rename its hapless Edge browser, but one big thing will change: Soon it will be based on Google's Chromium rendering engine. OneNote has been one of my favorite Microsoft applications for many years, but development has been halted as of the 2016 desktop version and the replacement is a much inferior Windows 10 app. Fortunately, users can still obtain the older, better version. One might wonder why Marriott waited 71 days to announce that customer information was exposed to crooks for half a billion people who stayed at the company's Starwood hotels. In Spare Parts (only on the website): With no action likely from the government to provide high-speed internet access in rural areas, Microsoft is expanding its program to do what the government should be doing. • Thousands of video programs from the British Broadcasting Corporation's educational titles will be made available to participating libraries by ProQuest. • A free application is intended to help children who have math-averse parents and research by the University of Chicago suggests that it's working.

Although it's far from being my favorite Creative Cloud application, Adobe Illustrator 2019 adds some features that will please users and may even convince me to give it some love. In Short Circuits: Checking the safety and validity of a link before following it is always a good idea and a service from Google makes the process fast, painless, and easy. Adding network attached storage to a home network is the easiest way to share files and the price is right now that several consumer-grade routers make it possible to attach a USB drive and convert it to a network drive. More than half a million Android users have downloaded malicious apps that they could have avoided by following 4 easy steps. And yes, I will explain what those steps are. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Dictionary.com has named "misinformation" as the word of the year, but I wonder if "disinformation" might not have been a better choice. • Electric cars aren't meeting sales projections and research suggests that there are a couple of valid reasons for that. • If you're thinking of buying a new car, Edmunds now offers a "Best Cars" section on their website to help with the decision.

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, there is no podcast this week. The link goes to last week's program.

DxO's second iteration of PhotoLab adds some superb features, particularly the ones that cut through atmospheric haze and remove digital noise. If you're not yet familiar with DxO, PhotoLab shows why you should be. In Short Circuits: The MacOS Mojave update brings several welcome options, including the ability to create a darker version of the interface, create better screen shots, and enjoy improved security. Most libraries in the US and throughout the world use OverDrive to deliver ebooks and now there's a new reader application called Libby. If your Windows 10 Pro computer told you to downgrade to the Home version of the operating system, it was a mistake. In Spare Parts (only on the website): As the holiday season approaches, on-line scams proliferate. • Crooks have figured out how to use a US Postal Service mail preview feature for identity theft. • Admittedly flu shots are not high tech, but why are so many people not having their children vaccinated? A survey offers some clues.

On1's Photo Raw continues the company's effort to work with Photoshop and Lightroom while competing with those same applications. A new version ships this month. In Short Circuits: The terms "internet" and "privacy" can exist in the same sentence if you're cautious about selecting applications and services to use. Microsoft has reduced the size of Windows 10 updates, but only for enterprise users who have deployed 64-bit computers. Why not for home users? Websites can see dozens of attacks every day by crooks who are attempting to plant malware. In Spare Parts (only on the website): A new version of True Image, the backup application by Acronis, will add the ability to back up cloud-based data files. • USB devices are being pegged as the most significant threat to industrial process control networks, the ones that run the electric grid, refineries, and other essential systems. • Some advertisements on the internet are just 6 seconds long and advertisers are learning how hard it is to communicate a meaningful message in such a brief period.

SnagIt, the screen capture application that's been popular with documentation specialists and others since the early 1990s continues to receive updates and the 2019 edition adds unusual functions that won't appeal to everyone, but will delight some users. In Short Circuits: Adobe's website application, Dreamweaver CC 2019, receives several new tools that will please advanced developers. Microsoft repeatedly breaks the feature that's supposed to keep external disk drives from disconnecting, but there's a free solution -- not from Microsoft. The Surface Pro 6 tablet from Microsoft is an ideal computer for those on the go, but desk-bound users have better options. Cyber Security Awareness Month may be over, but it's important to keep security top of mind all year. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Apple's big annual event was in Brooklyn this year and the latest Ipad might outshine new Macbooks and Mac Minis. • Girl Scouts of the USA are using on-line video and social media as a recruitment tool. • Several consumer groups are asking the Federal Trade Commission to examine sneaky practices used by some developers of apps for children.

