Blog Posts

In the early 2000s, it was common for users to wait a long time for a website page to load. The Internet was slow and not advanced enough yet to run on faster speeds. 

In fact, unless it was absolutely necessary to view a particular website, most people would tire of waiting and walk away from their computer monitors altogether. 

Data breaches are an everyday occurrence. The stealing of information and exposure of sensitive data are common incidents in today’s society. 

Not too long ago, government officials and business owners kept important information safe with a lock and key—that was enough to protect sensitive files and documents. However, in the digital age that we live in now, stealing information is easy when it’s not protected properly.

Many people believe an IP address is just like a home address for the Internet. There are a lot of myths that your IP address can be traced just like a phone call on a cop show. This leads people to believe it can also be traced by hackers directly back to your mailing address. Is this true?

Protecting data is a part of our digital life that we cannot ignore. Security, privacy, and prevention of data breaches are some of the main reasons data protection is so crucial in our day-to-day life. 

Nowadays, people live their lives mostly online and part of the online experience is convenience. That means saving passwords on browsers, credit card autofill, and bank information saved in the notes of our computer or phones. 

Choosing an Internet service provider (ISP) is not something a lot of people give thought to. With all the competition between providers, there are a lot of ads for deals with prices that seem to be low. Many consumers take what looks good or is readily available, only to have low customer satisfaction once they have been using the service for a while.

One of the changes that has been a hallmark of modern technology is remote employment. More people are working or running businesses from a home office. Some offices are very small, administering to a workforce that is at home or on the road. Slow or inadequate Internet can cost revenue, but business Internet service might not be in the budget. Small business owners have to weigh their options to decide what kind of Internet is right for them.

Did you know that your Wi-Fi doesn’t always extend to all the corners of your house? 

Depending on where your router is, you might experience delays in connection or a lack of connection in certain parts of your household. 

It’s one thing for a movie to buffer at the worst part possible. It’s another for your face to get stuck awkwardly in the middle of an important meeting in front of coworkers and bosses. 

This was the sad reality for many people as they navigated the change from their offices to working from home. Suddenly, not only were most people expected to shift everything from an office to a makeshift home office, but video quality became an important aspect of daily lives and something that affected the functionality of new work setups. 

Homeschool is a concept we are familiar with now. A year ago? Not so much. 

For most students, homeschool was not something that they ever thought would become a part of their everyday lives. The pandemic threw everything and everyone off and, as a society, we had to adjust to a different kind of normal that consisted of doing everything from home. Everything. 

It’s one of the biggest fears out there for any computer user⸺getting hacked. Even though computer systems go through regular updates to prevent unwanted lurkers from infecting our computers with viruses or malware, the chances of getting hacked are still pretty high. 

There was a time when, the minute we turned on our laptop, offers popped up everywhere to purchase an anti-virus protection program. Or a pop-up on the computer would inevitably alert us to update our security program because there were nine million viruses in our computer. 

That doesn’t really happen anymore. 

The Internet has been around for so long that there are people who have had Internet access their entire lives. We have become so used to it that we take a lot of the specifics about it for granted. Then when we have to deal directly with those specifics, we’ve either forgotten them or never learned them at all. 

What Internet terms do you need to know? What do you need to know about the Internet? 

Every day, new reports come out about how meditating can help improve physical health by helping manage our mental health. The benefits of meditation for coping with stress and illness are so well-documented that many companies are encouraging employees to meditate during work hours. This has even had visible effects on insurance and medical expenditures.

Whether for business, school, or home, staying organized can sometimes be a challenge. This was true even before our lives got moved to the digital landscape – how many of us tried to organize our DVDs, music, or kitchenware? Now we have files and photos, movies, music and more on our computers. Our phones sometimes contain daunting amounts of data. And we’ve still got that pesky kitchen to sift through.

Choosing an Internet plan for the first time is a daunting task. There are a lot of things to focus on when a first time Internet buyer attempts to choose the best plan for their home. 

It’s difficult, at first, to determine what the priorities are in the household. Is the connection speed important? What are data caps? Is 25 Mbps enough? 

What about prices? What is a good range price to pay for home Internet plans or bundles? 

As a society that relies heavily on WiFi and the Internet, it is safe to assume that we all consider ourselves to be experts with all the nuances of a life lived online. 

Of course we all know how to connect to wireless networks, and how to download and upload files. Any of us could probably teach a class on how to stream movies, share files, and launch video calling apps straight from our phones and into our computers. 

