Tech Talk - The Technology Newsletter for Everyone

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Most of us forget, digital spring cleaning when this time of year rolls around. Don't be one of those people this year! Join me today for a look on how to clean up your digital ecosystems.

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I can’t stress this enough. The tool that allowed me to be able to make the heart of today’s episode is 33Mail.

Even though you always find a recommendation for them in my footers, please: use them. It’s the email anonymizer tool that I use when subscribing to anything. ONLY use email addresses you create via 33mail, not your own “normal” email, to help track, prevent, and then block SPAM.

Here’s how:

Sign up for 33Mailusing my affiliate link (thanks for that, BTW)
Create a username/email suffix. For example: SeahawksWin
Your new user name will now appear in ANY new email address that you create using 33mail: @SeahawksWin.33mail.com
Now, whenever you sign up for a service - like NordVPN for example, another service I can’t live without - use a 33mail email address and add the alias “NordVPN” to the beginning. Thus your new email address will be: NordVPN@SeahawksWin.33mail.com

This is, obviously, a new way to think about email.

Before, you RECEIVED one email address from companies like Google or Comcast or Yahoo. You then used that email for, well: everything.
Now, YOU, not those companies create your own new email addresses whenever you need them. Create and use as many as you like.

➡️ My advice: add the name of the service to which you’re subscribing - NordVPN in our example - into the email address that you’ll create for yourself on 33mail.com

Then, if any spam should ever come to you from the email address NordVPN@SeahawksWin.33mail.com you’ve got two HUGE advantages:

You’ll instantly know which platform the spam came from, something that’s excellent for conclusively reporting back to that platform.
Stopping the spam only requires ONE CLICK to permanently stop it. Even better, that one click is right in the email itself, at the very top. Just click that and… ALL EMAILS from that provider is gone. Forever.

For a deeper dive on this most favorite platform of mine, head over to Episode #3:

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A reminder to subscribers: paywalls are erected on websites to protect digital media. Therefore, any methods for circumventing those paywalls violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), legislation that prohibits circumventing an effective technological means of control that restricts access to a copyrighted work.

Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.

How to remove your personal data from the web.

My recommendations on the best VPN providers.

My favorite, free tool to keep email addresses private.

A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

Our Current Recommendations

My e-book on home tech: “Screw The Cable Company!”

The online backup software I use: iDrive (affiliate link)

The service I use to delete my data from the web: DeleteMe (affiliate link)

The VPN software that I use: Nord VPN (affiliate link)

The email anonymizer that I use: 33Mail (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my home: Synology RT6600ax (affiliate link)

Please visit the TechTalk Product Recommendation page for more up-to-date picks for best-in-class software, hardware, and services. These are the very same products and services that we own and use ourselves.

Please read the TechTalk Transparency Statement to learn more about our strict guidelines on linking to the products and services that we recommend to our readers.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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Friends, as promised in the video here are links to the products that I mentioned or used:

The app I vibe coded: SoundQ - https://soundq.studio/

Google Gemini (free & paid plans): https://aistudio.google.com/

Anthropic’s Claude (free & paid plans): https://claude.ai/

Perplexity (free & paid plans): https://www.perplexity.ai/ - I got a one year FREE plan via PayPal, something they no longer offer, but… keep your eyes open for deals.

Replit for vibe-coding your own applications (free & paid plans): https://replit.com/refer/matzoballSoup - my referral link helps me earn a few bucks, so thank you!

Full transcript IS available for this episode.

And that, friend, is a wrap for today’s episode. Thanks for being a FREE subscriber. For just $8/mo or $60/year, you can become a paid subscriber. That’s WAY less money than you spend on coffee in just one week and the high you’ll get, will last far longer…

As always… surf safe! 👍🏼 👌🏾

Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.
How to remove your personal data from the web.
My recommendations on the best VPN providers.
My favorite, free tool to keep email addresses private.
A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

Our Current Recommendations

Below you’ll find links to the products and platforms that I personally use and own. These are all affiliate links. That means you’ll often save some money by using them and I’ll earn a small commission!

Eleven Labs, my fave platform for text to voice and more
iDrive, the online backup software my family and I all use
DeleteMe, the service I use to delete my personal, private data from the web
Nord VPN, the VPN software I use to hide my surfing from my ISP
33Mail, the email anonymizer that I use when subscribing to ANYTHING
Synology WRX560, the top router made by the company I’ve used for years

Please visit the TechTalk Product Recommendation page for more up-to-date picks for best-in-class software, hardware, and services. These are the very same products and services that we own and use ourselves.

Please read the TechTalk Transparency Statement to learn more about our strict guidelines on linking to the products and services that we recommend to our readers.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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Different browsers handle SPAM in different ways. Most email services today have robust and powerful filters to keep your inbox clean from junk. However…

Some services flaunt the CAN-SPAM act - the law of the land here in the US - by not including a unsubscribe button on their emails or not giving recipients a “clear and conspicuous explanation” of how to unsubscribe.

In today’s video episode, I’ll share a hidden method on how to unsubscribe from these emails anyway.

Fun!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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Here are some links that go back to those episodes — or specific parts of episodes — where I provide a deeper look at 2FA for those who’d like to explore more. I’ve unlocked these episodes to allow free subscribers to gain access as well:

Episode #12: The Best Free Tools for Online Security

Episode #36: Multi-Factor Authentication

Episode #42: Online Gaming & Safety

Episode #59: Locking Down Facebook

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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Hiya, friends. I’ve decided to step away from the darkness that is the privacy world we currently inhabit. Instead, for now, my plan is to simply focus on how I can best help my readers & listeners understand, navigate, and then protect as much of their digital lives as possible.

Before we jump in today, a quick announcement: if you’re listening to this via one of our podcast platforms, you’re going to want to visit this episode on our Substack page for all of the links that we’re going to provide you. There’s no way to provide that in our liner notes or via audio during our podcast in a way that will be logical and easy-to-follow.

Cool? Here's the link:

https://www.technologytalk.net/p/episode-102-digital-emergency-preparedness

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Thanks for being a part of our community and, as always… surf safe! 👍🏼 👌🏾

Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.
How to remove your personal data from the web.
My recommendations on the best VPN providers.
My favorite, free tool to keep email addresses private.
A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

Our Current Recommendations

My e-book on home tech: “Screw The Cable Company!”
The online backup software I use: iDrive (affiliate link)
The service I use to delete my data from the web: DeleteMe (affiliate link)
The VPN software that I use: Nord VPN (affiliate link)
The email anonymizer that I use: 33Mail (affiliate link)
The secure router I use at my home: Synology RT6600ax (affiliate link)

Please read the TechTalk Transparency Statement to learn more about our strict guidelines on linking to the products and services that we recommend to our readers.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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After almost FIVE MONTHS, I'm back with another episode, perhaps my last. The world of privacy has crumbled since I began writing about tech. Listen to learn more and then please: give me your feedback.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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For those interested in learning more about using AI to create deepfakes for the GOOD of humanity, I encourage you to check out the website I’ve been exploring for a few months now: HeyGen (affiliate link here). You can try it out for free - yes, seriously - to see how it works. If you like it enough to make a purchase, and begin using the technology for yourself, using my link will earn me a small commission.

But I won’t thank you for that: Richard Nixon will.

Lastly, there’s this FABULOUS article from the Brennan Center about the push for legislation for A.I. and how the matter of deep fakes is of such national concern and interest. It’s very worth your time to read.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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Video notes:

This quick take is 7.5 minutes long and is pretty goofy. You’re welcome in advance for that.
Anyone can view the video! Only paying members can comment or ask questions!
Download AppCleaner at its developer site: https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/ you’ll note that there are versions for pretty much every Mac of the past 8-10 years.
iDrive: the online back-up service I’ve used for about a decade to ENSURE that my data is never lost. Why online backup? Well, because I like knowing that if my equipment is stolen or if there’s a fire/earthquake, all of my data are safely stored somewhere ELSE. Affiliate link here.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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For most of us, social media is a daily part of our lives. We use it to connect with friends, share our experiences & cat photos, and debate strangers about Star Wars trivia. That’s the upside. But the downside is pretty awful…

Social media platforms offer little or no control over our own data and images, they bombard us with tons of targeted advertising based on our click history, and they manipulate not only what and who we see but also when we see it.

Back in Episode 49, I explained why the Facebook empire run by Dark Lord Zuckerberg is a manipulative, destructive, and greedy corporate entity that refuses to protect its users’ privacy or the spread of disinformation. Not that Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat are any better because they’re not, but that’s by design.

The design of today’s social media results in substandard products that are based on a parasitic premise: you and your data are the product.

But… what if there were a better design?

What Is The Fediverse?

First, the name: Fediverse stands for “Federated Universe”.

The name is a good descriptor: The Fediverse is a network of interconnected social platforms that offer the features we’ve come to love — micro-blogging, photo sharing, music and art posts, or interactive messaging boards — but which collectively operate on open standards and protocols. My fellow Trekkies will already understand this concept because #obviously…

Here’s why this design is a big deal: today’s biggest social media platforms are owned and controlled by a single, corporate entity and are run on closed standards using software code that we’ll never see. This allows a few, select people to wield enormous power and control over billions of people’s daily experiences.

Because of that, let’s call this The Dictator Approach to social media: “I’m in charge! You have no choice but to trust me! Me and my teams know what’s best for you and for data so we’ll take care of things from here, thanks.”

The Fediverse goes in the opposite direction.

Instead of having a single, corporate owner, The Fediverse is a federation of independently operated “instances”. Instances are simply servers that an individual or a company uses to run the software and services that are used to access The Fediverse.

Let’s call this The Democracy Approach to social media: “Lots of people share control! That includes you! And, since you know better than we do what’s best for you and your data, you get to decide how it is managed.”

How Does It Work?

I’ll use Mastodon as an example. For those who haven’t heard of Mastodon, it’s a federated social media platform that looks and works a lot like Twitter… only it isn’t owned by an arrogant, anti-semitic, douche-canoe control freak who likes giving white supremacists a place to amplify their vile hatred.

That’s why I now call it “Shitter”. Ahem. I’m guessing that’s why millions of people - myself included - have left it and flocked to greener pastures.

Joining Mastodon is easy: users register by signing up via an instance that best represents their region, interests, or personality. There are thousands of different servers and some specialize in catering to gamers, artists, the LGBTQIA+ community, and, of course, tech.

As I’m a writer on Medium, I created the Tech Talk Mastodon account on their instance. Once I’m logged in, I can interact with other users on that instance. However, the real magic is this: as long as I’m logged in to Mastodon via my instance, I can also read, follow, or chat with people on ANY OTHER instance.

That’s possible because The Fediverse is built on open-source communication protocols. This decentralized design ensures that there is no single point of failure or censorship, as no one person or corporation has complete control over the network.

Neat, right? Only… doesn’t that sound familiar?

Well, it should. What I just described is, essentially, how email works. Anyone can sign up for any email provider. But even if I sign up for ProtonMail and you sign up for Outlook, we can still send each other emails. That’s because email servers all use the same standard protocol to communicate.

The goal of The Fediverse is to bring that model of communication to social media.

How Is It Designed?

The design of The Fediverse is what sets it apart from Facebook, Shitter, and Snapchat. It operates on a decentralized model, allowing for greater user control and privacy.

The Underlying Technologies

At the core of The Fediverse's design is the communication protocol that allows interaction between instances. It’s called ActivityPub and it’s an open-source and decentralized protocol for social networking. ActivityPub allows instances to exchange messages, share content, and follow each other, creating a network of interconnected platforms.

Sidebar: open-source means that ActivityPub’s code is publically shared, so anyone can view it, confirm that it is secure, and - more importantly - find bugs and improve it. For these reasons, open-source is considered “The Gold Standard” of software.

To best demonstrate how powerful ActivtyPub is, let’s do a thought exercise… Imagine if a user on Facebook user could seamlessly share messages with users on Instagram, Snapchat, or MySpace. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Of course, that’s not possible because there IS no interconnectivity between social media platforms.

Only now, there is! And ActivityPub is the reason why. This is why I think of it as THE ROOT of the Fediverse tree:

What About Security?

Security and privacy are major concerns when it comes to online interactions. This is why privacy advocates despise Facebook and Shitter. The Fediverse addresses these concerns by incorporating security measures into its design.

Decentralization

Design is important. In this case, the design of the Fediverse network is, itself, a security measure. In a decentralized network, no single point of failure or vulnerability can compromise the entire system. That means the Fediverse will continue to operate, even if ten, 100, or 1000 servers are hacked or shut down for any reason.

