Today's Geekly Update has some great gift ideas that you can give or enjoy for yourself. There's something for everyone in these tech gift items that I've selected for AskBob readers. Grab one or more of these early Black Friday deals, and let me know in the comments if you have any recommendations to share!

Perhaps you've heard rumblings that Windows 10 will soon reach “end of life” and will no longer be a supported operating system. Does that mean you'll need to buy a new computer, be forced to upgrade to Windows 11, or BOTH? There's a lot of confusion about this topic -- read on for the straight scoop on the fate of Windows 10, and your PC's future...

With billions of calls made each year in the United States, robocalls continue to be one of the most widespread annoyances in the telecom industry. You've probably been annoyed by 'Rachel in Card Services' or 'Jennifer from the Warranty Department' recently. Even with improvements in technology and regulations, the fight against robocalls is far from ended. Here's a closer look at our current situation in 2024 and the resources at our disposal to address this problem. Read on...

A good man is hard to find, or so the saying goes. I first offered tips for “Finding People Online” way back in 2006, and updated that article with “Free People Search Tools” in 2020. Now in 2024, I have to say it’s getting harder to find free information about people and places. If you’re looking for a name, address or phone number, I have some tips on websites you should avoid, and some that actually do what they say, for free. Here's the scoop...

Can you fall in love with an AI chatbot? Is your TV harvesting your private information and selling it to data brokers? Are AI-powered cameras watching your bathroom activities? And will a flying car help you avoid traffic jams? Get answers in today's Geekly Update... it's jam-packed with the latest tech news. This issue is guaranteed to make you 146% smarter -- you'll see why. Read, think, and comment!

At-home DNA test kits sold online are popular holiday gifts, promising to reveal facts about your family history and susceptibility to various diseases. But could sending in your saliva sample in a DNA test kit have a negative impact on the privacy of yourself, your family, and your close relatives? Here's what you need to know, especially if you've submitted a DNA sample to Ancestry or 23andMe...

Was the last tattered vestige of your privacy just swallowed up by data brokers, or did you willingly hand it over? Will dorky augmented reality glasses soon replace your smartphone? Is using AI-generated content in your term paper cheating? And is there a way to circumvent Windows 11's strict hardware requirements? Get answers in today's Geekly Update... it's jam-packed with the latest tech news. This issue is guaranteed to make you 146% smarter -- you'll see why. Read, think, and comment!

The question of whether you can legally or ethically share your password for Netflix and other streaming services is a hot topic. With access to enormous collections of films, TV shows, documentaries, and more, streaming services have emerged as a crucial component of contemporary entertainment. However, the manner in which users share these services raises concerns about what is acceptable and what the potential repercussions might be. Read on for a look at the details of this question...

You might prefer to blame hackers, cyber-criminals, and shoddy software, but the unpleasant truth is that most computer problems are caused by users. Here's the good news: there are a few basic steps you can take to avoid malware infections, data loss, and performance issues. Too often, people try to save time or money by cutting corners, and they end up paying the price. Check out my list of common computing mistakes, and how to fix (or even better, avoid) them. Read on...

An AskBob reader says: 'I don’t have Adobe Photoshop and I’m looking for a photo editor that I can use on the go. What do you recommend for photo editing when I’m away from my home computer?' It turns out there are quite a few online image and photo editors, and the features they offer are quite impressive. Check out these free web-based image editing tools that are just a click away...

It seems everyone wants your email address -- shopping sites, your bank, your doctor, the grocery store, even the vendors at the local farmer’s market. It’s no wonder our spam filters are so busy! But I do wonder which of the many entities that have my email address gave it away, sold it, or carelessly lost it in a data breach. A disposable email address provides a handy solution to this and other privacy problems. Read on to learn more...

Have you ever wondered what the Internet looked like 25 years ago? The Internet Archive has been crawling the Web since 1996, taking snapshots of Web pages and preserving them for posterity. Today, approximately 835 billion Web pages, 44 million books, millions of images, audio recordings, and video, along with a million games and software programs are stored on the IA’s servers. Read on to learn how you can access the Wayback Machine, an amazing resource that offers a window into both the history and the present of the Internet...

For a variety of reasons, millions of mobile phones are “drowned” each year. When your phone stops working after falling into the sink, toilet, bathtub, swimming pool, muddy puddle, lake or the ocean, can it be saved? In many cases the answer is “yes,” if you do the right things and don’t do the wrong things. If you're thinking about using rice, silica gel, cat litter, couscous, or instant oatmeal, don't waste your time. Here's what you need to know if your device is dunked, and the tale of my unsuccessful attempts to teach my phone to swim...

Can you prevent Facebook and Instagram from scraping your social media data to train their AI models? Should you hand your phone to the police, when they ask to see your digital driver's license? Is anything being done to stem the tide of phony product reviews on Amazon and other ecommerce sites? And is AI really all about creating God in our image? Get answers in today's Geekly Update... it's jam-packed with the latest tech news. This issue is guaranteed to make you 146% smarter -- you'll see why. Read, think, and comment!

Today I got a message from an AskBob reader, alerting me that someone had made a fake Facebook profile in my name. The malefactor pretending to be me stole my profile picture, reposted some of my updates, and was already running a scam. Fortunately, that reader wasn’t fooled, and was kind enough to let me know about the bogus account. Sadly, this happens all the time. Here’s what I did, and what you need to know about fake Facebook profiles...