First off, Mr. and Mrs. Claus came in to join us this hour! They talk about where they’ll be this month, plus where you can find them! Want to find out more? Passwords and Santa! They’ll be at the Kihei Public Library on Saturday, December 8th 2018 from 10:30am til 12:30pm. They’ll also be at Maui Makers on Sunday, December 9th 2018 10am til 2pm. Then there’s the Hansen Toy Drive on Saturday, December 1st 2018 from 4pm til 8pm! Look them up and get more details at https://www.facebook.com/mauimrandmrsclaus/ Anyhow: Recycling is good unless you’re talking about passwords. Reusing a password is bad internet hygiene (dare we say unsanitary!) and can cause all sorts of problems for you. So, what do you do about that? Well, glad you asked! Time for a 101 on Passwords and Password Managers! https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-password-managers/ https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407168,00.asp https://www.wired.com/2016/01/you-need-a-password-manager/ https://www.xkcd.com/936/
Are you ready for BLACK FRIDAY? (11/17/18 Part 1)
Are you ready for the holiday shopping season? No? Well too bad! It is upon us! Black Friday 2018 But, the trick with sales is sometimes they’re tricky. Is it really a deal? Is it what it says it is? Oh goodness, what a pain! The holidays are a great time for research as well! https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm https://www.tomshardware.com/ https://www.newegg.com/ https://blackfriday.com/ https://www.bbb.org/
Bad News and Fake News (11/10/18 Part 1)
Look! Bat Boy is cheating on Marilyn Monroe with an Alien Elvis Clone! It used to be that bad news was confined to the pages of the supermarket tabloids. Aliens! Secret Conspiracies with Lizard People! The Pope is a 1,000 year old Vampire! Fake News! – Part 1 Likewise, some “news” were more sensationalist in nature. Remember Y2K? How many times have “its the end of the world!” come up as a headline? There might’ve been a kernel of truth or just an opinion at the core, but it got spun up to be more headline grabbing. Now? Not only is it easy to find bad and sensationalist stories online, its exploded. Additionally, you can find anything you want. Got an opinion? Someone out there will cater to it. Chances are, there’ll be dozens of sites out there. Is it fake? Is it bunk? Why would we make this up? Oh, right, there’s money to be made. Join Jonathan, LD, Sam, and special guest Tracey as we talk about bad and fake news!
Q&A Second Story is OPEN! (11/3/18 Part 1)
Your skill are one of your biggest assets! And, thanks to the wonders of your brain, you can learn new things, new skills, update things and more! Some people can learn great on their own, but some folks really benefit from time with a teacher. Welcome to Maui Computer Learning with Ben! Q&A now has Q&A Second Story! Its a classroom where you can learn more about a variety of subjects with one of the best teachers on Maui! Got a business or a non-profit? You can invest in your greatest asset: your people! https://www.inc.com/chad-halvorson/5-reasons-you-should-be-investing-in-employee-development.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/01/29/why-development-planning-is-important-neglected-and-can-cost-you-young-talent/#5c9bf9d56f63 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-reasons-keep-learning-all-time-deb-calvert https://www.inc.com/aj-agrawal/4-reasons-why-we-should-never-stop-learning.html
Who are these Q&A people, anyhow? (11/3/18 Part 2)
So, you’ve been listening to the show for a while. We hope you’ve been enjoying it and learning a lot! But do you know about the people behind the microphone? Who Are We? We give Jonathan the platform to go over Q&A! What do we do? What are we about? How are we here for you? You can find us in Kahului on 270 Lalo Street, Suite #104 from Monday through Friday, 8:30am til 5pm! Check us out at: https://www.q-a.net/ http://www.alertinternetsurfer.com https://www.facebook.com/qainc/
Stingrays! Security! Phones! YOU! (10/27/18 Part 1)
What is a Stingray? Its a fake cellphone tower that law enforcement can deploy to intercept cell phone signals. And frankly, if the bad guys have it, then the spies probably do. And we’re sure the organized crime bad guys do too in some places! Why Encryption? Maybe you don’t feel you’re important enough to worry about this sort of thing, but our elected officials do. And some of the things they could/should be doing you can do too! What to learn more about Virtual Private Networks? Go to https://thatoneprivacysite.net/ Want to encrypt your phone? Best check with your smartphone’s manufacturer!
You got to fight! For your right! To fiiiiiiiiix thangs! (10/27/18 Part 2)
You buy something, its yours, right? Common sense? Well, not quite. “Says who” you ask? Well, Apple and John Deer come to mind. Right to Repair gets a boost! First off, you’ll want to visit https://hawaii.repair.org/ So, there’s a movement fighting for your Right to Repair. There was a big win via the Library of Congress approving an exemption the the Digital Millennium Copyright Act allowing you to circumvent (“break”) the digital rights management of certain types of devices. https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/10/26/us-copyright-office-says-circumventing-drm-repair-certain-electronics-including-phones-smart-speakers-now-legal/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/10/feds-say-its-ok-to-jailbreak-alexa/ https://gizmodo.com/its-now-legal-to-hack-drm-to-repair-your-own-devices-1830002757 On a side note: there’s even an exemption that’s been made for online games that have shut down. Its really interesting, and quite relevant when you consider how many games are online only now! US Library of Congress grants DMCA exception for preserving online games You might remember Sam was a fan of City of Heroes, so this is pretty cool for him.
“I am a red-blooded [insert country] just like you!” (10/20/18 Part 1)
So, Eastern European trolls are keeping busy. How busy? Very. And they’re possibly expanding! Trolls are a-Trollin’ So, elections 2018 and movie season… what fun for the trolls!
Super Spy or Super False Alarm? (10/6/18 Part 1)
According to a story from Bloomberg, Amazon and Apple have bad computer parts with super-duper spy bits in them. The motherboard maker, Super Micro, denied it. Likewise, Amazon and Apple denied it as well. In the meantime Bloomberg stands by its story. Bloomberg and the Chip So, what’s the scoop? What’s our take? Is this feasible? We discuss and opine in this hour!
Apple versus Right To Repair? (10/6/18 Part 2)
If you buy something, its yours, right? And you’re free to do whatever you (legally) want to do with it, right? Including fixing it? Common sense, right? Well, maybe not. Apple, and Right to Repair Apple has been opposed to Right To Repair initiatives in the past, and has shown itself to be less than enthused with small repair shops. So, what’s next for the legacy of Steve Jobs? Do they want you to think different or should they make sure everyone says iConform?