Not true for Facebook.

Back in October of 2021, they had a global shutdown that lasted for 6-7 hours. BILLIONS of people couldn’t log on to any of Facebook’s kingdom of social media websites, including WhatsApp and Instagram. And, while I’m no fan of Facebook, a global shutdown event like that is terrifying. BILLIONS of people who rely on the Facebook empire of apps to communicate with one another… suddenly could not.

YOU Own Your Posts and Data

One of the fundamental principles of The Fediverse is user ownership and control. On traditional social media platforms, your data and posts are owned by the platform, not you.

By comparison, The Fediverse puts you in charge. You retain ownership of your posts and have the ability to decide who can view and interact with your content. In practical terms, that means you can:

Set your posts to auto-delete after a certain amount of time
Leave one server and join another without losing your followers
Export your posts, media, and follower lists

That second item is amazing to me, in particular. It’s like saying, “I don’t like you anymore, Facebook! So I’m gonna MOVE all of my friends and followers over to Snapchat or CompanyB where I’ll interact with those same people.”

Amazing… but there are limits.

Currently: users cannot migrate their posts and their media from an old server to a new one. Instead, old posts will remain posted unless a user opts to delete them. Additionally, anyone interacting with posts from an old account will be redirected to that user’s NEW account. Neat.

For the moment, users can only download an archive of their posts and media, but cannot bulk upload them onto a new instance. While that sucks, I’m guessing that - in the not-too-distant future - Mastodon and other services running on ActivityPub will make that possible as well.

Caveat Emptor

It’s worth remembering: on a decentralized network, each instance operates independently, employing its own admins, who implement their own security measures and moderation policies. Some admins may operate their instances with stronger community guidelines than others.

Therefore, join well-run and well-liked instances such as Medium’s, Mastodon Social, or others.

Although… there is one other security-minded solution for those who want the MOST control over their data…

Run Your Own Instance

Another distinctive aspect of The Fediverse's design is the ability to run your own instance. This means that you can set up and host your social media platform on your own network, free from corporate oversight or rules.

Running an instance allows users to create a digital space that aligns with their values and preferences. They can curate the community, moderate content, and customize the platform's features to cater to the specific needs of their users. This level of customization is impossible on Facebook or Shitter.

In my opinion, it provides a more tailored and personalized social media experience. Frankly, it’s also a lot more like our in-person interactions. We not only choose who to spend time with and who to avoid, but we also decide which community organizations to join or leave based on how those communities behave.

That kind of freedom should be built into the design of our digital worlds as well.

With the ability to run your instance, you have the freedom to create your own social media space and shape the online experience according to your preferences, not someone else’s.

Why It's Better than Tradition Social Media

If I haven’t made it clear already, The Fediverse offers many advantages over traditional social media platforms. Let's explore the biggest and best of these...

You Own Your Posts

One of the standout features of The Fediverse is that you retain ownership of your posts and data. Unlike traditional social media platforms, where the platform claims ownership of the content you create, The Fediverse respects your rights as the creator. This means that you have control over how your posts are shared, who can view them, and how they are used.

This ownership empowers individuals to protect their privacy and maintain control over their online presence. You can choose the level of visibility for your posts, ensuring that they are seen by only the desired audience. By owning your posts, you can also decide the fate of your content, whether it's archiving it, deleting it, or moving it to another platform within The Fediverse.

You Can Move Your Data

In The Fediverse, you have the flexibility to move your data between different instances. This portability feature is a significant advantage over traditional social media platforms, where migrating your data can be a challenging and time-consuming process. If you're dissatisfied with one instance or want to explore different platforms, you can effortlessly transfer your profile, followers, and content to a new instance within The Fediverse.

This freedom to move your data ensures that you are not locked into a single platform or subject to the whims of a centralized authority. It allows you to explore different communities, discover new connections, and adapt to evolving preferences without losing your online identity and social network.

There's No Advertising?!?

You heard that correctly, friends!

There are no advertisements on The Fediverse, so you won't be bombarded with tailored ads based on your browsing habits or personal information. This absence of advertising creates a more authentic and focused social media experience, where interactions are driven by genuine connections and shared interests rather than any commercial overlords or creepy agendas.

There's No F🦋💪🏼&⬆️✂️🛀🏼 Algorithm!

Traditional social media platforms employ complex algorithms that curate your feed and prioritize certain content over others. This manipulation can lead to information bubbles, echo chambers, and the amplification of certain voices while suppressing others.

The Fediverse takes a different approach. And by “different”, I mean “none”.

There is no algorithm governing your timeline on The Fediverse. Instead, you have direct control over the content you see. You choose who to follow, which instances to connect with, and how to curate your feed. This user-driven approach ensures a more diverse and inclusive experience, where you have the power to shape your online environment and engage with a wider range of perspectives.

The Money Thing

All of this should beg the question: if there are no ads and no algorithms and it’s free to sign up and use then… how does The Fediverse actually support itself?!

It’s the obvious question. The answer is also obvious: most of it runs on donations. Therefore, you should donate.

Does that mean you HAVE to donate? No.

But ask yourself how much is it worth to:

Not have your data harvested by a company?
Not be manipulated by an algorithm?
Not be bombarded by ads?
Not have your posts, pics, videos, and writing owned and manipulated by others?

If you don’t want yourself to be the product, then I think it’s 100% worth it to donate $60-100/year to your instance admin. That money will go to paying for the hardware and software that runs your instance but it will ALSO go to paying for the time that admins put into fixing problems, moderating users, and creating a safe, fun, and informative environment.

Popular Fediverse Platforms

Nearly every popular social media website now has a Fediverse equivalent. All are free to join. That makes it easier than EVER to connect with friends, share opinions, photos, and videos, but NOT have a company harvesting that data for their personal or corporate profits.

I urge everyone to check out the platforms below and set up accounts. Then, tell your friends and family to do the same. Traditional social media companies and their Dictatorship approaches cannot survive when users leave in droves when they discover that there are actually better solutions.

I’ve linked my own accounts below, so come find and connect with me!

Microblogging:Migrate from Shitter ➡️ Mastodon (Find me here & also here)

Photo Sharing:Migrate from Instagram ➡️ PixelFed (Find me here)

News Feeds & Messaging:Migrate from Facebook ➡️ Firefish (Find me here)

Video Creation & Watching:Migrate from YouTube ➡️ PeerTube

Topic-Organized Discussions:Migrate from Reddit ➡️ kbin or Lemmy

Writing:Migrate from Medium ➡️ WriteFreely (Find me here)

Music & Composition:Migrate from Soundcloud ➡️ FunkWhale

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.technologytalk.net

The Sweet, Sweet Bait

Friends, how would you like a state-of-the-art 55” flat-screen TV and sound system… for FREE?

This is not a joke. You can totally get one of these and I’ll share the link with you after I describe all of the aMAZing s**t this device can do.

Just have a look at this stunning piece of hardware! The top portion is, of course, the TV. The bottom portion is an integrated SECOND SCREEN that shows you additional information about what you’re watching as well as other widgets of information you might like to view like stocks, the weather, and more.

And, right there in the middle - joining the two screens - is a kick-ass sound bar so you’ll get awesome sound quality from its 6 audio drivers.

But wait, there’s more:

You can talk to the TV and it can understand your commands and then play the programs or music that you’d like to hear.
It has an integrated camera, so you can gather with your family from the sofa and do Zoom calls with your friends and relatives all over the world.
It’s also a video game player! And the unit’s integrated camera can auto-detect your body in 3D space so you can use it as a game controller. What?!? Yup.
Oh, and the TV has its own built-in fitness programs, too. In fact, the integrated camera can be used to auto-detect how well (or not!) your body is keeping up with the on-screen fitness class that you’re viewing.

Holy st, this thing sounds f*g amazing, doesn’t it?!

In case you think I’m making this up, I assure you: it’s 100% real. You can sign up RIGHT NOW at freetelly.com and get one of these kick-ass devices for free! The company is already giving away 500,000 of these devices, so you should sign up immediately to get one, right?

Um, NO. You shouldn’t grab one of these devices in a million f*g years. And here’s why…

This article of TechTalk is sponsored by: Canva. We use Canva to create pretty much all of our online graphics, banners, and promotional materials. It’s awesome and easy to use. It’s also super easy to learn which is why we’re 100% on board to promote them here. It’s web-based and jam-packed with time-saving tools that can make anyone - yes, even you! - look like a professional designer.

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In today's episode, I'll provide my readers with some shorter tips and tricks to help increase the security of their mobile phones, both Android and iOS.

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In this episode, we'll discuss Amazon's history of protecting our data and privacy, their treatment of their own employees, and how their newest devices promise a new age of convenience based on our giving the company access to our biometrics.

Biometrics are unique parts of our bodies that can be used to identify us based on our locations.

This is less data collection and more surveillance.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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In this episode, #81, we'll discuss the latest artificial intelligence tools Lensa and ChatGPT. How do they work, why are they so compelling, and what are the current privacy, security, and ethical issues at play for users who wish to take advantage of this new breed of tools? All of this - and more! - in our next issue of Tech Talk

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A retraction? An apology? Well... not really.

Our handful of episodes on cryptocurrency created a false sense of security for some of you. I thought I could do better. So, at the end of last year, I decided to write an episode that was more of a cautionary tale.

This is that tale. In this episode, we'll explore why investing your money into cryptocurrencies and digital collectibles like NFTs are risky and reckless. We'll discuss the FTX collapse and the lack of regulatory backing or oversight for cryptocurrencies and their trading platforms.

Our goal with this episode is to make clear for any average investor all of the terrible risks that are currently part of the cryptocurrency markets

Caveat emptor!

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Transparency Statement

Please read the TechTalk Transparency Statement to learn about our newsletter’s strict policies on linking to products and services that we recommend to our readers.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.technologytalk.net

The story of Bitcoin is fascinating and begins, as all good stories do, with a mystery.

Our story begins way back in 2008. This was the year that the original white paper describing how Bitcoin would work was written and then shared with the world by someone named Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto had few correspondences and few Bitcoin transactions. So, despite creating a new currency and the entire underlying technology for how it would work, Nakamoto wasn’t very public.

Bitcoin’s creator left the project in 2010 without ever admitting to his identity and then… essentially disappeared. Folks got curious, and journalists and amateur sleuths began hunting for clues: theories emerged. Some thought Nakamoto was an actual individual; others suspected the name might be a cover for a group of people. Trying to discover Nakamoto’s true identity became increasingly popular.

But that’s not where our story begins.

No, friends, our story begins with Nakamoto’s most popular creation: the world’s most famous digital currency.

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Episode #75: How Does Cryptocurrency Work?!?

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies. Like traditional currencies, people can use them to pay each other for goods, services, or gifts. Unlike traditional currencies, there is no such thing as digital cash that someone can hand to you.

That’s because digital currency isn’t exchanged physically, it’s done electronically: people transfer funds to one another using applications on their mobile devices or computers. If you use PayPal, Zelle, or Venmo to make any of your purchases, then you understand this concept already.

See?! We’re halfway there! Kind of. We haven't yet talked about the $544 million pizzas, but give me a few: we'll work up to that, I promise...

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How To Prevent Malicious Hackers from Using Security Flaws to Compromise your Data or Computer.

I shouldn’t even need to write or share about this, but I do: not enough people update their machines automatically. This article makes clear that 36 percent of all security/privacy professionals don’t do it and that 62 percent of regular folks don’t do it.

REALLY?! People, please! Not only is setting up automatic software updates crucial, but it’s also incredibly easy to do. So, please, I beg you: make the commitment to set this up NOW.

In today's episode, we’ll focus on patching two targets: operating systems and applications. 👍🏼 👌🏾

Product Recommendations:
Please visit the TechTalk Product Recommendation page for all of our latest picks for best-in-class software, hardware, and services. These are the very same products and services that we own and use ourselves.

Transparency Statement:
Please read the TechTalk Transparency Statement to learn about our newsletter’s strict policies on linking to products and services that we recommend to our readers.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.technologytalk.net/subscribe

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In this episode — part one of this series — the creator of TechTalk, David Koff, will focus on the data we keep on our computers and mobile devices.

A few of us have access to restricted or classified materials, accessible only to people with the proper background checks or elevated security clearance.

A few of us have access to trade documents that, in the wrong hands, might be copied and brought to market by competitors.

Many of us with full-time jobs have access to any number of internal memos, documents, and other business-related files that aren’t meant for the general public.