The 2019 version of Photoshop extends content-aware-fill's capabilities and makes several user interface modifications that may seem small but were met with enthusiastic applause at the Max conference in Los Angeles. In Short Circuits: Is your computer's hard disk full? If so, you might find hundreds of gigabytes of useless files, so we'll examine how to find them and then get rid of them. One of the least welcome sounds around a computer is that of squeaking bearings from a device that holds a bunch of disk drives. Last week, I said that I'd solved a problem with the computer's displays. Seems I was a bit premature and overly optimistic. Maybe you'll enjoy my frustration. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Outvote has released a nonpartaisan version of its app that's aimed at getting voters registered and out to vote. • We're right at the end of Cyber Security Awareness Month, but keeping security in mind should be a task for everyone all year. • Lots of changes are coming for connectivity and research suggests that within just a few years, we'll have more than 40 billion connected devices on the internet.

Alien Skin's X4 version of Exposure makes it more capable as a standalone application, but Lightroom users will probably still want to use it as a Lightroom filter, where it adds several new features not otherwise available. In Short Circuits: Adobe's Max conference in Los Angeles introduced so many new and improved features that Adobe's presenters were unable to describe them all in a 2-hour presentation. Cybereason developed an exercise in conjunction with several Boston area police departments in which theoretical hackers attempted to create election problems even stealing voter lists, breaking into board of elections computers, or hijacking voting machines. The results were sobering. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Anyone with a hardware or software support problem that seems insoluble should check with Older Geeks because there's a good chance the problem can be solved. • FlightAware is now able to track airliners and business flights when they're on the ground and when they're in locations not visible to terrestrial tracking systems.

Updates to Adobe's Elements applications do what we've come to expect from updates: Add powerful new features in the form of guided edits. Those who want to create projects they can share without having to learn more complex applications such as Lightroom and Photoshop should take a look at the new Elements. In Short Circuits: Facebook went wild this week with persistent hoax messages about accounts being hacked, complete with a warning to share the information with all your friends. Facebook accounts can be cloned, of course, and there's no way to keep that from happening; there is a lot you can do to make your account a lot less attractive to crooks, though. Google will be shutting down its ill-conceived Google+ service over the next 10 months after admitting a data breach that the company had hidden for more than half a year. In Spare Parts (only on the website): If you purchased audio equalization software I recommended in September, I'll explain why I now consider it unacceptable and how you can get a refund. • Phishing emails continue to be a serious problem for organizations and now there are companies that will send fake phishing campaigns to employees so that they can learn how to identify these messages. • Fans of Doctor Who are being tricked into signing up for what looks like a free service but with an annual cost of nearly $1100. • During the next 2 weeks, NASA TV will offer video from a couple of spacewalks outside the International Space Station.

Computers often seem to become slower as they age. The hardware doesn't really slow down and some of the problems can be resolved by eliminating unnecessary applications that are running, but new hardware can also help. In Short Circuits: No matter how many monitors you've attached to the computer, placement is important because a bad arrangement can leave you stiff and sore. Mozilla is now offering a free monitoring service that can alert you if a website you use has been compromised. A new law in California attempts to save net neutrality for residents of the state, but the US Department of Justice has filed suit to stop it. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Google plans to make changes over the next year to reduce the amount of malware distributed through the Play store. • Nearly all of our medical information is computerized now. That's convenient, but it's also another rich resource for crooks. • JLab Audio has announced new Bluetooth earbuds with a claim that they'll run for more than 12 hours on a single charge, but there's a catch.

Open source software is secure and it isn't secure. There's no one-size-fits-all statement about security. Both open source and proprietary applications are like Schrödinger's cat, simultaneously secure and not. Let's visit a recent conference by the Linux Foundation and learn more about security. In Short Circuits: The Federal Communications Commission wants to fine an Arizona company more than $37 million for making fraudulent robocalls. The password has a lot of enemies and this week Microsoft, Google, and Yubi all announced ways to kill reliance on passwords. The next time you experience network problems, consider using Microsoft's PowerShell to investigate. In Spare Parts (only on the website): This week (39 years ago) CompuServe introduced email to the general public and they even trademarked the name "Email". • Hardware insurance company SquareTrade says the latest phones from Apple do survive being dropped into a vat of beer, but not being dropped onto the floor.

Let's take a look at Smart Photo Editor Studio from Anthropics. It's an application that features an unsual interface and thousands of presets that can be used to turn everyday images into something special. In Short Circuits: Apple introduced IOS version 12 for its mobile devices this week. Besides fixing some of the worst bugs in IOS 11, it adds some useful functions. Although I don't often use Microsoft's cloud-based OneDrive, I was surprised to discover that it was missing. Apparently this is a relatively common problem with an easy fix that I'll share. Research confirms that all of the nation's top 45 airports can be hazardous to your data and that many have unacceptable risks. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Two-factor authentication is more secure than just a user name and password, but the weak link is still the human. • If you're going to spend $1000 or more on a new Iphone, there are ways to save and WalletHub has the details.