Even the most advanced security can be defeated by a poorly chosen password. On this week’s #Tech Tuesday segment on WTAM 1100 Newsradio, Bill Wills and I discuss basic tips on how to choose a strong password. I do recommend the use of a password managers, such as LastPass and DashLane.
We also talk about Kerbal Space Program, a fun but smart physics-based game for all ages with an interest in rockets and spaceflight. More information and a free demo can be found at kerbalspaceprogram.com.
Listen to #Tech Tuesday on WTAM 1100 Newsradio in Cleveland every Tuesday at 7:50am. Follow Bill Wills on Twitter as @billwillswtam and myself at @agent3012.
Being able to file your taxes electronically is a huge time-saver, so it’s a bit scary to hear news about hackers committing tax-related identity theft to steal your money by filing their own tax return in your name ahead of time.
Based on what has been reported, the servers for Intuit (the company that makes TurboTax) are not being broken into or hacked. In most cases, the criminals are using social engineering and other tactics to get your social security number and other personal information, guess your tax-preparation site password, or convince you to give access to your financial information. These are techniques used for criminals on any online account or service, including your bank or shopping accounts.
To help protect yourself from this type of identity theft, it’s important to first make sure you are not making your Social Security number easily available to thieves. Avoid carrying your Social Security card (or other documents that might have your SSN on it) when it’s not needed. Avoid giving your SSN to any business or organization that asks for it, but doesn’t really need it. Never give out your personal information to anyone over the phone, via email or on a website unless you can confirm who is asking for that information and initiated the contact.
To protect your tax-preparation software accounts make sure you are using a secure account password. Easy to remember passwords may be easy to guess, giving criminals access to your account. You might consider a password managers like LastPass or Dashlane to keep unique passwords safe but accessible.
Next, make sure you’re not setting up any easy to guess forgotten password security questions. For example, the answer to “Where did you go to high school?” might be discovered by visiting your Facebook and other social media profiles.
Make sure you’re practicing safe online browsing habits, like not clicking on email attachments or clicking on unknown downloads. Keep your operating system, software and antivirus suite up to date. Malicious software like viruses or spyware on your system could be used to capture passwords, including those from your online tax preparation site.
For more information on keeping safe with your tax information, visit the FTC and IRS page on tax-related identity theft.
Play Audio – WTAM 1100 Newsradio – Tech Tuesday – February 17th, 2015:
WizardWorld’s Comic Con finally coming to Cleveland, the birthplace of Superman. Running this weekend (Feb 20th-22nd) Comic Con Cleveland will feature comic book, sci-fi and fantasy genre stars like William Shatner, Bruce Campbell, and yes, the guy who played the Green Power Ranger.
Here are some smartphone and tablet apps to get you ready for the weekend:
Comics by ComiXology – One of the largest digital comic book stores with over 50,000 titles you can download and read on your iPad, Android, Windows and even Kindle Fire tablets. The app even has a special mode that pans through the comic panels to keep the action flowing as you scroll through.
Marvel Unlimited – Access to over 15,000 Marvel Comics for $9.99 per month. It’s like Netflix for capes. This is a great way to catch up on decades worth of backstory for your favorite characters.
CLZ Barry -This app allows you to scan the barcodes of movies, books, even comic books, to help add them to your collection database through the collectorz.com website. Other CLZ apps allow you to bring your database with you on your device for your next trip to your favorite store, so you don’t end up with duplicate purchases.
ComicBook! 2 – Create your own comic books with this iOS that comes with layouts, text and caption tools and comic stickers to make your own action. Android users can also check out the Comic Strip It! to turn photos into halftone comic book art. Be your own hero!
Play Audio – WTAM 1100 Newsradio – Tech Tuesday – February 10th, 2015:
There’s a lot of talk about the FCC, Title II and net neutrality in the news lately. While telecom policies and the laws that apply to them are vast and complex, the argument for a free and open Internet is an important one for both sides of the current debate.
For this week’s #TechTuesday segment on WTAM 1100 Newsradio, Bill Wills and I discussed what “net neutrality” is and why it’s important to listeners.
Play Audio – WTAM 1100 Newsradio – Tech Tuesday – February 3rd, 2015:
This week has seen a lot of Winter storms hitting the midwest. While we’re still digging ourselves out from yet another snowstorm, here’s a list of apps that can be useful for dealing with Winter’s wrath:
Plowz and Mowz – Like Uber for snow plowing. It allows you to search for on-demand snow plowing (or mowing service during warmer weather) in your area, either through the website or the smartphone app available for Android and iOS.
First Aid – Protect yourself with step-by-step instructions first aid from the American Red Cross.
Waze – Get a head’s up as you head into work with traffic and road hazard alerts using this free GPS app that provides information from other drivers on your route.
Snow Day Calculator Looking to get your kid’s hopes up? Snow Day Calculator has both a web page and downloadable app that allows you to enter your zip code in and get a rough percentage chance that their school will be closed. The app was built a few years back by a middle school student who is now at MIT.
A long-time listener of WTAM’s 