Most of us have reams of personal data in the form of contacts, photos, videos, and other creative projects we’ve made.

All of us have communications - both digital and analog - that we consider private, including those in the privacy of our own homes or those we have with professionals concerning our medical, financial, and legal records.

And, lastly, all of us have our own address & phone numbers, social security or government numbers, and more.

My opinion is that ALL of these data need protecting. All of them.

Therefore, we not only need to understand how to protect the various kinds of data we possess but also the most affordable and efficient solutions for doing so.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techtalk.substack.com/subscribe

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I have clients, friends, and family who have been hacked or scammed and lost as much as tens of thousands of dollars and scores of hours of time to repair the damage done. This includes crap like calling vendors, banks, and law enforcement agencies and dealing with sleepless nights and lost data.

Therefore, I’d like to devote time here - and in future episodes - to help all of you understand the creative ways that malicious hackers use to part you with your money, time, belongings, and sanity.

I also get hit by attempts to bribe, confuse, or hack me. But unlike most people, I collect evidence and categorize them. Then, I can share them with you. That way, you can know what to look for and either avoid or stop the attempts cold.

Approach #1: Ransomware Threats

Ransomware, as its name implies, is the practice of demanding a financial ransom for a variety of real or imagined reasons:

Getting back a company’s critical data

Not publishing certain sensitive data including compromising photos

Locking computers down, sometimes with an alarming graphic on-screen

While most corporations invest substantial funds to establish digital firewalls to prevent hacks, it’s usually not enough. Then, they’re sometimes forced to pay huge ransoms - sometimes $5 million or more - to get back control of their businesses.

The reason so many high-level hacks are successful is that they use something called “social engineering”, the act of tricking company employees with requests that look legitimate but are not. This recently happened to both Apple and Meta (hat-tip to Charles Yaker for this link).

If business leaders need to train their employees on how to prevent these kinds of hacks, the doubly same is true for us individuals. So let’s check out a few of the most common kinds of tricks that hackers like to use.

Email is hugely popular with malicious hackers and it’s easy to see why: anyone can write a threatening email, it’s dirt cheap to purchase tens of thousands of email addresses, and it only takes a few people to fall for the scam in order for the financial payoff to be huge.

Although most email applications have decent spam filtering, it’s not enough. Therefore, follow these four rules when it comes to avoiding scams and hacks:

Don’t open emails unless you know the individual or the company that sent them.

Once you’ve confirmed an email is safe to open, don’t click any links unless you first confirm that it’s safe. Do that by using one of these, two great tools: ScanUrl or PhishTank.

Never download any file or installer from any email. Yes, that’s strict, but it’s safe. The exception: if you know the senders, have confirmed their email addresses are correct and you’ve been expecting an attachment. If not, most email apps will offer a way to “quick view” an attachment without downloading it so you can view it online.

When in doubt, delete it. There will come a time when an email looks legit and you’ll reaaaallllly want to open it… but your Spidey Sense will be tingling. Please: resist that temptation. Trust your Spidey Sense and delete the email.

As these emails are designed to scare the st out of you, don’t fall into your fear! Take a breath and then remember this: any reputable bank, government agency, or creditor will get in touch with you repeatedly. More importantly, they’ll usually start by sending you a letter via snail mail, not an email that asks you to act immediately.

When S**t Gets Creative

I mention fear because malicious hackers don’t actually need to infect your computer. Sometimes, they can infect your mind and do as much damage. Such was the case earlier this week when I got the following email:

The idiot went on to demand $1200 paid through Bitcoin to his digital wallet or else he’d blah, blah, blah, and then I’d suffer blah, blah, blah.

Now look: on its surface, this probably seems like a scary letter to some of you. I get that. However… you need to take a breath. Then use your tools. My Spidey Sense was telling me this was a scam. And so, after I took a few minutes to confirm my suspicions, I sent the following response:

Now, let me explain why I trusted my Spidey Sense:

First, the wording of this email was so general that it could have been sent to anyone. In fact, I KNOW that was the case because a few days later, I got the very same email sent to another email alias that I use! Sadly, I’m sure some of the targets paid the ransom out of fear, so here’s a tip: if the threatening email offers no specifics, report it, then delete it. For example, did the individual identify the make & model of your router? How about identifying which computers or smartphones you have? How about actually using your first and last name in the friggin’ email?!? See what I mean? None of that stuff was in this joker’s email.

Second, no one but me (and, perhaps, the FBI if this recent report from the Director of National Intelligence is correct) has access to any of my critical accounts. That’s because all of those are double-secured with two-factor authentication, or “2FA”. This technology is 100% free and something I recommend and covered in-depth back in Episode 36. I encourage you to start using 2FA immediately.

Third, both of my wireless routers are privacy & security-minded devices that I detailed and recommended to you back in Episode 40. Both are protected by user names and passwords which I change regularly. Both devices also keep logs which I checked to confirm that there was no unusual activity.

I’d like to share another tool that not only helped me confirm my Spidey Sense was accurate but also allowed me to eliminate any further communication from the idiots who tried to scam me. Take a look at the email I received. In particular, the top part:

I’ve used 33mail (affiliate link here) for years because it’s cheap and very effective at ending spam. I’ve actually recommended it multiple times: in Episode #3 and in Episode #23. The benefits are amazing:

When I create and use 33mail aliases, all emails sent to those aliases are forwarded to my actual email address through the company’s servers. That means… strangers don’t know my real email address.

When I reply to a forwarded email from 33mail, the company routes the reply through their servers. That way, my responses appear to come from my 33mail email aliases.

As you can see: EVERY forwarded email from 33mail comes with a header at the top with a link to INSTANTLY block that alias… and anyone who might wish to contact me using it. 🙌🏼

In practice, here’s what it looks like when I use it. You’ll note that I use the NAME of the website or service in my 33mail email alias. That way, I know which websites are responsible for losing, sharing, or selling my contact information:

Approach #2: Sales Threats

Here’s another email I got recently. Hmm… it looks like I bought something from BestBuy/GeekSquad, so that’s exciting!

The bad news? I didn’t actually purchase anything from Best Buy, so this is most likely a scam. Still, maybe they intended the email for another David Koff. As my Spidey Sense is tingling, let’s investigate further:

Check the return email address in the red rectangle. It’s not a Geek Squad or Best Buy email address. It’s a Gmail address. Strike one.

I did a quick view on the attachment (no downloads, remember?) and saw the following. I confirmed the phone number shown isn’t the number on the Geek Squad webpage. Strike two.

I called the number in question (from one of my Google Voice numbers, not from my cell), and a man with an Indian accent answered, not mentioning the name of the company. Strike three.

You’re out!

I have nothing against India, but every social security scam phone call I’ve received over the past five years features someone with that regional accent. I’m not imagining it either: in February of 2022, the U.S. Justice Department indicted bogus call centers in India.

Bonus Note: the link above to the U.S. Justice Department website also has excellent tools and tips for dealing with scam Social Security calls including these gems:

So remember: take a breath. Keep a level head. Hang up the phone if someone asks you act immediately. And never provide any critical data (bank account info, social security number, address, date of birth) to anyone who doesn’t first provide you with their information, their agency or company name, and the SPECIFICS about your problem.

Use the tools I’ve provided. Let me know how it goes. And as always… Surf safe.

And that’s a wrap for today’s episode, everyone. Thanks again to my free and paid subscribers for supporting independent technology journalism. I also thank you, in advance, for using the link below to share Tech Talk with your friends, family, and colleagues.

Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.

How to remove your personal data from the web.

My 2021 recommendations on the best VPN providers.

My favorite, free tool to keep email addresses private.

A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

Product Recommendations

These are the devices and services that I personally use. I pay for everything you see listed here. I made these choices after much research and recommendations from tech industry colleagues.

The online backup software I use: iDrive (affiliate link)

The VPN software that I use: Nord VPN (affiliate link)

The email anonymizer that I use: 33Mail (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my office: Gryphon (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my home: Synology (affiliate link)

The service I use to block spam calls/texts: Uncall (affiliate link)

Transparency Statement

Some of the products and services I recommend pay me a small commission if you decide to purchase them. Making purchases based on my recommendations never costs you extra. In fact, it can sometimes save you money because I get access to certain discounts which aren’t available to the general public.

It’s a win-win: you save money and help me earn an additional salary from my writing. Thank you, in advance, for that. It’s an easy way for anyone to support my work, research, and expertise. Affiliate links will be shown like this → (affiliate link) to make them easy to identify.

In case you’re curious:

I’ve purchased, owned, tested, and/or deeply researched every single thing I recommend.

I’m never paid to sell software or hardware to you.

I retain 100% editorial control over everything I write.

The companies, products, or services that I recommend don’t know that I’m going to mention them.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techtalk.substack.com/subscribe

Synology RT2600ac – 4x4 dual-band Gigabit Wi-Fi router, MU-MIMO, powerful parental controls, Threat Prevention, bandwidth management, VPN, expandable coverage with mesh Wi-Fi

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Fear Is the Mind Killer…

An unusual number of friends and readers have been reaching out to me privately over the past two weeks, all asking the same question: “What can I do to protect my computers from the Russians?”

I understand the fear. I’m also glad that current events are making so many people take their first - or tenth! - look at their digital privacy and security measures. Revisiting your tools, plans, and priorities is always a great idea.

But not because “The Russians are coming”.

Unless you happen to be a high-ranking diplomat, government official, or an aide to one of those people, it’s probably safe to assume that you will not personally be targeted by a Russian (or Chinese or North Korean) cyber attack. The better question to ask is this:

If Russia launches a cyberwar, what are the most likely targets in my country and how would a partially or fully successful attack impact me?

Let’s have a look. First at the digital stuff, then at the analog stuff.

Part I: The Important Question

Are you a target?

The best way to understand the answer to that question is to consider a shortlist of other questions:

Are you someone who is or does something very important? Earlier, I used the example of a diplomat. Other examples might include being a local, state, or national political leader, being famous for your profession or being someone who has easy access to people in power.

If your digital devices or records were hacked, would it put your life in physical danger? What about the lives of other people?

Do you own or manage vast sums of money? This question is important for those who have amassed wealth and for the people they hire to manage their money for them.

Do you work at or have virtual access to any kind of public infrastructure? For example, do you work at any of the large utility companies that provide electricity, gas, or energy to an entire city, region, state, or country?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then Part II of this episode will be important for you to read and act upon.

If you answered no to each of these four questions, then you’re most likely not a target for a coordinated cyberattack by the Russians or any other state-sponsored malicious hacking. Congratulations! Let’s take a nice, deep breath and relax.

Breathing feels nice, doesn’t it?

Now for the powerful reminder: even if you’re not being targeted by the Russians, you should still invest time and effort in your own cyber security. That’s because your savings and possessions — however large or small they may be — are of great value to you. Trust me when I tell you: even if the Russians aren’t interested in you personally, there are plenty of other malicious hackers, scammers, and con artists who are very skilled at helping you part with your hard-earned cash.

Two unfortunate examples:

My relatives lost $50,000 to a digital scam. That amount isn’t enough to show up on the radar for any state-sponsored hackers, but it was more than enough for a smaller operation to run a successful phishing campaign to which my cousins fell prey.

A college friend recently had her identity compromised. She fell for a different kind of scam that saw her giving her social security number, birth date, and bank account numbers over the phone to someone she thought represented a state institution. They did not.

S**t happens and it happens to many of us, including those who aren’t rich, famous, or powerful. So it pays to be digitally prepared.

Part II: How To Harden Your Cyber Security

There are concrete steps that ANYONE can take to help strengthen (or “harden”) their digital security measures. I’ll break down some of my top choices below, including the time commitment you might need.

Start Using Multi-Factor Authentication

Skill Level: Beginner to intermediate

Time to learn: 5-10min

Time to set up: 5-10min per account

Cost: free

I hate being a broken record, but it’s important at a time like this to beat the drum. Multi-Factor Authentication (also called “MFA”) is free, easy to use, and can make the difference between your accounts being easy to hack or nearly impossible to break.

MFA ensures that anyone - including you - who tries to access your protected account would require physical access to your cellphone to be able to gain entry. That means even if your username/password are somehow obtained, your MFA-protected accounts will remain safe.

It does this by providing a 6-digit password on your phone that changes every 30 seconds. An MFA-enabled account will ask for this 6-digit challenge code after you’ve logged in with your username and password.

I did a deep dive into MFA in Episode #36 and if you’ve got 5-10min, I recommend that you read to that episode. I think it’s an invaluable tool that I continue to use myself.

