TechByter Worldwide (formerly Technology Corner) with Bill Blinn

If you're still looking for a worthwhile resolution, how about improving your computer backup system? And if you don't yet have a backup system in place, how about establishing one? Fraudsters are getting better every day. Millions of e-mail messages containing links to malware are sent out every day and so are legitimate-looking requests that can give a thief enough information to steal your mone...

Batteries have finite life spans and a utility that's available in Windows 8 and Windows 10 can help you identify when it's time to replace the battery. Even security applications that are intended to protect your computer can sometimes be used maliciously. The European Union moves forward to enable legislation that will enforce privacy laws with severe fines. In Short Circuits: A Chinese company...

Despite the appeal of on-line music streaming services, there's still a valid reason to have an MP3 player application on your computer. If you're thinking of learning a new language or refreshing your knowledge of a language, the free Duolingo service would be a good place to start. In Short Circuits: Some people are trying to avoid having their computers updated to Windows 10. If you're in that...

Undoubtedly you have an antivirus application on your computer, but that's no longer enough protection. UltraEdit Studio, my preferred text editor, is now available in a 64-bit version that works faster than the 32-bit version. In Short Circuits, Adobe's November 30th Creative Cloud update may not be revolutionary, but it brings several new and welcome features to the applications; if it seems too...

TechByter Worldwide is taking its annual Thanksgiving break.

Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 is an impressive piece of hardware with some significant flaws. Windows 10 Build 10586 may already be on your computer. If not, it soon will be and the first major update to Windows 10 adds useful features. In Short Circuits: Let's consider why this week's program might look and sound a bit different and November 22nd is a day of both sadness and joy. In Spare Parts (only...

We'll take a look at the latest iteration of On1's set of tools for photographers and examine how they can improve photographs of people. Following up from last week's recommendations for secure browsing, I'll describe the process I use to stay safe on the Web. In Short Circuits: How to enable the built-in Administrator account in Windows and although Microsoft is reducing on-line storage for Offi...

The Cyber Threat Alliance says that it has cracked the code on CryptoWall, malware that's associated with $325 million in payments to crooks, but there's bad news, too. A single image created by today's digital cameras, shooting in raw mode, wouldn't even fit on the original PC hard drives. And that's just one crazy thing about today's technology. In Short Circuits: The end is approaching for Wind...

One of the more helpful sites for Windows users is The Windows Club, but be careful with downloads from the site. We'll take a couple of looks at security: On-line reviews may not always be as trustworthy as they appear and watch out for "free" offers on Facebook and elsewhere. In Short Circuits, Western Digital plans to acquire SanDisk and a new approach to stifling on-line bullies. In Spare Part...

If you're looking for an application that edits photographs, creates logos, designs websites, and publishes documents, you should take a look at Xara Designer Pro. Is TechByter Worldwide a safe website? SiteLock helps me to ensure that it is. In Short Circuits: How many federal agencies are keeping track of information about you? Comodo and Acronis have combined to offer some useful capabilities....

Password managers make it possible to maintain and use complex and secure passwords, and there are several to choose from. If you're someone who likes to write website code instead of using a WYSIWYG development tool, Brackets would be worth looking at. In Short Circuits: If you recently upgraded to Windows 10, you're probably eligible for a money saving deal on Office 365, but there might be a be...

Experian, the company that T-Mobile uses to confirm customers' credit-worthiness has been hacked, exposing data about 15 million customers who signed up between September 2013 and last month. Adobe's updated Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements bring welcome features to the consumer-level applications. In Short Circuits: Skype offers a gift that most people won't be able to use; In Los Angeles...

The files on your computer are worth more than the computer and having a reliable backup is the only way to ensure their safety. Acronis True Image is a good insurance policy. LG enters the tablet market in the United States with its Gram series of lightweight computers that look a lot like Microsoft's Surface computers. In Short Circuits: Acronis teams up with Quantum-Safe Encryption to make clou...