It’s possible that since becoming an active Internet user, you have heard of the term “phishing.” The term itself refers to a kind of fraudulent activity that affects users by scamming them through fake emails meant to come from a reputable company. 

Phishing started in the mid-90s, right when the Internet boomed and became popular among everyday households. It was easier to scam users because we knew little about online fraudulent activity. 

As a society, we’ve gotten so used to using the Internet and WiFi, that we don’t think much about when and how it all started. Most people don’t realize that wireless networks were invented long before the Internet exploded in the late 90s. 

Believe it or not, initial attempts at a wireless connection started about 50 years ago on the island of Hawaii. The network’s name was ALOHAnet, and it connected the local islands through an ultrahigh frequency (UHF) wireless network. 

How old do you have to be before you can use the Internet to learn?

In 2020, the COVID pandemic caused schools to close and forced kids of all ages, from preschool to college, into online classrooms. A lot of teachers and parents had questions about their children’s learning experience without the in-person learning program offered at brick-and-mortar schools. It was almost as if school-attending students had a year of homeschooling.

Summer often comes with vacation plans. The kids are out of school and the warm weather invites everyone outdoors. People head to beaches and warm outdoor places to “get away from it all,” as the saying goes. Whether taking a road trip or flying someplace exotic, summer is the time people are most likely to leave home for a while.

Most of us use the Internet for work or play, so we’re used to being online while sitting down. We don’t think of the Internet as a place for physical activity. However, using the internet to stay in shape is common, and being online enhances our methods with gadgets that can make sure we’re getting the most from our workouts. Even if you’re working out at a gym, odds are that WiFi is informing your workout and monitoring your vitals for you.

When a loved one passes away, it is a devastating time for friends and family. Many of those grieving might be in other states or countries, linked to the deceased mainly through social media. Those who knew the deceased in person want to preserve memories of their loved one. 

Are you job hunting? 

Back in the days before the Internet, job seeking meant looking in the classified ads of your local newspaper. However, with local newspapers on the decline, the Internet has replaced the classified ads as the path to employment. Some companies don’t even have paper applications anymore, instead referring job seekers to the company website.

When you have family or friends over, especially for an extended period, they’re probably going to need WiFi access at some point. Giving your guests direct access isn’t always the best option, because it can compromise your WiFi network security. Your WiFi should be password protected to ensure hackers or neighbors don’t steal your WiFi, but giving your password out can open your network up to other vulnerabilities.

Technology is ever-expanding. New things are invented every day, and then improved upon. Sometimes these new things need to be integrated or added to inventions we already use to make them more efficient. New models always have the new things, but older models need appendices.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to devices that streamline our lives by using wireless Internet to do simple tasks. These might include your phone scanning for your location, or it might include your home lighting system turning on and off at scheduled times using smart bulbs. Fast Internet has allowed a lot of interesting, useful, and even frivolous devices to become “smart” by making them “Things” on the IoT ecosystem.

Every day, there are new devices that people want to have in their household. Maybe it’s an extra iPad for work. Maybe one kid needs a new computer for school. Whatever the needs for your household are, the truth of the matter is that your home WiFi coverage needs to be fast, secure, and incredibly reliable. 

There used to be a time when streaming TV from our phones was not an option. If someone in the household wanted to spend some time binging a show, well, they couldn’t. That’s because Generation Z, or anyone born after the mid-to-late 90s, is the only generation that has been able to enjoy the fruition of technology and all the perks that come with it. 

With computers, sometimes there is a lot of tech lingo thrown at us we pretend to understand, but that we really don’t understand at all. The term “VPN” is high on the list of things that are confusing for customers. 

Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a network that provides its users with privacy and anonymity while using a public WiFi hotspot, or any other type of public connection, in order to protect personal information. 

These days, it’s rare to find a household that doesn’t have some form of Internet service. Even in the most rural places, people find a way to have Internet connection in an effort to stay connected to others, be able able to shop online, engage in social media, and stream videos through their smart TV. 

We all do it. We see something that we like and immediately go online to purchase it. Our entire lives are on our computers, especially since the pandemic made it impossible for anyone to go out. Most of us pay rent, buy groceries, subscribe to memberships, and adhere to a pretty good habit of shopping online on a regular basis.

Everybody talks about wanting high-speed Internet. We want everything to be instant, whether it’s downloads and uploads, the streaming of shows so we can binge entire seasons in one sitting, or just general browsing. 

Have you ever wondered why there are so many different options for web browsers? 