I still use the Authy app by Twilio to manage all of my MFA accounts and it’s stood the test of time. You should use it as well. Authy isn’t only just a great app (it is), but the Authy website is also an AWESOME resource on how to set up MFA on many of the world’s most popular platforms. Just use Authy’s easy-to-read guides.

My recommendation: lock every crucial account with MFA that you can. I use MFA to harden my email accounts, my social media accounts, my zoom account, and many of my online payment providers. This includes my bank. You should too.

Some of you may rightly ask: “Um, won’t my needing to produce a 6-digit number as a second challenge mean I’ll have to spend extra time logging into my crucial accounts?” Yes, that’s true. It will cost you another 5-10seconds on each login.

But those extra 5-10 seconds will absolutely help secure your accounts in a huge way. So it’s a huge payoff for the investment.

Please note: If your bank doesn’t provide MFA and you’re someone who really needs to protect themselves… I’d find another bank. I realize that’s a strong statement, but given how easy it is for any institution to set up MFA and given how much MORE secure it is than “security questions”, I don’t understand why it’s not law for all banks to provide this.

Start Using An Open-Source Password Manager

Skill Level: Beginner

Time to learn: 5-10min

Time to set up: 5min to start, 30-60min if you’re migrating from another service

Cost: free

My regular readers know that I use and highly recommend BitWarden as your password manager. Not only is it free but it’s 100% open-source, the gold standard for ANY piece of software. Does that make it better than, say, 1Password or LastPass?

Ummmm, YES. Yes, it does!

I’ve used both 1Password and LastPass: they’re really good and graphically pleasing. But I don’t want a company that will not share their software code with the world to ask me to “just trust” them. Sorry: that’s not how this works. Security and privacy are based on trust. There is no trust unless other people can see and vet your code. That’s what the term “open-source” means.

Also, BitWarden is FREE. LastPass is currently $36/year for a single user. 1Password is too. I’d rather save money and get a better product.

Switching from LastPass? BitWarden’s got a help page for that. Ditto for 1Password.

More importantly, having a password manager means you need to know how to use it. Most people - by a huge margin - use the same password (or passwords that are similar) for all of their crucial websites. You should never, never, never do that.

Never.

Instead, have BitWarden auto-generate a long, complex, and unique password for each and every website you visit. Here’s how:

After installing BitWarden and setting up a username and password, click the extension icon in your browser (pink box at top right), then on the “Generator” button (red box at bottom).

When the interface comes up, check the boxes for Capitalize and Include Number (blue box), and check the “Passphrase” radio button (yellow bow). I choose to use an exclamation mark “!” as my word separator (green box) as it’s considered a special character, and I default to at least 3 words as the number of words that will be used.

That part I forgot to put in a tidy, colorful box, but I’m sure you can still find it in the image above, yeh?

BitWarden automatically generates a new password for you with these criteria. In this case, my password is “Unviable1!Headsman!Unaware” which is a fabulous password because it’s both long and complex.

Now, you’ll just want to run this same process for EACH of your various, crucial websites. Should you do this with ALL of your websites. Well, yes. Is that a realistic goal right now? Well, maybe not. So…

Start by using BitWarden to create unique, long, and complex passwords for these kinds of accounts:

email & communications

all social media

banking & financial

any domain registrars that host your websites (GoDaddy, Network Solutions, BlueHost, etc.)

Your password manager!

Set aside 60-90min to start this process and give yourself extra protection from malicious hackers who will most certainly use one of your passwords to open up and unlock other accounts that you keep.

Use a Secure Messaging Platform

Skill Level: Beginner

Time to learn: 10-15min

Time to set up: 5min to start, 10min to add friends/family/colleagues

Cost: free

For messages that require top security and privacy, use a trusted and open-source application that provides end-to-end encryption or E2EE. Currently, there are only two options to consider: Signal and Wire. I discussed both of these messaging services in Episode #39 here and it’s worth investing 10-15min of your time to give that a read.

I personally use Signal for anything I need to communicate that I consider important: sharing a password, discussing a private medical matter with a friend, or chatting with any of my family’s legal or financial team.

While Apple has claimed to be a champion of privacy, they’ve caved to demands from both Russia and China for those regimes to be able to access user data, so I can’t trust them in this department.

Facebook owns WhatsApp, so they, too, cannot be trusted.

Signal and Wire it is.

For email, the gold standard in secure messaging is ProtonMail. The company offers both free and paid tiers with different perks and benefits. I’ve used the free tier for many years without a problem. ProtonMail deserves the accolades and positive reviews they regularly receive.

Stop Allowing Others To Track Your Whereabouts

Skill Level: Beginner

Time to learn: 0min

Time to set up: 0min

Cost: free (minus the cost of having a smartphone)

Some of you will read that section title and think I’m talking about posting your whereabouts on social media or giving others access to your whereabouts using Apple’s FindMe feature.

I’m not… (although you really should stop doing those two things).

I’m talking about your actual smartphone itself: the electrical transmitter and receiver that uses Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular data, and GPS coordinates to help identify where you are… and that you usually keep in your pocket.

Practically speaking, high-target individuals and their teams don’t really have a choice here: if you don’t want to be tracked by others, then you need to leave your phones at home when you travel.

“But David!” you scream, “It’s my phone! I need it!”

Do you? Do you REALLY need your phone every time you go out? Because there was a time not too long ago when none of us had smartphones and we all seemed to navigate through our lives just fine. If we needed to meet someone, we called them in advance and agreed on a time and place.

“But, David!” you scream again, “I can just put my smartphone in airplane mode, and then I can’t be tracked.”

Actually, no: your phone still tracks your location when it’s in airplane mode.

Wanna blow your mind? Open up your smartphone maps application. Put your phone into airplane mode. Now, get in a car or taxi and watch what happens on the map as you’re moving.

The map tracks your location. Still. While you’re in airplane mode. Here’s a video from my own phone that I shot yesterday.

If you believe you’re a high-visibility target for hacking and you must travel with your phone, please read Episode #8. There, I walk my readers through how to set up and then use a more secured mobile device.

Part III: What’s More Likely To Happen

If you want to know what the Russians might do, then you need to think like a dictator who wants to disrupt and then punish his adversaries into submission.

Russia has an established track record of seeking to compromise and inflict chaos on its enemies, even before a single shot is fired. In the US (and in other countries) that’s been accomplished both via relentless social media disinformation campaigns and through notable and malicious hacks like the Solar Winds attack which, in 2020, breached servers throughout the US Government.

This is why I’d expect more of the same should the Russians start a more direct cyberwar with the US. In this scenario, targeting a handful of individuals won’t disrupt the enemy: to do that, you need to go for the jugular. For most developed nations, that’s public infrastructure, how we all get our electricity, water, and gas.

And, hot news flash: Russia’s already started that campaign. In case you’ve not been paying attention, they started YEARS ago.

In 2018, then-Secretary of Energy Rick Perry spoke to Congress and said that cyber attacks on American infrastructure were “literally happening hundreds of thousands of times a day.”

Last year, in 2021, a hacking collective known as “Dark Side” breached the Colonial Pipeline, an oil refinery that pumps 2.5 million barrels of oil a day here in the US. The group is thought to be Russian in origin.

The Best Solution: Prepare

When I lived in Los Angeles, we all learned to keep prepared for the eventuality of an earthquake. This meant stocking up some food, blankets, candles, pet supplies & and any crucial medications. Also, some hard-toe shoes to be able to walk over the glass that might have shattered. Then, when earthquakes struck - and I lived in LA during the Northridge quake of 1992 - many of us were far better prepared to live without everyday luxuries like electricity and/or gas for some periods of time.

This is no different.

If and when Russia strikes, I assume they’ll go after utility companies and find ways to shut down the flow of oil, gas, electricity, and water. Millions can be impacted. More chaos is possible. But not if people prepare.

So go analog, friends. Have a 5-10 day reserve of:

food

fuel

drinking water

warmth or cool depending on your environment

light or back-up power, like a generator

any supplies you need to care for your pets, elderly relatives, etc.

Being prepared is a proven technique. It not only works if you live in areas where there are natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornados, but it also works when dealing with the prospect of war. More importantly, preparing feels good: it’s an insurance policy you’ll be so glad you’ve got should the day ever come when you need it.

As always… Surf safe.

Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.

How to remove your personal data from the web.

My 2021 recommendations on the best VPN providers.

My favorite, free tool to keep email addresses private.

A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

Product Recommendations

These are the devices and services that I personally use. I pay for everything you see listed here. I made these choices after much research and recommendations from tech industry colleagues.

The online backup software I use: iDrive (affiliate link)

The VPN software that I use: Nord VPN (affiliate link)

The email anonymizer that I use: 33Mail (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my office: Gryphon (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my home: Synology (affiliate link)

The service I use to block spam calls/texts: Uncall (affiliate link)

Transparency Statement

In case you’re curious:

I’ve purchased, owned, tested, and/or deeply researched every single thing I recommend.

I’m never paid to sell software or hardware to you.

I retain 100% editorial control over everything I write.

The companies, products, or services that I recommend don’t know that I’m going to mention them.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techtalk.substack.com/subscribe

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Paid subscribers got access to Episode #53, which was about Cloudflare’s free DNS which anyone can use to help better protect their personal data AND speed up their web browsing.

Free subscribers only receive access to a third of what I research and write; paid subscribers have access to every episode. They also get to comment and ask questions on every episode I publish.

Becoming a paid subscriber is the cost of one Starbucks Latte per month: $5/month which comes to $60/year. Yes, coffee is important… but so is learning about tech, privacy, & security.

Some folks might think that I’m a crummy, consumer-driven American for writing about the kind of big-screen TV that I have or how we use it in our home, but I’ll politely disagree with you. Enjoying quality entertainment on quality technology in quality ways isn’t about consumerism for me: it’s about enjoying my life.

Our family recently stayed at a home where they had a record player with about 200 albums. So we played whole albums. We touched our music. It was FABulous.

Entertainment like that is priceless and full of memories and emotion, so let’s begin with the assumption that ALL of us really like our entertainment.

As I’m a Generation X’er, I prefer to watch my primary entertainment — films & TV shows — on a large screen, and not on my smartphone. Not that I’m alone in this preference, of course. As it is written in Exodus 16:9…

“And it shall be an abomination in the eyes of the Lord to behold films by David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, or Kathryn Bigelow on tiny visioning devices.”

Like many other Gen X’ers, I grew up with a TV in the family living room and still like having one there now. But not just any TV… As long as I’ve purchased my own equipment, I’ve chosen TVs with larger screens. That way, I could be immersed in the action when viewing epic TV shows or movies.

There’s a small journey here, so stick with me as I time-travel for a bit.

How It Started

It was 2004. I bought an old, no-name LCD flatscreen TV. It was 32 inches diagonally and weighed about 475lbs. I kid, but not by much. It was an early model LCD TV and it did its job pretty well. More importantly, it also fit on my narrow fireplace ledge, because it was slightly less than seven inches thick.

(Remember: back in 2004, the term “flat screen” didn’t mean “skinny”, it just mean that the screen wasn’t curved like older cathode ray tube - or “CRT” - TVs.)

Eight years later, when I got married, my wife and I enjoyed curling up together on the sofa. Only now, my trusty flat-screen TV seemed small. And old. There were dead pixels on various parts of the screen and the plastic casing had chipped or broken in multiple places. It was time for an upgrade, so I did what I do best:

Research!

I sold my old TV via Craigslist and used the cash to fund the new equipment that I’d researched and built us… a home theater! It. Was. Awesome. Everyone joined us for movie night. And when I say “everyone”, that includes our neighbors from across the street who could see the projected images on our living room wall from their dining room. #TrueStory

Because so many of our friends asked questions about how I’d done it, I decided to write a “short document” which I could give to folks. That way, they could better replicate what I’d done. I sat down to write it out.

EIGHTEEN MONTHS PASSED.

My “short document” became a 120+ page book. Oopsie! That being said, it’s a very funny and informative book, so I invite you to purchase it. While it’s about six years old now, it’s absolutely worth reading if you’re looking to cut the cord, set up a home theater, or save money by using technology. You’ll also really like it if you enjoy a bit of irreverent humor.

Click the cover art or button below to grab it:

The New Home Theater

Time passed, technology changed and we moved to a new townhome in 2014. Our new space wasn’t large enough for our previous home theater setup, so… I pivoted. After doing an absurd amount of research in the Fall of 2020, I purchased our first, new TV in over a decade.

