Siri, Cortana, Alexa, and Hey Google are all great voice assistants. This is a good thing, and a very useful feature of modern computers, smartphone, and more! However, your voice doesn’t stop with you. It goes from your device to the internet and onto a cloud server somewhere “out there,” only to return back with instructions the device understands and executes. Listening Up! Oh, and sometimes people listen. Computers can’t figure us humans out entirely. How to stop Alexa, Siri, and Google: https://slate.com/technology/2019/08/how-to-stop-alexa-google-siri-recording-human-review.html (thanks Alert Internet Surfer Perry!) How to stop Cortana: https://lifehacker.com/how-to-configure-windows-10-to-protect-your-privacy-1716204024
And now for something completely different… (8/17/19 Part 2)
Its a news show! What’s News? There’s been a lot going around, and we don’t want things to fall through the cracks. So, its time for our patent pending news show! https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/wind-power-prices-now-lower-than-the-cost-of-natural-gas/ https://www.neowin.net/news/google-runs-with-microsoft-made-fix-for-chromes-battery-drain https://www.space.com/nasa-artemis-lunar-lander-update-august-2019.html https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/08/huawei-announces-its-first-operating-system-harmonyos/ https://www.cnet.com/news/trump-administration-reportedly-wants-to-extend-nsa-phone-surveillance-program/ https://www.pcmag.com/news/370202/which-countries-are-best-prepared-for-cybercrime-response https://www.anandtech.com/show/14694/amd-rome-epyc-2nd-gen https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/facebook-transcribing-users-conversations-reason-204037706.html
Do you leave your house key under the mat? (7/27/19 Part 2)
So, your local police department want help catching the bad guys. You want to help, right? But, to do so, they insist that you always leave your house key under a door mat so they can always have access to your house “when they need it.” They promise they won’t tell anyone about the key, and promise nobody will ever abuse it. Back Doors, and Why They are Bad Sounds great, right? Law enforcement has been asking for weaker encryption and “back doors” in encryption for decades. They insist it’s only to get “the bad guys,” won’t get abused, and doesn’t really pose a risk to the public. Bologna, you say? We agree. Join us as we talk about that! https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614003/trumps-justice-department-calls-for-encryption-backdoor-law/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/fbi-weaker-encryption-is-a-worthwhile-tradeoff-for-law-enforcement-access-to-data/458622/ https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/caleatwo This podcast is brought to you by Audible!
But do you own it? DRM and you 101 (7/13/19 Part 1)
When you buy something digitally, do you actually own it? Are you sure about that? Do You Own It? Wouldn’t it be a shame if it went up in a puff of smoke? Many digital things you buy can get Digital Rights Management (DRM), be it eBooks, music, software/apps, movies and more. While its understandable for renting or borrowing, what about something you’re buying? We talk about this and offer our thoughts on the matter! https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/ultraviolet-is-shutting-down/ https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3k3wkk/microsoft-ebooks-will-stop-working-because-its-shutting-down-a-drm-server https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/12/cant-stream-that-christmas-movie-you-bought-on-amazon-blame-disney/ https://io9.gizmodo.com/amazon-secretly-removes-1984-from-the-kindle-5317703
More Headlines! More News! And CLEAN UP! (4/13/19 Part 2)
More news! Lets clean up those headlines! More News! – Part 2 We talk more space, how the big tech companies are making their money, and Amazon hiring people to listen to Alexa conversations. Plus, how to clean your computer! Because its hot and getting hotter because summer is coming! https://www.howtogeek.com/72716/how-to-thoroughly-clean-your-dirty-desktop-computer/ And, need to back up your Android contacts? We found some easy instructions for you! How to back up Android contacts
Surfing the Internet 101! (3/9/19 Part 1)
If you’re here, you probably typed AlertInternetSurfer.com! Well, why did we name our website that? Because that’s what we want you to be! So, in our ongoing 101 series we go into Surfing The Internet! Computers 101 – Safe Surfin’ Tired of Internet Explorer? Edge? Safari? Try out a new browser today! Mozilla Firefox – https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ Google Chrome – https://www.google.com/chrome Opera Browser – https://www.opera.com TOR Browser – https://www.torproject.org/ Vivaldi Browser – https://vivaldi.com/
Danno is back! Privacy, Net Neutrality, and more! (2/9/19 Part 1)
Our Privacy and Security Expert Dan is back! And so we’re catching up on all the craziness that’s been going on as of late! Dan, and Privacy and Neutrality and Culture and… – Part 1 Wow, we go all sorts of places. Maybe we need Dan on more often, but catching up was a load of fun!
Danno Strikes Back! (2/9/19 Part 2)
More privacy! More generational differences! More speculating, theorizing, and actively wondering! Dan, and Privacy and Neutrality and Culture and… – Part 2 Man, its great having Dan over!
Internet Browsers 101: your gateway to the internet! (1/26/19)
When you go online, your internet browser is your gateway to the internet. But are they all the same? No! Browsers 101 “But doesn’t everyone use ________?” No! So we talk about the basics of internet browsers! What’s the pros and cons of different browsers? Who are they meant for? And what is Google doing that is getting ad blockers mad?
Its the NEWS! And we’re catching up… (1/12/19 Part 1)
Its the New Year, we’ve had our prediction show fun, and now back to work! We hit a lot of news stories, including how cheap TVs are cheap because they’re selling your data! 😀 News Catchup! Whooo?