TechByter Worldwide (formerly Technology Corner) with Bill Blinn

Operating systems and applications come with more annoyances than you can shake a stick at, but I have a stick and I'll shake it at a few of the annoyances I've squashed recently. In Short Circuits, Some cautions about my previous favorite backup application, Carbonite, but no clear winner yet as a successor. Danger from Firefox plug-ins you expect to help or protect you. Samsung starts the year well with the Galaxy 7. In Spare Parts, only on the website: Turning old electronics that you no longer want into useful materials instead of fodder for landfills, D-Link now offers two power-over-Ethernet routers that are designed for surveillance applications, and Nokia is pushing what it terms a "passive optical LAN" as a better solution than copper wire for local area networks.

Nine illustrated tips for preparing to take better pictures, on a vacation or anytime. In Short Circuits: The FBI works around Apple. Finding ways to balance security and privacy in the workplace. In Spare Parts (only on the website): A short history of fraudulent e-mails, Windows 10 is now on 270 million computers, Hololens is shipping if you have $3000, and Bat developer Ritlabs is now in the top 1% of Microsoft developers.

Apple seems to have prevailed in the first round of its battle with the FBI over an encrypted phone, but nobody is really a winner. Disk drives with moving parts may be dead, but they don't know it yet. In Short Circuits: Hospitals are being attacked by malware. Longtime Intel CEO Andy Grove has died.The surprise from Adobe that wasn't a surprise. A warning from the US Treasury that wasn't. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Marketing pros may be replaced by robots, trying to make tech support more personable, fand a plan to make genetic research more accessible.

Phishing messages are becoming harder to spot and that makes them more dangerous. From the free Slate application, to Lightroom and Photoshop, and on the Dreamweaver and other apps, Adobe turned on the release fire hose this week. In Short Circuits: One more step remains in the approval process for Western Digital and SanDisk to merge. Increasingly office workers are working from places other than the office. After I figured out what was causing an Amazon video not to play, I explained what I did to Amazon support and the technician then told me to do exactly what I'd already done. In Spare Parts (only on the website): A new way to think about retirement, Kaspersky says its new protective applications for business networks seek out targeted attacks, and the creator of the annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony will be the keynote speaker at a conference on the Internet of Things.

An old-school spam cropped up in my e-mail in-box this week and caused me to think about advances that spammers have made. In Short Circuits: Microsoft has updated the enterprise version of Windows Defender to provide faster responses to attacks and that has some pundits ... worried. A malware attack on Apple's OS X operating system again shows that Macs can be attacked. The Federal Communications Commission will vote on a plan to make broadband more affordable for low-income households. In Spare Parts (only on the website): At the education section of the South By Southwest Festival, talk about how open education resources are becoming increasingly important in classrooms and Microsoft partners with the NCAA to provide insight into the upcoming March Madness and we hope they don't drop the ball.

Firefox is a good browser that can be made even better with add-ons. I'll have information about some of the most popular ones. In Short Circuits: After you get add-ons installed in Firefox, you have to convince the browser to stop disabling them every time there's a new version of Firefox. It's been a busy week in the FBI versus Apple controversy with court rulings, comments by the defense secretary, and an admission that the FBI caused its own problem. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Corporate data is threatened not only by outsiders but also by employees, contractors, and business associates. Peach Fuzzer is designed to find flaws in automated systems before they hurt someone. Huawei and Leica say they will re-invent smart phone cameras. And Microsoft offers Xbox users a (virtual) $2 million Lamborghini.

Have you ever wondered what's tracking you as your browser wanders around the Internet? Now you can find out. In Short Circuits: Privacy and security are big topics now, in part because of the FBI's request to have Apple develop a way to break into one of their phones, but we'll also consider some new hardware that includes encryption by default. Both Webroot and ESET have new reports that outline the scope of malware and other threats. Hint: It's not getting any better. Google pulls the plug on Compare. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory say some new research provides clues about how diseases move through a population, something new from Amazon (free training), and bit.ly (the little company that started out just shortening links) is all grown up and making a big move.

A story of criminal and political intrigue as attempts are made to destroy RitLabs, developer of the popular e-mail program, The Bat. In Short Circuits: I'll show you a picture of an amazing spam with a link that shouldn't be clicked by anyone, but probably will be. How to avoid having to enter a long and complex password whenever you log on to a Windows 10 system. The average age of hackers these days is 17. Is your teen among them? Apple says it will not comply with a court order. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Bluehost updates 2 million WordPress sites and then offers the update script to everyone, including competitors, warnings about malware called Red Sheriff, and a review of the 2016 Golden Mousetrap Awards.

Not too long ago, password managers were just nice to have. Now they're essential. In Short Circuits: Computers and the Internet are changing how we interact with the nation's health-care system and the latest version of Windows 10 in the Fast ring merits a yawn, but that's not a bad thing. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Scammers are now targeting children and China-based WeChat handed out money (with an ulterior motive) in Times Square around the Chinese New Year.

A new feature in Adobe Lightroom that I mentioned last week is every bit as exciting as I thought it might be. Words and pictures follow. Network attached storage is coming to homes and offices, and a new NAS box from Synology comes with impressive specifications. In Short Circuits: Seagate is looking at a class action lawsuit resulting from a high percentage of failed 3 terabyte drives, Microsoft wants you to have Windows 10 for free and doesn't want to take NO for an answer, and Internet data privacy gets a score card with a low grade. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Slow crooks down and you might be able to keep them out of your computer and IBM plans to acquire Columbus-based Resource/Ammirati.