It was a very good investment during the pandemic as we’d stopped going outside of the house for… well, just about everything, really.

What I Purchased

I chose the TCL 65-inch 5-Series 4K UHD TV for about $750. It’s an amazing and large-screen TV that features an ultra-high-definition (often called “4K” or “UHD”) screen and comes with a built-in Roku device, something I’ll explain in the next section.

If you’re looking for a new, amazing, and affordable TV, here’s my affiliate link for you to learn more and purchase this great piece of tech.

Worth Noting

The model I purchased back in 2020 was actually the wildly popular but older “65R635” model. It was close to being discontinued then and looks to be now. Not that you’d want it: the newer “65S535” model that I linked to above has a better screen and includes the ability to pair with any Amazon Alexa device, a nice bonus.

TCL is a Chinese company that’s known for making affordable, “prosumer” level TVs. They’ve earned a great reputation along with tens of thousands of positive reviews from users and experts alike. Their products are also very affordable when compared to similar models from companies like Sony, Samsung, Phillips, and LG. However…

The sound from the TCL is crap. That’s the case with nearly all modern TVs, so the assumption, now, is that you’ll have your own, far-better sound system to connect to your TV. So you should. In our case, we still had our affordable LG soundbar from our home theater setup. I’ve got that plugged into our TCL and it makes the listening experience far better. Here’s my affiliate link for you to purchase the same soundbar for your own home theater for about $110.

Wait: What’s a Roku?!?

What good is owning a large screen if you can’t use it in the exact ways that you like?! For example, some people connect their gaming consoles to their TCL TVs. Others, like me, connect their computers to it, in order to surf the web, check email, or watch movies and see photos stored on their computers.

Of course, connecting a computer to your TV also makes it possible to log into Netflix, HBO, Hulu, or Amazon to watch videos on those platforms. But that’s complicated because it requires another device, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a whole lot of elbow grease if you’d like to do all of that from the comfort of your sofa from across the room.

What if there were an easier way to jump between live TV and any of the most popular video platforms to which you’ve subscribed? Well, there is: and it’s called Roku. Roku is a system of two devices that makes watching videos on your TV a breeze: the first device is the Roku streaming unit which lives inside of your TCL TV; the second device is the simple-to-use remote control.

Roku is an open platform, so it works with thousands of streaming platforms, including both free and paid content. Do you like watching free PBS, YouTube, or NBC programming online? No problem. How about paid content from Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime? Can do. Maybe you’re a sports buff who wants to stream games from any of the major sports leagues in the US, Europe, and beyond?

There’s a Roku “channel” for it. And, getting those channels is a simple process:

Connect your TCL to your local network

Create a free Roku account, connecting your TCL to Roku’s servers

Use the remote control to navigate to the channel store and… download all the channels that you desire

Now, when you turn on your TCL, you’ll not only be presented with all of the devices that are connected to your TV (a cable box, antenna, gaming console, for example), but also with every channel to which you’ve subscribed. Just use your remote control to navigate to any of the devices or streaming platforms that you like. You’ll be asked to sign in to your account the first time you use any channel.

But never again.

The Revolutionary Stuff

My readers know that I don’t throw words like “revolutionary” around much, if at all. In this case, the word fits. What I’m about to share with you has 100% changed how my wife and I now watch all of our entertainment.

Bring The Awesome, Part I

Earlier, I mentioned that when you first set up your TCL and Roku, you’d download the channels you need and then sign in to each service one time. That wasn’t a lie. Unlike computers, tablets, and cellphones, your TCL’s Roku remains signed in to all of your streaming accounts, even after you’ve turned off your TCL.

That’s already a huge time saver, but there’s more…

Bring The Awesome, Part II

Wanna blow your mind? Press and hold the microphone button on your Roku remote control and then… TALK to your Roku device! Just ask for a general topic, a specific streaming platform, or even a specific show. Your Roku will search across EVERY channel you’ve loaded and then place the results on screen for you to select with your remote.

Amazing. And accurate! This, by the way, is how I’ve found some super cool trash truck videos for our three-year-old son to watch on YouTube.

Bring The Awesome, Part III

Now we get to the feature that I think is revolutionary. To make use of this feature, you’ll first need to download and install the Roku mobile app onto your smartphone or tablet. The setup is easy and takes 5min tops:

Open the Roku app and sign in with the same Roku account credentials that you created when you set up your TCL

Make sure your phone/tablet is on the same network as your TCL

Find and add your Roku-equipped TCL from the list of devices that the app can see on your network

Now comes the fun. Once your TCL is connected to your Roku app, all kinds of magic can occur. For example, you can now use your Roku app INSTEAD of the physical remote control that came with your TCL. The app looks almost identical to your physical remote control, so you won’t need to learn anything new.

Although, you’ll want to!

The app features a built-in keyboard that you access by clicking an icon right on the app (in orange, in the pic below). You’ll need that keyboard occasionally, trust me. Use it. Enjoy it.

Best of all, there’s a “private listening” button on the app (in green, in the pic below). If your headphones are connected to your phone or tablet… you can now listen to what you’re watching in the privacy of your own ears.

I own a pair of wireless earbuds and now - for the first time - I can suddenly hear EVERYTHING that the sound designers have inserted into the TV shows and films that I watch. Background ambient noises like crickets, rain, and wind? Check. Low-playing music to set an emotional tone? Check. Softly-spoken dialogue? Double-check.

Now, I’m IN whatever I’m watching, even if I close my eyes. It’s incredible and reminds me of what happened when we all started listening to music on our headphones in the 1980s.

And, just like listening to music on headphones, no one else can hear what you’re watching. Unless, of course…

You WANT others to join you in your audio awesomeness. Which, now, they can.

Bring The Awesome, Part IV

Everyone… in their own personal audio world in your living room or bedroom?! Yeh, that’s a thing now:

Roku supports up to four different mobile devices streaming the SAME programming on your TCL. All that’s required is for every mobile device to have the Roku app installed and connected to your TCL. Even better: like everything else on your smartphone, you get to set your own, individual volume. It’s an INSANE game-changer in our house and I’m certain it will be in yours.

The complaining I get when my lovely wife hears me munching on food on the sofa next to her while we’re watching something? GONE.

The polite arguments we have over volume? GONE.

Worrying about if we’re going to wake up our toddler son when we watch an action film? GONE.

Now, we put in our Bluetooth earbuds, grab our iPhones, open the Roku app - choose our own individual volume! - and then start streaming away. A more peaceful evening on the sofa we’ve never had.

Now…. if there were only a way to be able to have this same kind of volume and programming control… over some of the people that I know. 🙌🏼

I kid. But, not really.

As always… Surf safe.

Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.

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A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

Product Recommendations

These are the devices and services that I personally use. I pay for everything you see listed here. I made these choices after much research and recommendations from tech industry colleagues.

The online backup software I use: iDrive (affiliate link)

The VPN software that I use: Nord VPN (affiliate link)

The email anonymizer that I use: 33Mail (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my office: Gryphon (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my home: Synology (affiliate link)

The service I use to block spam calls/texts: Uncall (affiliate link)

Transparency Statement

In case you’re curious:

I’ve purchased, owned, tested, and/or deeply researched every single thing I recommend.

I’m never paid to sell software or hardware to you.

I retain 100% editorial control over everything I write.

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The Great Merge

It’s been a while. Thank you for your patience.

I’m usually introspective when the year ends and a new year begins. It’s a good time to take stock and examine where I am in regard to my relationships. We, humans, are both blessed and cursed in that ability… Trees and animals don’t compare themselves to other members of their species, but we do.

We’re unique in that way and it’s an essential part of what makes me human. So I embrace it. Especially at this time of the year, because my yearly review also includes my relationship with and - in some cases - dependency on technology.

Over the past 35 years, I’ve gone from being a technology novice to a hobbyist, to an enthusiast and evangelist, to a paid technology professional at a Fortune 100 company, to becoming an advocate for privacy & security, to now writing columns and newsletters about technology so that as many people as possible can educate themselves.

This past year, I finally made peace with the understanding that our species is determined and well on its way to merging our humanity with our technology.

That’s kind of a big statement, so let me unpack it a bit.

Same Goals, New Tools

Let me start by eliminating what is not a part of my newfound understanding:

Life-like robots that can mimic our human emotions

Self-driving cars and trucks. And self-driving planes. Or self-landing rockets. Or entire space launch systems.

Augmented reality, also called “AR”

Virtual reality, also called “VR”

Digital human clones, or “deep fakes” (Although, if I did, this one here would be my absolute fave):

To me, these technologies are natural extensions of our species’ longstanding fascination with and adoption of technology over many thousands of years.

Don’t believe me? See for yourselves…

Worker Bees

Early in our evolution, we depended not only on each other but on help from the animals around us to get things done. Dogs helped guard us at night. Donkeys helped us drag plows to til our land and grow food. Horses provided transportation. Bees provided honey and valuable pollination to help secure our crops. The development of largescale farming led to our using tractors and, eventually, computers attached to those tractors. We now have all kinds of helpers in our lives, from robotic vacuums to automated coffee-makers, from voice-activated lighting systems to auto-sensing thermostats which can sense when we’re around and then keep our living environments comfortable. Robots that can stand, talk, emote, and eventually help us physically and emotionally are merely extensions of our original desire to find tools to help us to lead easier lives.

Capturing Reality

Before art, there was light and shadow. Early humans danced around the fire and took delight in their shadows from a central source of light. Painting and drawing emerged and became the original methods to record and capture the light and shadows that we saw in the world around us. Later, came light-sensitive film and still cameras to capture even more lifelike moments of people and locations. Then came motion picture cameras, which captured moment, flow, and helped create an even more immersive experience. Now, every one of you reading these words has a video camera in your pocket to use at a moment’s notice to record anything you like. AR and VR are merely extensions of our original desire to explore the world in newer and ever-more realistic and fantastical ways.

Transportation

Humans originally used other animals to help us move things from one place to another. Mules helped transport goods and belongings. Horses helped us to transport ourselves from one place to another. Suddenly our ability to roam expanded exponentially. The wheel was refined, placed on carriages, and then hitched to those horses. Now we could carry ourselves, our families, and some of our supplies with us over much longer distances. Next came trains and steam-powered locomotion. Once the internal combustion engine was created and refined, early cars were born and, with them, roads on which to drive. Self-driving cars and trucks are merely extensions of that original desire to travel as far as possible with as little energy expended as possible. Automated flights and space travel are no different.

Hopefully, you can see it now:

Our desire to use tools to help us live our lives hasn’t changed in millenium. However, the tools that we’ve used to accomplish that goal have.

The Machines Within

Starting in the late 1950s, we passed the intersection where the tools we used were located only on the outside of our human bodies. The humble pacemaker, placed inside its first patient, back in 1958, is now estimated to have saved millions of lives.

In 1982, the first artificial heart, called the Jarvik-7, was implanted in Dr. Barney Clark to help extend or save his life. He survived for another 112 days. With a machine. In his body. Pumping his blood for him.

Today, these technologies are far more commonplace. But what about the tech that’s just arriving…? Here are a few real world examples that, honestly, blow my mind:

A dear friend with early-onset Parkinson’s Disease underwent surgery in November of 2021 and had a device embedded IN his brain. That device, called a deep brain implant or (DBI), includes a series of wires that provide electrical current directly to his brain to help with his tremors. The DBI connects to another surgically implanted device just under his clavicle which, in turn - #JawDrop - interacts with his phone via Bluetooth, allowing him to change the types, time cycles, and intensity of the electrical charge that the DBI’s wires provide to his brain.

In 2017, researchers enbedded a computer chip at the end of a patient’s partially amputated arm. That chip connected to a particular region of patient’s brain using a series of wires. Now, the insane part: the patient - who hasn’t had hands in 25 years is now able to “feel” textures and surfaces in his brain as he moves his virtual reality hands on a computer screen over those kinds of virtual textures. I know. RiDONKulous. And humans made that happen.

Or how about a computer chip - placed IN the brain - that in December of 2021 allowed a paralyzed man to send a tweet using… his thoughts?!? No. I’m not kidding. THAT s**t just happened. How? This link explains a bunch of it. But I didn’t read it all, because I was too shocked by what they’d achieved and need to pick my jaw up off the floor instead.

Computerized implants for your eyes to help the blind see? Done.

Computerized implanted to help the deaf hear? Done.

Implanted, subcutaneous microchips to help store critical info or interact with the physical world around us. You guessed it: done.

