Tag: computers

💧 The weekend hackers came for the water

Hackers hit 30+ Minnesota water systems over two days. Here’s what could’ve happened, along with your 15-minute prep plan.

The cloud isn’t in the sky. It’s a warehouse near you, and it’s on your power bill, your water and your taxes

Every photo, text and ChatGPT question runs through a real building full of computers that never sleep. Here’s why those buildings are quietly showing up on your electric bill, draining your town’s water and pocketing your tax dollars.

5 buttons you press every day that secretly do nothing

The close-door button. The crosswalk button. Your office thermostat. A whole lot of them are fakes, and they’ve been quietly playing you for years.

The FBI built a fake town in Alabama. Then started attacking it.

Empty houses. A hospital. Traffic lights blinking at nobody. The FBI built a whole pretend town for one chilling reason.

AOL paid him $200 to record “You’ve Got Mail.” His voice was heard 35 million times a day.

His wife overheard the CEO of a tiny Virginia startup wanting a voice for new software. She volunteered her husband. He recorded four phrases on a cassette deck in their living room. AOL paid him $200. The phrases? “Welcome.” “You’ve Got Mail.” “File’s done.” “Goodbye.” Three of those words became the soundtrack of the early internet. And the man behind them? You’ve never heard his name until now.

Four humans flew around the moon. Here’s the technology that got them there.

Yesterday, four humans flew 252,757 miles from Earth, swinging around the lunar far side in a spacecraft the size of a minibus. They broke a record that had stood since 1970 when Apollo 13 limped past the moon, trying to get its crew home alive. The Artemis II voyagers woke up to Chappell Roan’s “Pink […]

10 easy upgrades to organize your tech life

Inside: Back up your files, ditch cable chaos and save your old memories. Up to 40% off.

He leaked secrets from inside a human trafficking scam compound. Then he had to escape alive.

A computer engineer gets lured to a “job” in Laos. What follows: 40 days of espionage, beatings and one of the most harrowing escapes you’ll read this year.

$100 million stolen from the Louvre: The hack was Windows XP

Robbers didn’t defeat the Louvre alone. Outdated Windows and a password called “LOUVRE” helped.

10 best true tech stories streaming

You can keep the wizards and aliens. Give me a movie or series where something unbelievable actually happened. Back by popular demand, I put together this list for you as proof that tech isn’t only lines of code and shiny gadgets. It’s ambition, hype, brilliance and, yeah, sometimes a total train wreck. You’re gonna want […]

Smart glasses are spyware

That’s me, virtually trying on Meta’s glasses on their website, doing my best Tom Cruise Risky Business impersonation. Spoiler, I didn’t buy them. These remind me of Google Glass. Those awkward $1,500 face computers from 2013 that made you look like a cyborg at brunch. They launched with a ton of hype and died just […]

A crypto guide for busy people that won’t make you cry

Let’s get one thing straight: Crypto isn’t disappearing into the tech void. Love it, hate it or meme it into oblivion, digital currency is sticking around, and the U.S. is auditioning to become the crypto capital of the world. That’s why it’s so important to understand the basics before you fall for a Reddit post […]

Insurance rates rising, here’s what you can do

My car insurance just jumped 32%. No, I didn’t get into an accident or rack up a few speeding tickets. Since 2020, car insurance rates have skyrocketed by 37%, and in 2024 alone, they climbed another 16.5%. Some states saw hikes of over 50%! Even if your ride isn’t fresh off the lot, you’re paying […]

Sky-high car insurance rates? Blame it on all the tech in our cars

Clever ways to save money on car insurance.

Quick tech cleanup: Do this every 3 months

Is your digital life a mess? You can fix that in just a few minutes.

The folks trading retirement for influencer status

Simple steps to making big bucks on social media as a grandfluencer.

A clutter-free inbox: Your simple guide to email zen in 2025

How to clean up your inbox in Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail and Yahoo

Small-biz tip: Don’t overlook this digital danger

Don’t leave your business vulnerable to cyberattacks. Poor offboarding practices can put your cybersecurity at risk, so follow these steps.

Surveys that can make you a ton of cash (really!)

Check out these survey sites to earn up to $100.

Shortcut to reading annoying privacy policies

Don’t skip those important online privacy policies. Here are clever ways to speed up the process.