Computer Glasses Can Minimize Eye Strain

Protect Your Eyes from Harmful Rays with Computer Glasses

Staring at Screens All Day Can Cause Headaches and Eye Strain;
Wearing Computer Glasses Can Alleviate This

Computers have changed a lot over the last few decades.  We went from green screens, to color VGA, and now, we have 4k capable monitors.  And although the visuals improved, one aspect of computing continues to plague us, and that is the issue of eye strain.

Back in the late 80s, I spent a lot of my day staring into computer monitors.  I began having terrible headaches on a daily basis, and I was convinced it was related to my screen time.  A colleague, who was having similar issues,  and I both sought medical help around the same time. Both of us were referred to an Optometrist, and both of us were prescribed reading glasses with a special coating.

Different optometrists told us that the act of focusing on a screen was tiring our eyes.  As our eyes tired, they lost their ability to adjust focus from closer to farther things.  In theory, reading glasses could help prevent this. They would help our pupils learn to better adapt, sort of like exercise for our eyes.  The special coating would reduce glare, helping to protect our eyes from further damage.  We both started wearing our glasses while focusing on a monitor, and we both experienced substantial relief from eye strain and the associated headaches.

Somewhere over the decades, I stopped wearing my computer glasses.  We were told monitors improved to the point emissions and glare were no longer threats.  We began working on larger monitors with better screen resolutions, which made things easier to see. We learned to bump up text size when our eyes were feeling strained.  But then came the Cell Phone Revolution. Along with it came the tendency to make screens smaller and more portable.  We began trading our desktop PCs for laptops.  And a lot of us started experiencing the eye strain of the past again. Only we didn't realize it.

Quick Tip: Bypass Paywall Monthly Article Limits

Quick Tip: Read a News Article
Despite Having "Reached Your Monthly Limit"

Get Around Those Annoying "Subscribe to Continue" Pop-Ups

 

I like to follow the news using an RSS Feed Reader.  I follow a "Top News" RSS feed that contains stories from numerous news sources.  And of course, a lot of the linked headlines come from places like the New York Times and the Washington Post, both sites that limit how many articles you can read without subscribing.  Many friends share news stories on Facebook, and I'd LOVE to be able to click-through without encountering one of those nasty "You've reached your limit of free articles. Click here to choose a subscription plan to continue" pop-ups.

In the old days, I'd cut and paste the link into a different browser, hoping I hadn't exceeded my monthly allotment there as well. If I hit a paywall again, I'd attempt to clear my cookies or use Reader Mode to bypass it, both tricks the paywalls got wise to too soon.

What if I told you I'd discovered an easy way to bypass these paywalls, and you didn't need to use a different browser or clear anything to use it? And it does NOT depend on using some browser extension that may disappear at any time. In fact, this trick involves nothing more than a right-click on a link.

You DO NOT Owe for an Overdue Invoice

Billing Scams are a Common Form of Spear Phishing

Do NOT Click Through or Open the Attached File

It's time to take a look at a few of the e-mail scams that have been filling inboxes recently. Some of these were sent to me personally; others were forwarded to me by some of my customers, who wanted to know if they were legitimate or not.  These e-mails are cut and pasted from the originals. In any case an e-mail contains an inline URL, I have changed that URL so it will NOT "work" if you click on it by mistake.  I have NOT stripped out links completely, so that readers may use the "hover trick" to see that the links, in fact, do NOT lead to where you'd expect. (Remember, you can hover your mouse over ANY link, and a program will show its true destination in either the status bar or in a pop-up tooltip.)

You DO NOT Owe for an Outstanding Invoice from a Company Whose Name You Do Not Recognize

This spear-fishing e-mail claims you owe money, and tells you to click a link to settle your bill.  Clicking on the link will take you to a site where they will trick you into disclosing personal info, and most likely will plant malware on your system while doing so.

Why We are NOT Covering Prime Day This Year

Prime Day is Here

And in Our Opinion, it is Over-Hyped

Tomorrow, July 17 2018, is officially Prime Day.  This year, Amazon decided to start it early, so the deals officially began about an hour ago.  And as soon as the deals began, Amazon's site crashed.  Viewing Prime Day Deals seems to be a hit or miss affair.

Almost every site on the Internet is covering Prime Day.  Techlaurels has decided not to, for a couple of reasons. First of all, there are plenty of sites that ARE covering Prime Day, and most of those sites are inundating our mailboxes with "Prime Day Deals" Newsletters, it's almost verging on spam. And second of all, I just do not think Prime Day is anything that special.

They DO NOT Have Your Password

That Password They Have is Most Likely an Old One;
They STILL Are NOT Watching You Through Your Webcam

Not too long ago, we discussed the latest e-mail scam, in which they claim to be recording you through your webcam.  Well, the scammers have upped their threats, and you may be the recipient of multiple e-mails threatening to release illicit videos if you do not pay a ransom.  And these latest e-mails have a twist: they include your password! But not to worry; they are NOT legit.

When you see the password they include, you will most likely panic, as you will recognize the password as one you have used.  But most likely, it is not a current password. In my case, the e-mail included one of the earliest passwords I used on the Internet, and one I haven't used much in over a decade.

Data Breaches: What Do They Mean For You?

How to Safeguard our Information
in a World of Security Breaches

What Can We Do when Our Data Gets Out?

Yesterday, all of the tech publications were warning of another major data breach.  Another popular Facebook App exposed users' personal data, and this time, over 120 million users were possibly affected.    Who was careless with our data this time? Nametests.com, a site Techlaurels warned users about over a year ago.

In a nutshell, Nametests had this hole where if you knew the right JavaScript commands, you could potentially access any users' personal information.  A website could exploit this, or any individual who knew how to grab and use a "token."  The "good guy" who discovered this used the flaw to set up a data mining program and subsequently reported the bug to Facebook. The security hole was supposedly closed.

And of course Nametests wanted that hole closed as soon as it was discovered. Who is going to buy a candy bar if there is a bowl sitting next to the register that says "Yours for the taking."  Or to borrow from an old cliche, if you're in the business of selling cows, you don't want to be giving the milk away for free.