And this list is - pardon the pun - just scratching the surface. It doesn’t include technologies like lab-grown organs, bio-engineered skin, artificial limbs, and more. All of which is to say: not only is this trend of merging our bodies with our technology not going away, but it’s also accelerating.

Quickly.

More quickly, in fact, than you or I probably realize. Ray Kurzweil, the noted inventor, and futurist, insists that 2029 is the year in which computers will possess “human-level intelligence” and that 2045 is the year when we’ll permanently merge with the interconnected, computerized superintelligence that we’ve created. Whoa.

All of which begs a very important question…

Is This Good or Bad?!?

Good/Bad, Kind/Evil, On/Off… these are over-simplified, binary states of thinking. Reality, of course, is always far richer than just two states of being.

Like reality, tools are neither good nor bad: they’re just tools. In most cases, I’m of the belief that it’s how we use our tools that truly matters. We can use a hammer to build a house or hit someone’s hand. The salient point:

Merging our humanity with computers isn’t the issue; HOW we’re doing it and for what ultimate purposes is.

Personally, I’m excited about the possibility of having the entirety of the Internet, accessible immediately by our brains. Cool! There is a very good chance that having this kind of immediate access to vast troves of information about humanity will help us become a super-intelligent, collaborative species. Instead of only having personal experience, some education, and emotions to guide us, we’ll also have immediate access to thousands of years of accumulated and recorded data.

That combination of interconnectedness with one another and with all of recorded history will - I believe - transform society in powerfully positive ways. I think that a human mind connected to the Internet will, of course, choose what’s best for most sentient life because it deeply understands the interconnectedness of all things.

But that’s an assumption. That assumption might be massively flawed because of my privilege and standing in society.

So what if I’m wrong? What if early adopters - most of whom will surely be wealthy and powerful - use their newfound “singularity” to corrupt and control the world around them? It’s not that far-fetched: humanity has a very long track record of the wealthy and powerful doing whatever it took to stay wealthy and powerful.

I don’t have an answer to that question. Currently, I don’t know if anyone else does either. This is why we’ll need a deep examination of our cultural, national, and species-wide morals, ethics, and principles.

Then, we’ll need guidelines, oversight, and accountability.

Positive Futures Require Definite Roadmaps

Some of us might fondly recall the writings of the great Isaac Asimov and suggest that his Three Laws of Robotics might be a possible roadmap:

First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?!? Well… some scientists and roboticists don’t believe that Asimov’s laws are enough to protect humans because today’s robots don’t function on laws. Therefore, they are promoting concepts like Empowerment and Adaptability. It’s a fascinating conversation, but it’s missing something critical:

By only focusing on the behavior of robots, both Asimov and the current crop of futurists are ignoring how to help govern the behavior of humans who will have technology embedded in or connected to them.

Having read all of Asimov’s Robot and Foundation novels, I cannot recall any characters that were partiallly human and partially robots. It was either robots OR humans, not both. Again, binary thinking. This is curious given that during Asimov’s life technology was and continues to be inserted into millions of human bodies.

We need a different, more varied approach.

Back in 2009, Peter Singer pointed out that “we need to start wrestling with the ethics of the people behind the machines”. He asked some powerful questions in his article:

Where is the code of ethics in the robotics field for what gets built and what doesn’t?

Who gets to use the sophisticated systems we build and who doesn’t?

Are there technologies that should only be limited to the military?

Singer wasn’t discussing the possible or actual merging of humans and technology, but I think his questions are an important first step in the conversation. Still: other questions and deeper conversations are required.

I’ll humbly discussing the following questions as a community, nation, and species:

What groups of people should be allowed to create the code of ethics in the robotics field? How will we ensure that these people represent enough cultures, languages, races, and socio-economic backgrounds to better serve all of humanity?

What global and national oversight organizations will be established to assure that the code of ethics is being implemented, safeguarded, and improved over time? What power will they have to punish those who violate our code of ethics?

What fail-safes should be built into any technology designed for implantation into a human body?

What set of checks and balances must be established to ensure that any technology surgically inserted can be proven successful by the patient, not just the surgeon?

What credentials, training, or certifications will be required for anyone who implants technology into a human body?

What repair and update capabilities will be required in the technology which we place in our bodies?

What kinds of security protocols must be in place to help ensure that no implant can be used to track, record, or otherwise violate the privacy of the human into which it is inserted. And what kinds of checks must be available for the patient to be certain of this?

How will we share the cost of the technologies and the surgeries as a species to ensure that those without funds are not be left behind?

What Happens Now

Given our current trajectory, we will most certainly merging both our lives and our bodies with technology. Therefore, have a choice: do we start having the crucial conversations required for this huge leap now or wait for the technology to advance?

Some notable people have begun to ask questions and provide possible alternatives and solutions now. Tristan Harris is one of the respected thinkers in this space. If he looks or sounds familiar, it might be because you saw him in the documentary “The Social Dilemma”.

As a result of his working within the bowels of Big Tech, Mr. Harris made the decision to step away from the business side of technology and migrate t the human side of it. He founded The Center for Humane Technology, an organization focused on creating world where humans can interact with technology in safe and sane ways.

His organization has already begun asking good questions and proposing good initiatives. More are needed, of course, and not just from Mr. Harris: but from all of us as well.

And so, dear friends: now is the time for all good humans to come to the aid of their species. Yes, we’re all busier than ever. Yes, we’re more distracted than ever. Yes, we all seek to escape more than ever.

But we’d be wise to remember: the future doesn’t create itself; we create tomorrow by what we do today.

Happy New Year.

And that’s a wrap for today’s episode, everyone. Thanks again for subscribing and supporting independent technology journalism. Thank you, in advance, for using the link below to share Tech Talk with your friends, family, and colleagues.

As always… Surf safe.

Most Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.

How to remove your personal data from the web.

My 2021 recommendations on the best VPN providers.

My favorite, free tool to keep email addresses private.

A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

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Please know: I’ve personally purchased, tested, researched, or used everything I recommend. Additionally, I am never paid to sell software or hardware to you and I retain 100% editorial control over everything I write. The companies, products, or services I recommend never know in advance that I mention them.

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A Steaming Bag of S**t

Longtime readers of mine - both here in my Substack newsletter and on my Medium page - know that I’m a vocal critic of Facebook:

I’ve written about their deceit in the Cambridge Analytica scandal

I’ve authored an article on how to limit the data that you share with Facebook

I’ve written about how - and WHY - to delete Facebook and all social media apps from your smartphone

And I’ve repeatedly warned parents about the very real dangers of exposing their children to Facebook and social media

I’ve been consistent in my warnings about Facebook in particular because they aren’t an ethical, kind, or trustworthy corporation. Instead, they prey on users by using their data to compile accurate dossiers about who they are, and then… they use that data to surveil and market to them.

There are very good reasons why Facebook was fined $5 billion by the FTC: because the company regularly flaunts regulations, restrictions, laws, and - more importantly - our shared ethics and morals around concepts like truth, privacy, democracy, and security.

Not surprisingly, some time ago, I changed my social media behaviors radically:

I deleted all social media apps from my smartphone

I locked my Facebook account down using a fun tool called Jumbo

I only surf to the Facebook website using browsers like Brave which can block all trackers, fingerprinting & cookies

More importantly, I JUST reduced the amount of time I spend on all social media by about 85%.

My life is better as a result of making these changes. Give them a try yourself and I’m sure you’ll find that yours will be as well.

Additional Proof If You Need It (Which… You Don’t)

A few days ago - on October 4th, 2021 - Frances Haugen gave explosive testimony before the United States Senate. Haugen, a former algorithmic product manager at Facebook, revealed that not only is the company doing harm to children, politics, and democracy but that they are absolutely aware of these problems despite public claims to the contrary.

Earlier this year, Haugen secretly released thousands of pages of internal documentation from the company to the Wall Street Journal, revealing that the company knows full well that its products are “toxic” to teenage girls, that they give special treatment to VIPs who can flaunt platform rules that others cannot, and that since they cannot deal with the onslaught of viral and angry misinformation, they’ve chosen, instead, to embrace it.

This week, on the TV show 60 Minutes, Haugen came forward as the whistleblower who provided those documents to the WSJ. During that broadcast, she uttered the following gem:

“When you have a system that you know can be hacked with anger, it's easier to provoke people into anger. And publishers are saying, 'Oh, if I do more angry, polarizing, divisive content, I get more money.' Facebook has set up a system of incentives that is pulling people apart."

If you missed Ms. Haugen’s Congressial testimony yesterday, you should watch it at the link I just provided because pigs flew.

By that, I mean that Senators from both political parties agreed that Facebook must be held accountable. And folks: when Republican Senators like Marcia Blackburn, John Thune, and Ted Cruz find themselves agreeing in principle with Democratic Senators like Amy Klobuchar, Richard Blumenthal, and Edward Markey, we’re standing on very rare ground, indeed.

Facebook’s “Response”

The Wall Street Journal’s expose on Facebook was published on Sept 13th, 2021. The company - including its CEO - remained silent. Then, it learned about Ms. Haugen coming forward as the whistleblower.

Well, as you might expect from a publically-traded company that masquerades as a steaming bag of st, Facebook immediately went into “PR Crisis” mode:

October 2nd, 2021: The company’s VP of Policy and Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, sent a memo to all Facebook staff refuting Ms. Haugens claims… before she’d ever appeared before Congress or on 60 Minutes.

October 3rd, 2021: Facebook CEO Marck Zuckerberg posts about sailing with his wife and friends prior to Ms. Haugen’s appearance later that evening on 60 Minutes, still silent on the matter of her claims.

October 5th, 2021, 10:47am: After her Congressional testimony, Andy Stone - a company rep - tweeted a statement meant to undermine Ms. Haugen by saying that she “worked at the company for less than two years, had no direct reports, and never met with any C-level execs.”

October 5th, 2021 at 12pm: Zuckerberg releases a public statement. It admits no guilt and, instead, tries to rally his staff by claiming that “it's frustrating to see the good work we do get mischaracterized”. Notably absent from the CEO’s post: any denials that the documentation Ms. Haugen provided was false, forged, manufactured, or otherwise untrue.

You can read more on the company’s disgusting and embarrassing efforts to defend themselves and attack Ms. Haugen here.

What Happens Now

Facebook will come under fire. Again. In the past, they’ve simply paid fines - some of them massive - and then watched as Washington DC failed to regulate the company in any meaningful way. But I believe this time will be different:

Financial blowback will occur as their stock takes a hit.

Charges of SEC violations and the fines and penalties they will carry will be imposed. The complaints filed to the SEC by Ms. Haugen demonstrate with proof how the company “violated U.S. securities laws by making material misrepresentations and omissions in statements to investors and prospective investors”.

Legislation and/or regulation is now possible because both Republicans AND Democrats agree on something for a change.

The massive number of verifiable documents provided by Ms. Haugen now provides a smoking gun. That helps parents and their children to leave Facebook-owned platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp and, more importantly, it helps Congress to know - for certain - that any regulation it passes is being done for right and provable reasons.

Would I hold my breath? No, but I am optimistic. At its core, I still believe in the power of social media to help bring people together in joy and shared experiences. But coming together online needs to better reflect how people operate offline.

In the real world - the offline world - people don’t get together to yell and scream at each other without mercy. We don’t constantly get triggered about politics and the supposed dangers of vaccinations. We also talk about school, sports, hobbies, family, and yes - sometimes - more hot-button issues as well.

Until social media can be better regulated or forced to protect the most vulnerable among us — and I count both the young and the ignorant in that group— then it shouldn’t be allowed to thrive or create a profit off our personal data.

As always… Surf safe.

Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.

How to remove your personal data from the web.

My 2021 recommendations on the best VPN providers.

My favorite, free tool to keep email addresses private.

A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

Product Recommendations

These are the devices and services that I personally use. I pay for everything you see listed here. I made these choices after much research and recommendations from tech industry colleagues.

The online backup software I use: iDrive (affiliate link)

The VPN software that I use: Nord VPN (affiliate link)

The email anonymizer that I use: 33Mail (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my office: Gryphon (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my home: Synology (affiliate link)

The service I use to block spam calls/texts: Uncall (affiliate link)

Transparency Statement

In case you’re curious:

I’ve purchased, owned, tested, and/or deeply researched every single thing I recommend.

I’m never paid to sell software or hardware to you.

I retain 100% editorial control over everything I write.

