Why we should be asking more ‘stupid’ questions.

The ‘smart’ teacher

I recently read a vivid illustration of the stupid question that needed to be asked. The shy student dared to raise her hand.

The teacher, a cognitive scientist, studies the psychology of understanding. I don’t know about you, but just that job title would make me shrink from asking a question that might be seen as stupid!

So this super smart teacher was talking about building a chart that shows data distribution. He was using a simple word – “bin.” As in, “when the data are continuous you must first place them into bins.”

What is a ‘bin’?

Most of us have bins at home. I have one for dirty laundry, which I call a laundry basket. Another for food, which I call a refrigerator! Regardless the size, a bin is a place to collect things.

While Mr. Scientist was talking a hand went up in the front row. The collegian was obviously embarrassed beginning, “This is such a stupid question. But I am really confused. What do you mean by a ‘bin’?” Read more →

Almost two years ago Reliable Tech News published an article called, Those Unwanted Phone Calls! While the emphasis there was on steps to take to deal with such calls, behind that focus was a very simple reality: technology makes fraud easy.

Sometimes just knowing a little bit about the technology helps to insulate you from the fraud perpetrated against you. Chloe Person, a writer for ConsumerHealthLabs.com came across our article and offered some helpful alerts to protect you against seven basic fraud types. In every case the perpetrators take advantage of the fatal flaw of ignorance in the victim. Be informed! Read more →

Why is WiFi sometimes unobtainable?

Has anyone else noticed that WiFi coverage at LAX is quite poor? As number 12, they are ranked below the top half of the 20 busiest airports in the country. WiFi at the top three – Denver, Philadelphia, Seattle – is 4-6 times faster!

But it’s not just airports. Restaurants are culprits as well. After enjoying a lunch-time conversation with a friend, we each looked at our calendars to decide when next to meet. My smart phone was ready. His was not. “Somehow,” he told me, “I don’t seem to have a signal.” WiFi present, but not accessible due to some unseen WiFi obstacle.

This common problem is most frustrating – and time consuming – when it happens at your business. Given the rise in personal devices brought to a business either by employees or outside sources, there is a need to consider potential WiFi obstacles in your office building. When it works, WiFi is very useful. When it meets with multiple WiFi obstacles, it is not. Read more →

Doing it wrong without knowing it!

American consumerism has produced products and packaging. Products have produced consumer debt and packaging has produced consumer frustration.

Have you ever come across a package that is difficult to open and hard to use? I have! But then by accident or by rare intuition, I will either eventually come across some fine print that explains “how to,” or just figure it out. Then the package opens and is more readily usable.

For example, those little fluted paper ketchup cups at the fast food place? You can dip one fry, maybe two. Unless! Unless you use it right. The fluting is meant to be spread out so that you have a flat surface. This video, How to use a Ketchup Cup Properly, shows you how. It’s great!

Admittedly, there’s very little tech involved in ketchup cups. But what’s important at the start is the concept: doing it wrong without knowing it. Because that happens all the time to all of us. And the biggest tech culprit is application software – programs like Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint and Outlook. Read more →

Does news about Russian hackers make you feel less safe? Some expert rules to safeguard your password security.

The March 15 DOJ indictment of Russian hackers shows that computer users are not taking routine precautions regarding their password security. That is to say people targeted by the hackers had such poor password security habits that the hackers had little challenge getting through. So if even the top level practices poor password security, what hope is there for those of us not in the cross-hairs of these international spy hackers? Read more →

Everyone’s in the cloud, aren’t they? 

[Check out our initial article on Cloud Computing.]

Remind me. What is cloud computing?

Google provides a very nice definition: the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.

Briefly, it is the difference between data “out there,” rather than data “in here.” Which is what PCMag.com means when it says, “Cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer’s hard drive.” Read more →

No need to go to the door to check. Ransomware is still there!

I received an email from Yahoo with the subject line, “Help Keep Your Account Secure.” I looked at the actual email address and found it to be Yahoo[at]communications.yahoo.com.

That all sounds pretty reasonable, right? Why would I have any hesitation in opening this purportedly helpful email? For three reasons: 1) I’d just read a Yahoo announcement admitting 1 billion accounts hacked in addition to a previously reported 500 million; 2) the email had been sent to a public email address, not my personal address; 3) the email opened, “Dear Jeff” totally unaware what my name is! Needless to say the email was marked as SPAM. Read more →

Goals for the New Year

Have you ever noticed that the gym is always the most crowded in January?

Goals are only helpful if they are written and written well. The problem with an unwritten goal is that it gets forgotten – the palest ink is stronger than the greatest memory. But. Not just forgotten, altered. Unwritten goals move away from the original demand that would strengthen one for achievement like air leaking out of a tire. Or like water leaking into a ship one moves slowly toward something not quite so demanding, or threatening to sink the effort. Read more →

Vacation selfies excluded!

Good can come out of what seems a very light-hearted practice – taking of selfies.

In fact, seven identifiable legitimate business uses that exclude bragging to the office about your cool trip to Paris. Here they are in no particular order because, after all, this is about selfies.

1. Prove your identity to access your computer accounts. This necessitates a computer with a camera – more and more the rule rather than the exception. Either a built-in – as you’ll find on most current laptops, notebooks, and tablets – or as an add-on for your desktop computer. Logitech has a great HD camera for $40.

2. Overcoming Security Problems. What if a thief has a picture of you? Part of the security transaction might be a gesture captured with video. Or after the selfie, a fingerprint as a secondary authentication as MasterCard does.  MasterCard plans to add heartbeat recognition. Yes. You still have to enter the credit card info! Read more →

Three classy things to learn

First, class, is the website address. This is the part that is visible and advertised to everyone. For example, Alliant’s address is, AlliantTechnology.com. Making the address, or domain name, more readable by using capital letters is a helpful marketing tool and has no effect on the way the Internet sees your address.

To make sure that you alone have the right to use the address for your website, you must register the name. The domain name is registered with a Domain Name Registrar for an annual fee. If you forget to renew the registration, you lose the right to the name. Read more →