If you have an iPhone, you’re probably using Safari. If you have an Android, you’re more likely using Google Chrome. There’s also Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera. There are plenty of options when it comes to the browser you want to use to do your day-to-day searches, research, and more. 

There are plenty of things in our lives that can be annoying. It is frustrating enough to spill coffee on a shirt when in a hurry or to misplace something essential, like the car keys, when we’re already late for work. 

But you know what’s even more frustrating than those day-to-day annoyances? Having slow Internet. That’s because we use the Internet for everything—especially since living in a pandemic.

Let’s face it: We all want things to be quick. We want our phones to send texts right away; we want our apps to stream seamlessly; and we want to see content the minute it is published. This generation of internet users is not accustomed to Internet that takes more than two seconds to connect to the World Wide Web or Internet that is slow to download a two-hour movie to one of our devices. 

It can be frustrating to know you have an Internet plan with fast speeds and still suffer from lag or a slow browsing experience. If things seem to be operating as advertised but you’re still having speed issues, what could be causing them?

Well, computers—like cars, appliances, and even humans—need maintenance. Basic computer maintenance is as important as changing the oil in your car, and it improves performance just as much. It encompasses software as well as hardware maintenance, but it’s all more simple than it sounds. 

It’s always frustrating when your WiFi acts slow. But, have you ever stopped to wonder why it’s acting slow in the first place? 

If you live in a remote part of the country and you have satellite Internet, it’s possible that the connection might get a little spotty when there’s a storm or when it’s very windy outside. Satellite Internet, after all, depends on a satellite’s clear connection to space. 

Before COVID, sports fans everywhere rejoiced any time their favorite team had a game. There is something so unique and enticing about putting on your team’s jersey, walking out of the house, and knowing that in just a few minutes, you’ll be one of thousands in a stadium cheering the team on and enjoying that home run, goal, or touchdown right there in the middle of all the action. 

In fact, you don’t even have to be an avid sports fan to partake in the festivities of the sports leagues. A sporting event, whether it is college sports or the PGA Tour, is best enjoyed when it’s watched live by a crowd buzzing with excitement. 

Finding a great Internet deal isn’t the only way the Internet helps us save money. The Internet has a lot of other functions that make our lives more convenient, and the move toward energy efficiency has given customers more opportunities to save. We’ve been able to streamline our chores, do our shopping, and pay our bills online, all while reducing energy consumption and individual fossil-fuel emissions.

The ways the Internet saves money and reduces waste for everyday people aren’t complicated. In fact, just being connected to the Internet can impact the environment as well as your wallet in favorable ways.

When online colleges first appeared, many people flocked to them as simpler ways to take classes and get a degree or GED while working around a job. Unfortunately, many of them were unaccredited, leaving students with useless degrees that cost a lot. However, these schools were only the beginning for online education. They ushered in a new era for students to go to any school from the comfort of their own living rooms.

These days, organization is a hot topic: There are books, Netflix shows, and plenty of websites telling us how to be more organized in our day-to-day lives.  

We are also a technology savvy society. In fact, most Americans spend about 5.4 hours on their phones per day. That averages out to about 35 hours per week—almost a full-time job! So, it makes sense that as we go through our day, we utilize apps to help us organize our lives.  

Whether you’re a mom or a busy executive, time management is key to get you through the day. And if you are a college student, an app on your phone can be a great tool to keep you focused, to stay on top of class schedules, and to avoid missing due dates for assignments.  

Wherever you fit in life, there is an organizational solution for you, so keep reading for our rundown of the best organizational apps for your lifestyle. 

No one expects a young man in his 30s to suddenly die. Yet, in December 2018, a particular young man in his 30s, named Gerald Cotton, did exactly that. In the process of not foreseeing his untimely passing, Cotton failed to leave any method of accessing his online accounts.

Now, this would have been frustrating and complicated for his next of kin under any normal circumstances because death is upsetting and emotionally trying, and having to sort through a deceased person’s personal data is difficult enough. But Gerald Cotton wasn’t an ordinary person; he was the CEO of Quadriga CX, a cryptocurrency exchange in Canada that was holding some $190 million in digital assets. Now, those assets cannot be accessed because Cotton didn’t leave his passwords to his surviving spouse or any family members, and none of the companies hired to break into his online accounts have been able to crack the code.

The Internet has brought us a lot of benefits. Using it, we can talk to people all over the world who share our interests or whose culture we want to know more about. Applications for jobs, government benefits, housing, and college can be found mostly online, with few paper applications being processed anymore. Online purchases enable us to buy things not available in local stores, and online video games allow us to test our reflexes and problem-solving skills against people from anywhere. So much of our lives are online now that we even have “smart” gadgets, such as thermostats and light bulbs, that use the Internet to run and secure our homes.

