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Comcast might be best known for its cable service, but they also sell home security systems. Many businesses use Xfinity, or a comparably engineered security system. That’s why recent developments are so troubling. Security vendor Rapid7 recently tried to contact Comcast about a potential flaw in the security systems they sell. This flaw allows the system’s sensors to be disabled via simple, low-cost radio equipment that essentially jams the base unit, preventing it from detecting an … Read More

If you’ve been keeping tabs on the comings and doings at the Microsoft Store, you may have noticed the appearance of a mysterious new app called “The Cellular Data App.” According to the description, this app will require the use of a Microsoft SIM card, and that no contract will be required. At the time of this writing, Microsoft has no SIM card, although the company says it has one in development. They have not, however, … Read More

Are you as productive as you could be? Do you feel as though you’ve got plenty of time to get everything done? If so, then give yourself a pat on the back. You’re in a tiny minority. For the rest of us, we’d love to squeeze another hour or two out of every day. Fortunately, there are ways you can do just that. Here are some of the biggest time waster’s in most people’s day, and … Read More

File this one away under “unlikely but true.” The story reads like something from a pulp science fiction novel. US Marshals descended on a booth at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show), which is the nation’s largest electronics conference, and shut down the booth, confiscating a number of one-wheeled scooters. A company called Future Motion, which claimed there was a copyright infringement on the one-wheel design of the board, prompted the federal action. A brief telephone conference … Read More

Customers come in all shapes and sizes, but broadly speaking, they tend to fall into five major categories. Recognizing them will go a long way toward helping you deal with each type as you encounter them. Just Regular Folks The vast majority of your customers will fall into this category. They’re not expecting the moon from you, but they are expecting fair and decent treatment. This group is the easiest to keep happy, but if you … Read More

With all the prominent hacks making headlines last year, it just makes sense to start looking around for security solutions you can use every day in order to better secure your own data. That way, in the event of a major company getting hacked, exposing the data of their millions of customers, even if you are among that number, you’re at least at less risk than you might otherwise be. The problem is this: The average … Read More

Another day, another report of a large company data breach. The victim this time was Hyatt, and the breach impacted a total of 318 of their 627 properties. The culprit in this latest successful hack was malware found on hundreds of payment processing systems, which exposed customer names, addresses, and credit card numbers. Since the breach was discovered, Hyatt has assured their customers that they’ve “taken steps” to beef up their data security, and has advised … Read More

It’s no secret – not all software is created equally. Some products are blasted from the moment they are released, others are greeted with cautious optimism, and a very few are readily embraced by an excited, engaged user base. Windows 10 has now been in public hands long enough that we can report that Windows 10 seems to be falling into that latter category. Early reports from their exploding user base show that people genuinely like … Read More

It happens. The day comes when your old, reliable laptop gets traded in for a new model with more bells and whistles, a faster CPU and more storage space. Unfortunately, with Moore’s Law still in effect and computers becoming functionally obsolete, there’s a hard limit to how many spares and older pieces of equipment you can realistically keep lying about “just in case,” so what’s a business owner to do with all that older equipment? Fortunately, … Read More

Whatever business you’re in, you know what a spectacular pain arranging training can be. First, you’ve got to find a relevant SME (Subject Matter Expert). He or she probably doesn’t live in your city, so there’s transportation to arrange, schedules to juggle, possibly lunch to cater, and all the while, the various projects that your teams are working on are sitting idle. It can be a lesson in frustration. Is it any wonder that the whole … Read More