The companies, products, or services that I recommend don’t know that I’m going to mention them.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techtalk.substack.com/subscribe

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Well, that was fast…

In my previous episode (#47), I explained the features in Apple’s upcoming iOS 15 which are so controversial and have deeply alarmed security and privacy experts. You can read that episode here.

I stressed repeatedly that time would tell on some of these matters and… not even two weeks later, there have been developments. Let’s examine them.

Apple Caves To Pressure… For Now

After Apple debuted its new iOS 15 features - specifically those meant to help combat the spread of child porn - they got pushback. A lot of it. The company went on the defensive and published information on those features, including white papers from tech and security experts who vouched for the new features.

It wasn’t enough.

The company then did something it rarely ever does: they sent a Senior VP to have a 1-on-1 conversation with a reporter from The Wall Street Journal. The conversation was an honest look at the company’s new features and the confusion and alarm they were causing. The conversation was meant to help calm security experts and the public.

That, too, wasn’t enough.

As a result, On September 3rd, 2021, Apple decided to delay the release of all three of its newest and most controversial features. The company says the features will be released “later this year”.

We’ll see about that. Although Apple has always prided itself on being a privacy-first company — especially when compared to Google and Microsoft — these features aren’t popular, aren’t well understood, and they deeply concern security professionals who’ve taken the time to dig into the details.

That’s important to remember because the public drives Apple’s profits. Therefore, Apple has historically taken the public’s opinions seriously on any matter that might deeply damage its profits. This, of course, is one of the advantages of the free market: people vote with their money.

Apple knows this.

Therefore, this delay seems smart to me. However, if the company cannot do more to reassure the public, they’ll be forced to consider one of two options:

Permanently cancel their new features to claim they’re still on the side of privacy and security advocates.

Re-engineer their new features to better serve the public’s current and future privacy and security needs.

Until then, the public remains understandably skeptical. I am as well. My greatest fear is that malicious governments will try to force Apple to change its software to target its own citizens. They’ll do this with the threat of banning Apple and its products from its borders, forcing the company to choose between profits and human rights.

For their part, Apple has told the public not to worry because they “would refuse such demands”. Sadly, we now know that this is a blatant lie.

A Shocking & Ugly Development

We now know that the New York Times, in a rather shocking exposé from May of 2021, revealed that Apple has repeatedly made rather substantial concessions to China in regards to human rights. Apple has bowed to China in regards to:

User data encryption - China, not Apple, now controls it

The Chinese App Store - Apple proactively removes apps it thinks might anger the Chinese Communist Party

Blocking tools used by pro-democracy advocates for organizing, avoiding firewalls, or mentioning the Dalai Lama.

In Episode #47, I was clear that I found this corporate behavior disgusting and unacceptable… but that I understood it, given the financial implications. Do I condone blocking access to privacy? No. Do I condone that certain topics be off-limits for people to discuss or learn? No. But I do understand that when your company so fully depends on the workers of one nation, that your hands might be tied. And, according to the New York Times article - “Apple now assembles nearly all of its products and earns a fifth of its revenue in the China region.”

Now, I’d like to believe that Apple would find another nation - one with a solid track record on human rights - to help assemble its goods. But that’s not going to happen. Apple, like thousands of other corporations, keeps its profits high by using cheap labor from China to make its goods.

In my previous episode, I argued that I’d need to see that Apple was willing to violate those same principles in another country before I’d call it a pattern. I mentioned Russia as a possible test case: the country recently demanded that Apple and Google remove an app from their app stores which was created by political opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The purpose of the app: to help Russians vote out corruption, including Vladimir Putin.

At the time I wrote that episode, Apple and Google both had not caved to Russia’s request.

Unfortunately, on September 17th, 2021, they did. The app was removed from both Apple’s and Google’s app stores. Worse, according to Newsweek, Apple went a step further and removed software to block a user’s IP address, thus preventing anonymity online and, therefore, privacy and security to communicate one’s political beliefs.

There’s just no other way to say it: this concession by Apple to the Russian government is deeply shameful.

The company’s behavior now makes clear that there is a clear pattern when profits are on the line: that Apple is willing to forgo human freedoms, privacy, and security, even when it knows that the nation forcing changes to its services is a known violator of human rights.

This is an incredibly sad day for me. A company that I’ve loved and respected for decades has shocked and disappointed me. As a result, I am now forced to research other platforms so that I can safely and confidently recommend those to my readers.

Stay tuned until then.

Wow.

And that’s a wrap for today’s episode, everyone. Thanks again to my subscribers for subscribing and supporting independent technology journalism. As a reminder, please use the link below to share Tech Talk with friends, family, and colleagues. It’s a quick way that you can help me spread the word about this newsletter.

Thank you and, as always… Surf safe.

Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.

How to remove your personal data from the web.

My 2021 recommendations on the best VPN providers.

My favorite, free tool to keep email addresses private.

A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

Product Recommendations

These are the devices and services that I personally use. I pay for everything you see listed here. I made these choices after much research and recommendations from tech industry colleagues.

The online backup software I use: iDrive (affiliate link)

The VPN software that I use: Nord VPN (affiliate link)

The email anonymizer that I use: 33Mail (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my office: Gryphon (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my home: Synology (affiliate link)

The service I use to block spam calls/texts: Uncall (affiliate link)

Transparency Statement

In case you’re curious:

I’ve purchased, owned, tested, and/or deeply researched every single thing I recommend.

I’m never paid to sell software or hardware to you.

I retain 100% editorial control over everything I write.

The companies, products, or services that I recommend don’t know that I’m going to mention them.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techtalk.substack.com/subscribe

View Details

The Background

Torrenting was born in 2001 and pioneered a new way for people and companies to share files. It was relatively easy to use and - because it allowed for anyone to share or download albums and movies - it got popular VERY quickly. How popular? Well, in 2009, it was estimated that torrenting accounted for a mind-boggling 43% to 70% of all Internet traffic. Once Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Spotify, and Apple made purchasing high-quality music and video relatively cheap and easy, torrenting traffic plummeted.

However, the technology’s once again gaining popularity, so let’s explain what torrenting is, how it works, and the legal implications of using the technology.

The Technology

At its core, torrenting is a technology that allows people to share files. What makes it special is how the technology works. And, since explaining technology can be difficult, let’s instead use a metaphor that anyone can understand: pizza!

The Normal Way to Get a Pizza

If you want a pizza (and of course you do), you contact your local pizza parlor, order the pizza that you’d like, and - within about an hour - your pizza is delivered to you. It’s a delightful, simple, and supremely delicious system that requires only three parties:

You, the consumer of the pizza

The pizza parlor, the maker of the pizza

The transportation service, who delivers the pizza to your home.

This three-party system is also how most downloads from the Internet function. For example, let’s say you’re needing to download the latest Firefox web browser:

You, the consumer, can download the software to use

Mozilla, the maker of the software, gives the public access to the software on its servers

The transportation service, who provides you access to the Internet, is your Internet Service Provider (or ISP).

It looks a bit like this:

Your ISP gives you access to the Internet. You contact Mozilla. They give you permission to download software from their servers. That’s it! If that looks or sounds simple, it’s because - by design - it is!

However, there are more creative ways to order a pizza...

The Complex Way to Get a Pizza

Let’s say that you’re ordering the same pizza. Only this time, 80 or 90 different pizza parlors will join forces to get you your pizza!

To make this happen, not only will each parlor make a pizza for you… but they’ll figure out - during the delivery - which parlor is responsible for which piece of your pizza!

Then, at the end of the delivery process, the pieces from each of those 80-90 different pizzas will be assembled at your home, and — miracle of miracles! — the finished product will look, smell, and taste exactly like a fresh, whole pizza.

This many-party system is how torrenting works. If you’re needing to download the latest Firefox web browser via torrenting, the download file will be broken down into scores or even hundreds of individual pieces. Each individual piece is retrieved from a different computer or server (called a “seeder”) and brought to your computer.

The complexity of this operation requires a special kind of software called a BitTorrent application. These applications serve three, vital tasks:

They find each individual piece of the download you need

They fetch each piece of that download

They assemble all of the various pieces together to create one, whole, and final product.

It looks a bit like this:

In this scenario, your ISP gives you access to the Internet. You use a BitTorrent application to seek the latest Firefox installer. Hundreds of individuals with personal computers just like yours all simultaneously share parts of their Firefox installer with you. It’s known as peer-to-peer file-sharing or “P2P”.

If that looks or sounds complicated, it’s because - by design - it is! However, that complexity allows for some pretty amazing things to occur.

Why is Torrenting Important?

Efficiency

If you need to download a large file in the traditional manner then your download speed and time relies on three factors:

the speed of the server providing you the file

the speed of the server’s Internet connection

the speed of your Internet connection

Torrenting leverages P2P file sharing, by using many computers or servers to share the same file. This design allows for tremendous efficiency over traditional downloads, especially on slower or restricted networks.

Having 20 or 200 different computers (or servers) helping to provide you a large file creates an advantage to traditional downloading. This is why companies like Facebook, Twitter, Blizzard Entertainment (makers of “World of Warcraft”, and other games) leverage the power of Torrenting.

It’s also why government agencies like NASA - the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - have also used Torrenting.

Exposure

If you’ve created a piece of artwork and want to quickly share it with the world, social media and video streaming platforms might suffice. But if you want people to be able to play, read, or watch your artwork on any of their own devices, then making it available via torrenting is a smart way to gain exposure and fans.

This is one of the reasons that the creators of various Linux OS builds — including Debian, Ubuntu, and others — provide their OS downloads via torrents.

Preservation

Given torrenting’s ability to distribute data, it’s fitting that one of the most venerable and important websites on the Internet - The Internet Archive - uses torrenting. They use it to help preserve and share the Internet for future users and historians. Starting in 2012, the non-profit added sharing files via torrenting to its other methods of data sharing.

Freedom

Torrenting harnesses the power of individuals who have their own computers and access to the Internet. It is, therefore, a powerful tool for citizens who live in countries whose government restricts access to certain information.

Some countries work very hard to restrict access to some or all parts of the Internet. If you live in one of these countries - as shown on the map above - then torrenting might be a valuable tool to gain access to the information that you seek.

Why is Torrenting Popular?

In the early 2000s, torrenting was very popular because the applications were free, easy-to-use, and they made it very easy for anyone to share or obtain copyrighted materials like movies, albums, artwork, and pornography.

Then, technology and the arts finally caught up with the demand.

Companies like Netflix, Hulu, Apple, Amazon Prime, and others began to provide digital video and music collections to customers around the world. As a result, torrenting traffic plummeted. That’s because most consumers were willing to pay a reasonable fee to have easy access to a massive music or video-on-demand library.

But then - just like the network TV model - those giant tech companies and their massive libraries became exclusive. Now, if you want to watch Ted Lasso, you’ll need to purchase a subscription to Apple TV+; if you want to watch Bridgerton, you’ll need to purchase a subscription to Netflix; if you want to watch The Expanse, you’ll need to purchase a subscription to Amazon Prime.

Suddenly, consumers who wish to watch popular shows are now faced with having to subscribe to multiple services on top of the monthly fees they’re already paying to gain access to the Internet. And, since most people can’t afford those kinds of fees…torrenting is making a comeback.

One 2018 study - by the research company Sandvine - claims torrenting accounted for 21% of all upload traffic on the Internet. That’s a huge spike and probably isn’t going away anytime soon.

This brings us to the obvious question...

Is Torrenting Legal?

Generally speaking, most all technologies — like torrenting — are legal. However, the ways in which technology can be used might be illegal.

NASA and The Internet Archive, for example, use torrenting to share important or culturally significant files with the public. That’s a legal use of torrenting technology. So, too, is sharing any non-copyrighted materials such as your own original works of art or any work of art which exists in the Public Domain.

Sometimes even famous works of art are in the Public Domain, such as “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, written by L. Frank Baum. This makes it possible to legally share links to download and read this great work of fiction.

However, using torrenting (or any technology) to share copyrighted material without permission is absolutely illegal. Copyrighted material includes any music, books, movies, images, or other artistic material that are not in the Public Domain.

In modern countries, the government works with Internet Server Providers (ISPs) to punish those who illegally distribute copyrighted material. In the United States, the fine for being caught sharing copyrighted material under The Copyright Act can cost up to $150,000 per infringement, so the stakes can be high.

How Does It Look & Work?

Your first step in legally using torrenting technology is to download a free torrenting application. However, this can sometimes be a challenge. Some government agencies force ISPs to block torrenting websites even though the software and the technology that underpins it are both legal.