Photographers sometimes need to know where the sun and the moon will be so that they can plan a photo. If that describes you, take a look at Sun and Moon Calculator. The latest Windows 10 release in the Fast Ring gives a hint about improvements that will be coming soon. In Short Circuits: Microsoft has released Office 2016, Skype suffers a major malfunction, and WizMouse brings one of the Windows...

Microsoft Security Essentials catches most malware that's in the wild, but is relatively weak when it comes to identifying new types of threats. Some antivirus programs use too many system resources and others display bothersome messages and try to sell you new services. We need something, but what? Windows 10 has generally been a solid performer for most people. That doesn't mean I haven't encoun...

On-line instruction is a growing business and TrainSimple is in the process of expanding from being an Adobe-only shop to one that provides numerous classes for creative folks; if you're looking for an application that removes programs you no longer want, maybe the IOBit Installer is what you need. In Short Circuits: A government agency close to home (Miami County) had to pay cyber-crooks to recov...

The Bat, an e-mail program that's popular in Europe continues working to find a following in the Americas. High temperatures are a threat to your computer, so you might want to add a couple of free utilities that monitor how hot it is in there. In Short Circuits: Adobe's InDesign now offers a preview feature that makes it possible to publish a document on-line and if you're a Windows Insider in th...

Turning a brown camel into a purple camel is just one of the things you can do with Xara Photo and Graphic Designer. Microsoft will release the latest version of Office next month and this month I've been looking at LibreOffice. In Short Circuits: A couple of city council members in Munich say Linux and LibreOffice are too hard to use and Windows 10 has surpassed 75 million installations in less t...

Adobe's new and updated free mobile applications bring more power to your Apple phone or tablet and to your Android phone. In Short Circuits: No, Windows 10 isn't perfect and I'll describe some of the problems you might see; additionally, I'll tell you about a method I've found to leverage the Task Bar, Start Menu, Live Tiles, and All Applications to create a highly usable working environment. In...

If you already have Windows 10 or expect to have the upgrade soon, you might find a dozen or so terrific tips (and a dud or two) useful. In Short Circuits: How to find out if your Android device is vulnerable to the Stagefright bug, using a checksum to verify a file's integrity, and Google now wants the entire alphabet. In Spare Parts (only on the website): The history of photography in 12 short v...

Combining multiple images allows today's photographers to create panoramic views and maybe even to outdo Ansel Adams (or is that blasphemy?); updating a computer to Windows 10 worked well for me, but occasional failures are being used to drive traffic to "Panic NOW!" websites. In Short Circuits: PayPal splits from Ebay and it's about time, a new website makes it easy to type in non-Roman alphabets...

I'm a fan of applications that are provided without cost and I'll share a short list of some of my favorites. The best way to make a computer faster used to involve adding memory, but now maybe you should swap out the hard drive. In Short Circuits: Windows 10 launched this week and overall the upgrade process seems to be going well. Brian Krebs questions a new Windows 10 feature, but it seems to m...

OnOne's Perfect Photo Suite 9.5 makes this a great time to be a photographer and at last there's a version of Linux that might be right for users who don't have a degree in information technology. In Short Circuits: Central Ohio is about to get an overlay for the 614 area code, something that's coming to most metro areas, and with the Windows 10 upgrade scheduled to start installing in just a few...

If you're looking for a reason to enroll in Adobe's Creative Cloud for Photographers, just take a look at what's new in Lightroom and Photoshop; if you haven't checked your Google and Facebook privacy settings recently, now would be a good time. In Short Circuits: The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have whacked another mole, Amazon's Black Friday in July received less than stellar reviews,...

Website designers, both pro and amateur, will find lots to like in the latest version of Xara Web Designer; with just weeks to go before Windows 10 is released, Microsoft has pushed out the last preview build and it about ready to release the code to manufacturing. In Short Circuits: Hackers have been hacked and the information released reveals the dirty secrets of a company that has tried to posi...