These days, everyone has multiple online accounts that serve different functions—from email to banking to shopping and gaming. We apply for jobs and government benefits using online accounts, and these accounts are linked to still more accounts because you often need an email account to make accounts on other sites. All of this is done on devices that often also have password protection.

So what do you do if you have lost a password? Worse yet, what if a loved one passes and leaves you with accounts you can’t access?

Getting into online accounts if you lost your password can be daunting but not impossible. When you set up your account, various safeguards are put in place for just such an occasion.

Cloud storage is something almost everyone has—even if we don’t know it. Both businesses and individuals use cloud storage for such a wide range of purposes that basic cloud storage is often included with free email accounts. But what is cloud storage, and how does it work? It’s great for businesses, but is it good for personal use too? What home uses does cloud storage have?

The capabilities of cloud storage in the home are often overlooked except by those who already have the latest gadgets. However, you don’t need to be on the cutting edge of the latest technology to get use out of your cloud. Chances are you’re already using it!

The onset of coronavirus in early 2020 made social distancing necessary. To keep business continuous, many companies had their employees work from home. All over the country, people upgraded their home Internet plans to accommodate services such as video conferencing and office devices connected to home networks. 

As office buildings reopen, employees who have been working from home may wonder if they should keep their work-from-home Internet service. How important is Internet speed? Will you need the same speed at home when you return to the office?

When online colleges first appeared, many people flocked to them as simpler ways to take classes and get a degree or GED while working around a job. Unfortunately, many of them were unaccredited, leaving students with useless degrees that cost a lot. However, these schools were only the beginning for online education. They ushered in a new era for students to go to any school from the comfort of their own living rooms.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to devices that streamline our lives by using wireless Internet to do simple tasks. These might include your phone scanning for your location, or it might include your home lighting system turning on and off at scheduled times using smart bulbs. Fast Internet has allowed a lot of interesting, useful, and even frivolous devices to become “smart” by making them Things on the IoT ecosystem.

2020 was intense and stressful for millions of people as the coronavirus pandemic swept through the country. March 2020 saw the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic response, with the entire country reducing commerce and ordering residents to stay at home. This meant no going to work, no visiting friends and relatives, and minimizing time on essential chores, such as grocery shopping. 

Today’s Internet is more sophisticated than ever before, and innovations in speed and throughput have only made the future look faster. Graphics take longer to load at slower speeds, and functions that require good latency, like video games and streaming movies or music, also have required Internet speeds to run efficiently.

Imagine the scenario: your computer is running slow, so you have your tech-savvy friend or relative come take a look at it before giving in and taking it into the shop. No problem, your techie says, you just need to do some routine maintenance, clear your cache and cookies! Once your techie is done with their techno-wizardry, your computer is running at great speeds. 

Elderly people aren’t just knitting sweaters and baking cookies for the grandkids anymore. The window for what is elderly has widened in recent years as people have started living longer, and older people have stayed more active. Many people of retirement age continue working anyway, while others have availed themselves of retirement plans or Social Security Benefits that leave them on fixed incomes. 

What makes an athlete? Is it physical prowess, or brute strength? Is it the strategy of teamwork or the brilliance of solo sport? Is it still a sport if you ride a horse, a bike, a boat or a car?

Streaming video is best known in the context of online channels like YouTube, Netflix, or Hulu, or news channels from your local news station to CNN and C-SPAN. Content produced by professionals – journalists, television stations, or even well-funded acting troupes – ruled the Internet at first, so streaming was left to the pros.

During the spring of 2020, social distancing from COVID-19 forced a lot of people to have a lot of free time with nothing to do with it. Some people chose to use the time to learn something new, while others shared their knowledge online via videos, podcasts, and other media. Many coped by journaling the experience, and when this is done online in writing, it is called a blog.

In a world where cyberbullying, sexting, and predators lurk around every chatroom, it is understandable that parents want to protect their children online. Having a child get online without any supervision is like sending them to the middle of a large city alone at night, whether they are five or fifteen. The same hazards exist – scammers, exploiters, even kidnappers and pedophiles are just as present online as they are in real life.

History has been viewed over time by ever-widening audiences. Ancient historians like Herodotus got it all started by writing books describing historic events. Hundreds of years later, the printing press made those books more widely available, and more people became educated and learned to read them. In fact, fiction was considered a fanciful pastime until the 1800s, with history and politics being the preferred reading of the upper classes. Newspapers also began circulating current events, so more people got to experience history as it was happening.

