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I Let ChatGPT Work Control My Windows PC — Here’s What Actually Happened
Artificial intelligence is moving beyond answering questions in a chat window. Newer AI tools can interact with computers much more like people do. They can open browsers, navigate websites, click buttons, fill out forms, work with files and carry out sequences of tasks instead of simply telling you how to do them. I’ve been testing…
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FLOCK: What Happens When Your Normal Driving Pattern Is Interpreted as Suspicious?
More than a century ago, the Supreme Court recognized the right of people lawfully using the highways to “free passage without interruption or search.” That statement came with a qualification: the Court upheld a warrantless automobile search supported by probable cause to believe the vehicle carried contraband. It was not announcing an unlimited right against…
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How Much Privacy Should We Trade for Safety?
lock cameras and other automatic license plate readers can help solve crimes, but they also create enormous databases of vehicle locations. What happens when that information is searched, shared, misused—or hacked?
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What Does a Computer Technician Actually Need Access to During a Repair?
Handing your computer to a technician can feel a little different from handing over almost anything else for repair. Your computer isn’t just a piece of equipment. It may contain family photos, tax returns, financial records, saved passwords, business documents, emails, personal conversations, and years of files you’ve accumulated without giving much thought to who…
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Hiring a Computer Technician Requires Trust — Here’s How to Decide Who to Trust
Hiring a computer technician requires trust. Learn why onsite repair doesn’t eliminate privacy concerns and how to decide who should have access to your computer and personal data.
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What Fake Microsoft Support Scams Can Actually Do to Your Compute
You saw a warning saying your computer was infected. Maybe it claimed to be from Microsoft. Maybe alarms started sounding, your browser appeared to lock up, or a message told you not to shut down your computer. Then came the phone number and an urgent warning to call immediately. In our previous article about how…
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The Day Windows Disappeared (And It Wasn’t Gone At All)
Why one wrong assumption almost led to unnecessary data recovery… Microsoft’s end of support for Windows 10 has many people exploring Linux as a free alternative. While Linux can be an excellent operating system, installing it without understanding the options can lead to a terrifying experience. The following story is fictional, but it’s based on…
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The Latest Microsoft Support Scams: How to Spot Them Before It’s Too Late
The Latest Microsoft Support Scams: How to Spot Them Before It’s Too Late One of the most troubling calls I receive does not begin with a computer that has crashed. It begins with someone saying, “I think I let a scammer into my computer.” Sometimes the person received a phone call from someone claiming to…
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Why Your Android Phone Won’t Transfer All Your Photos (Even Though They’re Still There)
Have you ever plugged your Android phone into your computer to back up your pictures, only to discover that some of your most important photos simply weren’t there? You search every folder. You disconnect the phone and reconnect it. You try another USB cable. You even restart both the phone and the computer. Nothing changes.…
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Why Did My Email Stop Working After Using Apple’s Migration Assistant?
One of the more common questions I receive from Mac users is, “Why did my email stop working after I used Apple’s Migration Assistant?” It’s easy to assume that Migration Assistant caused the problem. After all, everything was working on the old Mac, you transferred your data to a new computer, and suddenly Apple Mail…