The workaround? Using a Virtual Private Network (or “VPN”), something I’ve discussed in a previous episode.

For example, the most popular torrenting application outside of China is called μTorrent. However, if you click this link to visit its website right now and you’re NOT using a VPN, the website appears to malfunction. If you ARE using a VPN client, the website functions perfectly because using a VPN not only hides your IP address but also bypasses blocks that are put in place on certain IP addresses.

Quick pitch: for years, I’ve paid $3-4/mo to use NordVPN, the company I consider to be the best VPN provider. Using Nord not only enables me to view the μTorrent website and use their torrent interface right in my browser (both shown below), but it also hides my surfing data from my ISP.

I don’t want my digital overlords to know where I’m surfing nor that I’m torrenting. It doesn’t matter that what I’m doing online and where I’m surfing is 100% legal: I want and am willing to pay a bit for my privacy.

As you can see above, I recently used μTorrent to download Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece “The 39 Steps” for free. This seemed smarter than paying $3.99 to Apple for the privilege of watching a movie that’s in the Public Domain and available for free.

One Final Warning

The NSA famously observed and hacked torrenting technology in the early 2000s. Because of that, I’d bet my money that they’re still watching the technology and finding ways to crack down on illegal use.

Torrenting IS legal but only if you’re using it in legal ways. It’s a great tool to help discover new works of non-copyrighted or Public Domain original art. It’s also valuable to find cool materials that the government or other institutions make freely available.

When used safely and legally, torrenting is a fabulous tool.

And that’s a wrap for today’s episode, everyone. Thanks again for subscribing and supporting independent technology journalism. As a reminder, please: use this link to share my Substack newsletter with your friends, family, and colleagues. It’s a quick way that you can help me in a powerful way.

Happy May Day and, as always…

Surf safe.

Popular Past Issues:

Which secure routers to purchase and WHY.

How to remove your personal data from the web.

My 2021 recommendations on the best VPN providers.

My favorite, free tool to keep email addresses private.

A crash course on keeping your devices updated.

Product Recommendations

These are the devices and services that I personally use. I pay for everything you see listed here. I made these choices after much research and recommendations from tech industry colleagues.

The online backup software I use: iDrive (affiliate link)

The VPN software that I use: Nord VPN (affiliate link)

The email anonymizer that I use: 33Mail (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my office: Gryphon (affiliate link)

The secure router I use at my home: Synology (affiliate link)

The service I use to block spam calls/texts: Uncall (affiliate link)

Transparency Statement

In case you’re curious:

I’ve purchased, owned, tested, and/or deeply researched every single thing I recommend.

I’m never paid to sell software or hardware to you.

I retain 100% editorial control over everything I write.

The companies, products, or services that I recommend don’t know that I’m going to mention them.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techtalk.substack.com/subscribe

View Details

The Background

The title for today’s episode comes from a question submitted by one of my subscribers. I think the topic of VPNs is an important one for many reasons, but, as with most topics in technology, it’s sometimes difficult to understand. Additionally, the marketplace is full of salespeople and marketers, so the general public is often exposed to exaggerations and, sometimes, even lies on this topic. As always, let’s cut through the b**t using common language and maybe a little bit of fun to help the topic of VPNs be more easy to understand. Sound good? Then lets jump right in…

The Definition

First, if you’re wondering what a VPN even is, let me explain… It’s an acronym that stands for Violins Playing Nat King Cole. I’m joking, of course: I’m a kidder. In reality, VPN stands for “Virtual Private Network”. But what the hell does that even mean?!? Well, let’s break it down, and slightly out of order, since that’s easier, methinks:

Network: Think of a network as a “connection” between at least two computers. In this case, a connection is made over the public internet between your computer (or smartphone or tablet) and a second computer located in a different building, city, state, or country. That’s it, really! Once two computers have connected to one another, a network is formed!

Private: Now that you’ve established a network, you might be asking, “Wait… Does everyone have access to this network?!?” The answer is no because a VPN is only made available to certain individuals. Here’s an example: I used to work at Nike as a Systems Administrator (a fancy title for a dweeb who manages hundreds or thousands of computers). When I wasn’t physically on Nike’s campus, I could still log into Nike’s network in order to do my job. But only those who worked at Nike had this access, not the general public. Nike’s network was private, not public.

Virtual: I believe it helps to think of the word “virtual” as a modifier to the word “private”. I’ll explain. When I was at home or at a coffee shop and needed to log into the Nike network, I would use my own computer and the public Internet. Therefore, my connection (or network) to Nike’s servers wasn’t a private, but rather a virtual private network. My privacy to gain access to Nike’s network was accomplished via software over the public Internet and not some special, secondary Internet.

So there it is, explained: a virtual private network.

Luckily, it turns out that there aren’t many technical differences between the kind of VPN I used while working at Nike and the types of commercial VPN services now available to any consumer. But that doesn’t stop vendors and marketers from lying about the technology, does it?

No, it doesn’t.

The Exaggerations, Lies, & Convenient Omissions

If you’ve ever seen an ad for a VPN service or read about people who advocate for using a VPN service (including yours truly!), then you might have gone online and done a bit of research for yourself. If so, then you’ve probably been exposed to any number of exaggerations, lies, and convenient omissions from the people who are selling you on this technology. These lies include:

Using a VPN allows you to do whatever you want online - legal or illegal - without reprisal.

This isn’t true. At all. Let’s say that you’re using a VPN and you decide to post harmful, hateful, or illegal messages on any social media platform or website. Once you’ve posted, your accounts on those platforms may be terminated because you’re most likely violating the terms of service of those sites. If a threat you pose in your posts is credible, representatives from those websites can — and often do — contact law enforcement and provide them with whatever digital files and evidence are available to them that you’ve left behind. Using a VPN doesn’t, magically, exempt you from local, state, and federal laws that all other citizens follow. Here’s a fun story about a criminal who thought he could hide his disgusting and awful online behavior behind the two VPN providers he employed. He failed. And he’s now in jail for 17 years. #SorryNotSorry

Some VPN services don’t keep logs (or digital files) that can trace back to individual users.

This is also untrue, but there’s an important reason why: ALL computers make and keep logs by default. Commercial VPNs run on computers and computers, by default, keep logs, so this isn’t a “bad thing” or something to fear. Rather, the important question to ask any potential VPN service is: “Which logs do you keep and for how long?” Common logs can track how often you log in to your VPN provider and how much data you’ve downloaded once you’ve logged in. That’s not usually damaging information and can be super helpful for the company providing you the service. But some VPN providers also log your IP address (kind of like a digital ID number) which you’ll want to avoid. Some may also decide to implement logging to help identify problem users. Here’s a fun story about a “no log” VPN provider that suddenly began keeping logs to help identify a hacker and then force that person to stop misbehaving on its systems.

Your username/password can be stolen on the Internet if you’re not using a VPN.

Well, yes, technically, but... It would be difficult to do and requires many unknowns to be in place to be successful. By comparison, it’s much MUCH easier to steal someone’s passwords via email which is why that practice is far more common.

You are anonymous on the Internet when using a VPN.

Uh, no. If you bank online, use social media online, use any of Google’s services online or if you surf the web using the most common web browsers, then you’re not anonymous. At all.

VPN providers have servers all over the world.

Only partly true. Most of the companies I recommend to people do, in fact, have servers (fancy, fast computers) in scores of countries. And, certainly, most consumer VPN companies advertise this fact as a marketing factor to convince you to purchase their service. But… they’re all not exactly truthful about the details. Servers are fast computers. Some companies claim to offer physical servers in locations where they’re not actually located. Others claim to offer physical servers when, instead, they offer virtual computers. There’s nothing wrong at all with using virtual servers — they’re fast, cheap, and easy to backup or scale if a company grows. However, companies should be 100% transparent about what they’re offering you. It’s a lie to say you’ve got a server in Saudi Arabia when what you’re really offering is a virtual server located in Europe.

I am an affiliate (or reseller) for several high-quality VPN services, and I can tell you that spreading lies like these does the public a great disservice. Therefore, now that you know some of the exaggerations and lies, let’s examine what a VPN service can actually provide you.

So What Does a VPN Service ACTUALLY Offer Consumers?

Glad you asked. Reputable VPN services can and do offer solid protections for consumers who wish to take advantage of these, worthy benefits...

Benefit #1: Protecting your ISP from viewing the websites where you surf.

Right now, your Internet Service Provider (or ISP) has the ability - if they wish - to track what you do online. That includes documenting every website you visit while connected to the Internet via their network. Yeh, I know: it’s totally creepy. That information can be sold for advertising purposes and it can also be provided to the authorities (courts, cops, and more) for certain legal purposes. Who’s interested in giving away their browsing habits to ANY third party?!? Not me, buster.

So, if you’d like to hide your browsing habits from companies like Comcast, Cox, and AT&T in the US; Orange S.A., Telefonica, and Sky in the EU; and Vodaphone or Airtel in India… then, yes: browsing while using a VPN will prevent your ISP from having access to this information. Instead, your ISP will only be able to see that you’re logging in to a VPN but… nothing else. Pretty nice, feature, I’d say. And here’s what it looks like:

Just remember, even though your ISP won’t be able to see your browsing information, your VPN service most certainly WILL be able to see that data. Therefore, it’s important to choose a VPN service that protects your safety, security, and privacy. I covered this information in Episode #7, so have a look now to learn how best to choose a solid VPN service.

Benefit #2: Bypassing your ISP’s efforts to prioritize or restrict certain content.

In some countries, certain ISPs prioritize or restrict certain websites or content. T-Mobile, for example, slows down Internet speeds for users who wish to stream video. In the US, Comcast decided to intentionally slow down Netflix for all of its users, a super shitty move. Netflix bowed to the pressure and paid Comcast extra money to end the practice.

However, if you use a VPN service, then guess what? You’ve got benefit #1 working for you which means your ISP can’t see which websites you’re visiting online. And if they can’t see which websites you’re browsing, then they can’t decrease your speed because you’ve chosen to visit a particular website that they don’t like.

Thanks, VPN!

Benefit #3: Bypassing the blocks that your ISP or country uses to prevent access to certain websites.

Let’s say you live in a repressive country that doesn’t allow access to things like, I don’t know: a free press, women’s rights, LGBTQIA rights, or even pornography. Using a VPN can, in some cases, allow you to bypass those restrictions and surf more comfortably to any website that you might choose for yourself as a free-thinking human. FREEEEEEEEDOM!!!!!

And, while it’s true that some countries (cough, cough, CHINA) can simply block access to known VPN providers, VPN providers add new servers with new IP addresses all the time making this cat-and-mouse game forever playable.

Benefit #4: You can suddenly stream data from another country’s video-on-demand service.

The BBC in the UK offers a ton of really cool programming that’s 100% free. So does the CBC in Canada. And if I were online in the UK or in Canada, I’d be able to stream that content freely and easily. However, because I’m geographically located in America, I can’t stream video from those websites to my computer. Ditto if I’m a paying Netflix customer in the US but am traveling abroad and want access to Netflix’s sweet, sweet American show library. So, yeh, that’s a bummer.

However, if my VPN service offers me the ability to connect to one of their servers in, say, London or Toronto, well… guess what?! I’m now virtually in the UK or Canada and all of that free content is now available to me. Ditto if I’m traveling abroad in the EU and want access to my paid Netflix account back in the states: I can just connect via my VPN service to a US server and presto… I’ve suddenly gained access to the shows I’m already paying to view.

It’s worth noting: some video-on-demand services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and others block VPN services from accomplishing this. But, again, VPN servers are being added all the time, so just make sure you pick a VPN that offers a free trial. That way, you can test the access you need before you commit to a yearly purchase.

The Summary

Here’s a great video from Tom Scott (a lovely and funny YouTube personality) who digs into this topic with fun, clarity, and a wee bit of sass. Enjoy:

And that’s a wrap for today’s episode, everyone. Thank you again, for reading (or listening!) and for being a subscriber. Please: let me know your thoughts & questions in the comments section. As of today, all subscribers can read & leave comments, not just my paid subscribers.

As always… surf safe.

Click here for my guide on how to choose a privacy-focused VPN.
If you’re looking to set up a VERY secure iPhone, click here.
To learn how to remove your personal data from the web, click here.
For a super cool way to NOT give your personal email address to everyone, click here.
Click here for a crash course on how to keep your devices updated.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techtalk.substack.com/subscribe

Tech Talk - The Technology Newsletter for Everyone: Recent Episodes

David Koff