AT&T

How to ditch your landline and your phone bill but still have phones that work

by Dave Farquhar
February 23, 2013February 22, 2013

Now here’s a potentially huge money-saver. I still have phone service through AT&T that rings through old-fashioned phones (you know, like the kind you see in a museum) because there’s nobody that’s going to give me a wireless plan with unlimited minutes for about 30 bucks a month.

But, still, that’s $360 a year. I’m sure there are things I’d rather do with $360 a year if I could free that up, right?

What if I were to tell you that you could buy a device that costs less than $100 (potentially as little as $38) and you could make phone calls for free using your Internet connection?
Read More »How to ditch your landline and your phone bill but still have phones that work

CPE opportunity: Exploding the Phone

by Dave Farquhar
February 17, 2013July 4, 2018

This week Cnet interviewed Phil Lapsley, the author of Exploding the Phone, a book about the early history of phone phreaking.

Phone phreaking is absolutely fair game for the CISSP exam. I couldn’t tell you anymore how many phone phreaking questions I had to answer, but let me just say I’m glad I’d read those pages in the CBK about phone phreaking.

How to save money on tech

by Dave Farquhar
January 29, 2013December 6, 2018

CNN offered up some good tips on saving money on tech. But of course I want to analyze and comment on it myself. Anything else would be out of character. Here’s how I save money on tech.

Workable two-factor authentication

by Dave Farquhar
November 30, 2012

I’m several months late to this party, but I just saw Marcel’s post on Google’s two-factor authentication with a smartphone.

He’s right. It works until someone steals your phone. Once someone steals your phone, you’re in a world of hurt. It’s just a compromise, until we find a way to do two-factor authentication the right way.

The right way is with a smartcard, issued by some sort of central authority.Read More »Workable two-factor authentication

Do as we say, not as we did: Microsoft and standards

by Dave Farquhar
November 18, 2012

Microsoft is sniveling that mobile web sites are written with Webkit browsers in mind, because Webkit has 90% market share on tablets and phones.

For those who are over 30, the irony is nauseating.Read More »Do as we say, not as we did: Microsoft and standards

There’s plenty of credit for the Internet to go around

by Dave Farquhar
July 25, 2012July 14, 2017

There’s a crazy rumor going around saying that the government didn’t do much of anything to create the Internet, and that private industry did it all.

I remember the Internet before the private sector got involved in it. I was there.
Read More »There’s plenty of credit for the Internet to go around

There’s no need to apologize for having a Yahoo or Gmail account

by Dave Farquhar
May 24, 2012

I saw an assertion last week that Yahoo and Gmail accounts are less secure than an account that came straight from your ISP. Perhaps there was a time when this was true, but no longer. Today there are reasons to believe the exact opposite is true.

So, no, you don’t have to apologize for using a Yahoo or a Gmail account.
Read More »There’s no need to apologize for having a Yahoo or Gmail account

PC Magazine has its reader’s choice awards for home networking equipment online

by Dave Farquhar
May 1, 2012

PC Magazine posted its reader’s choice awards for home networking equipment Monday. PC Magazine‘s reader surveys aren’t gospel, but they’re valuable. They’re a cross-section of the opinions of people who care enough about technology to read the magazine, and as such, I give it more weight than what, say, Consumer Reports says.Read More »PC Magazine has its reader’s choice awards for home networking equipment online

SCO v. IBM winds toward resolution

by Dave Farquhar
February 18, 2012October 30, 2018

Slashdot reported yesterday that SCO v. IBM is back on. Well, it is, sort of. The case never was fully resolved, due to SCO running out of money and filing for bankruptcy. Groklaw has the details.

If this sounds vaguely familiar, I’ll try to refresh your memory.

I’ve been reading up about tablets

by Dave Farquhar
November 24, 2011November 22, 2011

I’ve been reading about the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet. And not surprisingly, the reviews are generally saying there’s not a lot of difference between the two.