Disasters, emergencies, pandemics, and catastrophic events all strike without notice and create chaos for those experiencing them. Earthquakes, floods, COVID, hurricanes and tornado strikes are only a few examples of disasters we hear about in the news regularly. It’s bad enough that they happen and that people suffer from them, but for as long as there have been disasters there have been people seeking to profit from them in nefarious ways.

In the 1980s, there was a series of books called Choose Your Own Adventure. Readers would begin on page 1, but after completing a section, they would be directed to another page based on choices they were offered relevant to the plot. These books were on every reader and adventure gamer’s shelf during the Reagan era. They were only set aside when video games brought the interaction of role-playing games and massive multiplayer online games.

Everyone was stuck indoors in 2020, and that included kids. Several schools were closed for the rest of the year and many parents found themselves with children and teenagers at home in need of something to do. Since many of the closures began in early to mid spring, a lot of kids didn’t even have the outlet of playing outside, instead being relegated to indoor activities and the exclusive company of parents and siblings. Sure, school continued online, but many schools simply mailed out weekly assignments.

With stories of hackers, identity theft, and stolen data using computers in the news a lot in recent years, more people are wondering what they need to do to secure their Internet connections from invaders. The introduction of Internet of Things devices makes this all the more imperative, since, while our smart devices make our lives easier, they also have vulnerabilities that can be exploited if homeowners are not careful. Malicious actors have used thermostats to rob casinos, or taken over hundreds of thousands of devices to direct their computing power toward nefarious endeavors.

Everything these days is reliant somehow on the Internet, even things that can’t be plugged in. That’s where WiFi comes in. WiFi is the delivery of an Internet signal using radio waves. WiFi networks usually come as part of standard Internet plans, and are activated alongside your IP address. Internet service often provides a wireless router built into your modem, and you can set up your WiFi network using your provider’s online portal.

Telemedicine technology isn’t new. Webcams, voice-over-Internet-protocol, and encrypted communication apps like Skype and Zoom have all been around for years. Some specialty practices, particularly psychotherapy, have used telemedicine as part of their practices since it became available, and these days almost every insurance policy offers telehealth services for free or very highly discounted. 

There are so many different types of Internet connections that it may seem confusing understanding which is which. What’s the difference between cable and DSL? Is fiber available in your area? Should you get dial-up or satellite?

Luckily for you, we are here to take some of the confusion out of choosing the right connection. We’ll go over each type of connection and its pros and cons, and then we’ll talk about how to determine which connection is right for you.

When you just want to get out of the house but can’t, there’s the Internet. When you are looking for a new place to live, the Internet can help. Virtual tourism on the Internet is such a common concept that many of us do it without realizing it. Different types of businesses that rely on visitors coming in person have found ways to bring their physical sites to websites.

You might not observe your religion on a Sunday. It might be Saturday night, or Friday, or special days of the year. Maybe you’re so involved you go several times a week. Your spiritual organization holds book clubs, prayer sessions, guided meditations, and other types of meetings. But what about people who can’t be there in person?

Sometimes, we’re just forced to stay at home. Maybe the car is broken down, or the kids are sick, or there’s a repairman coming. Maybe you’re too sick to work, but awake and restless. Working online is an option at some jobs, but even if yours allows it, being at home can sometimes be therapeutic if we do something to pass the time that’s simply relaxing or fun, especially if we’re stressed out or not feeling well.

It used to be that the only people an individual had more than a passing acquaintance with were other locals. Extended families lived together in the same dwelling, maintaining connections for a lifetime in the same village or town. Over time, this changed, and family members started moving to dwellings of their own. Prior to postal services, this meant cutting ties with everyone a person knew and making an entirely new set of acquaintances.

Online classes used to be a way to get college credits or finish a high school diploma or GED. They allow more flexibility than attending classes in person because often there are limited lectures, no commuting, and students are able to work at their own pace. In some cases, there might be a scheduled lecture, but students can participate remotely from the comfort of their own desks.

For some people, the coronavirus pandemic was their first experience working remotely, but remote workers are not a new phenomenon. As the Internet has become more sophisticated over the past few decades, more people are able to skip the office altogether and report in from wherever they happen to be, whether a hotel, coffee shop or home office. More jobs are taking employees on the road, necessitating tools like video conferencing, remote access, virtual assistants, and file sharing.