Category Archives: Security Tips

Billboards can track your location, and privacy advocates hate it

Clear Channel Outdoor launches a new geolocation tracking service as a way to deliver targeted ads

A Clear Channel Outdoors digital billboard near M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, celebrates the career of Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis before his retirement in early 2013.

Credit: Clear Channel Outdoor

The next time you see a billboard on the side of the road, it may also be scanning you.

How to turn on Windows 10’s Find My Device feature

How to turn on Windows 10’s Find My Device feature?

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Microsoft’s Windows 10 November update brings with it a handy “find my device” feature, but it’s not just for tablets or phones. Any Windows 10 device can take advantage of the new feature, including desktops and laptops.

Find My Device in Windows 10 doesn’t do a whole lot right now. There isn’t a way to have your tablet make a sound, lock itself, erase data, or anything like that. Instead, you can only find out where its last known general location was.

9 ways to keep your Windows computer safe

Evil people roam the Internet. Here’s an overview of what you need to do to protect yourself.

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For today’s criminals, the Internet’s where the action is. Compared to traditional muggers and burglars, cybercrooks make more money with less risk.

And that means that us honest folk have to be extra cautious. Protecting yourself in cyberspace is more complex than locking your door or keeping a hand on your bag.

I’m concentrating here with protecting your  Windows PC.

Windows’ thumbs.db files: What they are, and what to do when they get in your way

Windows loves to create thumbs.db files, but they can cause problems, especially on a network. Here’s what you can do about them.

Evan asked me about thumbs.db files. “Every time I find one on the network, they become an issue to delete as they read as system files.”

Windows will occasionally create a thumbs.db file for a given folder as a way to quickly display thumbnail images. You won’t see thumbs.db files unless you set Windows/File Explorer to show hidden files, but they’re there. On a modern PC, they’re pretty much harmless…and useless. But they can cause problems.