Stormbringer's Thunder

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen The most effective way to keep your identity, finances, privacy, and so on safe online is to never go online. Easy enough... Unfortunately, since internet activity is ubiquitous and even expected, it is impractical to stay offline and live in this world. There are owlhoots looking to get information and money, and many are very skilled. Software developers are constantly updating against viruses, phishing, and other hacks — which is one reason to let your operating system, virus scanner, and other software update itself. Cybercrime warning, Pixabay / Gerd Altmann (geralt) Okay, we know that most folks cannot completely avoid going online to do certain minimal things. Sneaky people still find ways of causing people harm. Education is extremely important, and I reckon a good measure of suspicion is useful. Experience is helpful but getting that also has risks because people are exposed to sites that may be harmful. Suspicious Facebook Messenger message with link (...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Back in the 1960s, there was a fad with a ball made of synthetic rubber that would bounce back very efficiently. Throw it in the living room, it bounces a lot, maybe breaks your mother's favorite lamp, makes the cat hide behind the couch, scuffs the walls, and so on. My articles on browsers and security have been bouncing around. The first one is here , then a few more, and something a bit tangential is over at " How to Conduct Insufficient Research ". Now I bounced over to this weblog again. Credit: Pexels /  energepic.com We hear so much about internet security nowadays, and reports seem conflicting and incomplete. Some of them touted certain lesser-known browsers as the safest, while others specifically condemned them. The big players I discussed in previous articles had varying reviews, and sometimes that is from people doing tests of a clinical nature. They were pretty much deemed reliable. From what I gather, on browsers were out-of-the-box a...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Here is the final article in the trilogy. The first part was an introduction , then the privacy and other things were discussed in the second part . Now it is time to examine a few extensions (also called add-ons) that this cowboy has found helpful for productivity and security. Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos /  dfrsce It doesn't take an architect to add extensions since other people did the construction. Finding them is not much of a challenge, but loading good ones requires discretion. They can easily be added onto the browser's structure. Sometimes, too easily. Once again, I must point out that I am writing about my experiences using a Windows 10 desktop computer. Do my experiences and learning qualify me as a "power user"? Some Extensions can be Harmful Yeah, get the caution out there before discussing what I am using. I was unable to learn how many extensions are available for Firefox, but there are quite a few . Most people use browser extensio...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Most recent edit: 11-16-2021 In Part 1, I gave a brief overview of things that are happening in the wild world of browsers. After I commenced my research, I learned that there is a prairie schooner-full of possibilities including several I know nothing about , so most of this discussion is based on personal experience. Remember,  I am using a Windows 10 desktop. Credit: Freeimages / Armin Hanisch In this day and age, we need to be secure from spying, hacking, and tracking. Something else that bears repeating is that most Windows browsers will get you where you want to go — right out of the box. Which browser is the "best"? Looking at reviews, there is conflicting information. Many times, reviewers use benchmarks (of which there are many, and some view them with mistrust), which should explain why reports on which is fastest are inconsistent. I have also seen conflicting information regarding privacy settings. A brief comment on browser speed is in ord...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen All y'all should know up front that this series of articles is based on my experiences as a Window 10 desktop computer user. Many of the things discussed will apply to laptops (are they different from notebooks?), but mobile devices will be left alone for the most part. Exploring browsers can be fun! Credit: Pixabay / Pete Linforth While many people are content to use the browser that came with their computer, they may ignore the fact that there are many browsers to choose from. Since Google (the parent company is Alphabet ) dominates teh interwebs, sojourners on their properties are inundated with, "Hey, we're the best ! Download Chrome!", which is probably why they have a huge market share (a difficult process that reminds this child of political polling) in the browser wars. The dominant browser years ago was Internet Explorer, which more experienced users loved to hate. If you want to move around the web, the major browsers will get the job...

...those things you do... Ha! Bet you thought I was singing, "It Is No Secret What God Can Do", didn't you? Nope. Actually, I don't know that one after the first line. It's funny, several of my latest articles came about because of a sudden, late inspiration. I seldom get an inspiration to write on a Saturday morning, but something happened just before bedtime that gave me the idea to write this morning. (No, I'm not talking about that, get your head out of the gutter.) It is no secret what you do online. Well, for most people. I had a guy arguing with me on Twitter last night about an article I wrote. (Do you know how annoying it is to try to have a serious discussion on Twitter?) I have a service that tells me the basics of visits I get. I made the comment about the town he's in, and that he's using Firefox (my regular readers know that I like Firefox). He got nervous, or pretended to get nervous (I think this guy was setting me up, but I wil...