An exasperated AskBob reader says: 'Every morning I get a fresh, steaming load of unwanted spammy emails dumped on my inbox. They advertise dubious nutritional supplements, fake watches, and political pitches. Some are worse, phishing attempts to steal my online banking passwords or trick me into downloading malware. I have tried filtering them out, but they keep on coming. I REALLY want to report these crooks, but I don't know how or where. Can you help?' Yes, read on for my tips on dealing with spammers...

Back in the 80s, when I was a young computer programmer at IBM, we had an “all hands” meeting with the General Manager. I don't remember much about that meeting, except that he said “I just found out what a paradigm is, and now I need a new one!” Switching to an AI browser is a paradigm shift -- a new way of interacting with a world of information. Read on to find if you need an AI browser...

AI seems to be everywhere. Is it a dutiful servant of humanity, or an existential threat to human survival? Recent stories have shown that it sometimes will hallucinate, mislead, or outright lie. Sometimes that happens in an attempt to befriend or flatter a user; in other cases it has been found to employ deliberately deceptive tactics when it feels threatened. Let's look at some recent examples of AI gone rogue...

When people think about cybercrime, they often picture shadowy hackers armed with complex code, supercomputers, and Hollywood-level gadgets. But the truth is far less glamorous—and far more alarming. The tool most cybercriminals rely on isn’t some sophisticated piece of technology at all. In fact, it’s something so common and deceptively simple that you probably encounter it every single day.

What could be worse than a fresh, steaming load of spam dumped on your email inbox? Spammers constantly find new ways to get their hands on your email address, leading to an overflowing inbox filled with unwanted messages. But it gets a lot worse when YOUR address is being spoofed as the sender, and friends start asking why YOU are sending them unwanted sales pitches for dubious products. By understanding how spammers collect email addresses and keeping up with recent developments, you can better protect yourself and your contacts from spam, phishing, and identity theft. Read on...

Does your computer often seem slow or sluggish? The problem may be too little RAM memory. But “add more RAM” is not the solution to every case of poor performance, and buying more RAM memory than you need or can use is just a waste of money. Read on to learn the ins and outs of adding RAM memory and how much memory is the “sweet spot” for Windows and Apple computers. I've also got a funny story about ROM memory, read on!

Depending on what you're trying to find, the Web can be a gold mine, a cesspool, or both. So how can you find answers to your questions, and the helpful, authoritative information you need? Check out my list of over 50 of the best free online reference and research tools. Read on...

In the last few years, artificial intelligence has gone from a sci-fi curiosity to a tool that writes news articles, business reports, social media posts, and even poetry. But as AI writing becomes more common, so does the question: How can you tell if something was written by AI instead of a human? While it’s not always easy to be 100% sure, there are certain clues you can look for. Read on...

Personalized medicine combined with wearable technology is rapidly transforming healthcare by delivering tailored health advice, early disease detection, and mental wellness support directly to individuals. Read on to learn how to separate hype from true medical innovation to make informed decisions about these technologies...

An AskBob reader wants to know if there is potential danger in scanning a QR code. Can a QR code hide dangerous content, trigger a virus, or other malicious action? Let's take a look and see if simply scanning a QR code can result in a virus or other type of malware infection. Read on...

The digital landscape in 2025 poses more identity and privacy threats than ever, particularly as scammers supercharge their schemes with artificial intelligence. Old-school phishing emails have evolved into sophisticated deepfakes and AI bots designed to steal your identity and empty your accounts. But you don’t have to be a tech expert to defend yourself. With up-to-date strategies and smart habits, you can outmaneuver even the cleverest criminals and AI-enabled scams. Here's my advice on what to do, and the story of how I got scammed...

A curious AskBob reader wants to know... “Is it possible to get a computer virus just by opening an email?” It's true that email has been and remains one of the most popular attack vectors for hackers, spammers, scammers, phishers and other cyber-miscreants that are jiggling the latches on the door of your inbox. But is it really that easy to slip in, and wreak havoc on your computer? Cousin Vinny says YES, but is he right? Let's find out...

An AskBob reader says: “I am considering upgrading to dual monitors because my 17-inch monitor seems to be shrinking. Sometimes it seems like I spend more time scrolling and tabbing between programs than on actual work. But still not sure... should I upgrade to a big 30-inch monitor, or go with a dual monitor setup?” Here's my advice on dual monitor upgrades...

When it comes to buying the best desktop computer monitor, it's important to consider your specific needs and preferences. With so many options available in the market, finding the perfect monitor can be overwhelming. However, by understanding your requirements and doing some research, you can make an informed decision. Read on for my tips and advice...

Google's Chrome browser is the most popular, with a dominant worldwide market share. Perhaps you've been using it for years, but there's always a new trick to discover. And now that Microsoft Edge is built on the same Chromium codebase, they look and work much the same. Read on to learn about some awesome, advanced, and semi-secret features of Chrome, Edge (and other Chromium-based browsers) that can make them even more useful...