Northstar I.T.

01/03/2018

Major flaw in millions of Intel chips revealed..

A serious bug will need to be patched in millions of machines from the last decade.

12/05/2017

Smart Home Technology - in a nutshell..

Smart Home. We take a look at the two dominant devices at the center of this home tech revolution: Amazon Echo with Alexa and Google Home and mini.

11/07/2017

Why, yes, it was!!....

Comcast's Xfinity internet service experienced outages across the US on Monday, and customers weren't happy.

05/12/2017

Massive global ransomware attack today:
Update your OS and your anti-malware software ASAP. And don't forget your condom....

http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/12/technology/ransomware-attack-nsa-microsoft/index.html

Hackers are using a vulnerability in unpatched Microsoft computers.

04/21/2017

Windows 10 'Creators Update':

You can download the new version now using Microsoft’s Windows 10 Update Assistant software; use Cortana search for “Windows 10 Update Assistant” to get started. Or, if you would rather have the new version come to you, the system began to roll out Tuesday as part of Microsoft’s monthly software updates. The update is free for those already running Windows 10.

Whether this new edition, called the Windows 10 Creators Update, will improve upon the current version of the system might be a matter of personal opinion, but Microsoft has highlighted some of the changes. For one, the Microsoft Edge browser, which some people found unstable and limited, has gotten a speed boost, better power and tab management and the ability to display e-books from the Windows Store.

The Windows 10 Creators Update also promises improved security and data privacy, stronger parental control over children’s screen time and better management over the software update process itself. As the name suggests, the new version of Windows 10 includes 3-D software tools and interactive gaming features for those who wish to create art, apps and more.

As far as preparing for the next version of Windows 10 (which will arrive as a hefty download from Windows Update), be sure to back up your current system before you install the new one, just in case. Make sure your computer’s hard drive has at least 10 gigabytes of free space and any third-party drivers for your hardware are up-to-date. But as with any major system update, expect some bugs at first.

From: J. D. Biersdorfer, NYT

02/23/2017

Stop charging your phone in public ports....

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/15/technology/public-ports-charging-bad-stop/index.html

Charging a phone at a public port could put its user's data at risk, according to Drew Paik of security firm Authentic8.

01/13/2017

New Gmail (and others) phishing technique - beware!

https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2017/01/gmail-phishing-data-uri/

A new phishing technique that affects GMail and other services and how to protect yourself.

04/08/2016

(Another) Adobe Flash vulnerability. Update ASAP!

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-adobe-systems-cyber-ransomware-idUSKCN0X502K

Adobe Systems Inc issued an emergency update on Thursday to its widely used Flash software for Internet browsers after researchers discovered a security flaw that was being exploited to deliver ransomware to Windows PCs.

10/27/2013

Windows 8.1 is good news for frustrated Windows 8 users. Read my post...

If you could synthesize a year?s worth of mixed reviews into just a few words, Windows 8 would probably boil down to these three: confusing, contradictory, and unfinished.

06/09/2013

So true...

05/09/2013

http://www.northstar-it.com/2013/news/windows-8-plan-b-back-to-the-future

Microsoft: Backtracking on Windows Blue?