Temporary Email Addresses to Manage Spam

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A page you visit teases you with an offer for a wonderful tip sheet, white paper or other resource, all for free if you just enter your email address. But your email address is one of the most valuable facts about you, and every time you give it out, you risk exposures …

Computer with warning pop up sign window

FBI Internet Crime Report: What you need to know

Every year the FBI compiles the statistics from the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) to reveal the impact of cybercrime on the U.S. This year’s report showed a sharp uptick in losses and victims. Here are some highlights. But first, go here to download an infographic that can help keep you and your family safe. Almost half a million victims …

Why You Should Stop Sharing Your Cell Number

These days your cell number is almost like your email address. Vendors ask for it all the time so they can connect it to your account for logins, messages and ID. Since many of us don’t have a landline anymore, it makes sense for us to share this on business cards and accounts. Velma and I have one thing to …

Signing Last Will and Testament

Apps to Get Your Affairs in Order

When Mom died, she had emails in her inbox that went unanswered because we didn’t have any passwords. No one likes to talk about passwords before we pass away, but these tools can help make things easier for your loved ones to manage your digital life. Everplans End-of-Life Document and Information Organizer You’ll be doing your family members a favor …

Equifax probably owes you money — here’s how to get it

If you’ve been hanging around with Your Nerdy Best Friend for a while, you know how completely freaked out I was about the Equifax data breach almost two years ago. Equifax revealed the breach in the fall of 2017, but several months earlier, the company knew of vulnerabilities and hacker activity and more. More than 147 million U.S. residents were …

Snapchat filters

Four Things to Know About FaceApp and Your Privacy

If you’ve been on social media this week, you’ve probably seen a full cycle of a viral app. In a matter of days, the world went from “OMG, FaceApp is COOL!” to “OMG, FaceApp is SCARY!” FaceApp is simple: Upload a headshot (yours or someone else’s), and add a filter to look younger or older, happier or prettier. You can …

Tools for Tracking Loved Ones

Here’s the first excerpt from the new book, The Bigger Book of Apps! Stay tuned for the pre-order extravaganza starting in a week or so. 🙂 My wonderful husband is a crazy Ironman triathlete-turned avid camper, and he’s frequently on all-day bike rides or multi-hour hikes. When I haven’t heard from him in a while, my worry gene kicks in. …

Protect your family members from online fraud

My dad has a Ph.D. in zoology. He worked as a computer programmer for decades. He can identify a bird species from a flicker of a tail feather while we’re driving 70mph down a highway. He’s brilliant. And yet… he almost fell for an online scam. One day we were chatting, and he said, “Well, I have to go. I …