There are certain problems we all deal with every day, but don't know
why. Why do I need to keep resetting my router? Do I have a virus?
What happens when a site I use gets "hacked?"
Whether you're the tech-savvy friend that's always answering these
questions or the friend doing the asking, here are the answers to the
most common conundrums.Tech’s 10 most common queries answered
How do I keep my laptop's battery in good health?
You've probably heard some people say you should drain your battery
completely before charging it, or that you should keep it between 40%
and 80% all the time to make it last longer. A lot of this is
confusion over how batteries used to work, not how they work today.
Luckily, most or all of your gadgets these days run on Lithium Ion
batteries, which are easy to take care of.
We recommend reading our full guide on how they work, but the gist is:
they last longer when you perform shallow discharges, keep them cool,
and don't leave them plugged in while they're running at 100% battery.
Honestly, though, batteries have a finite life no matter what, and
your efforts will only go so far-so don't stress about it. Focus your
efforts on getting better battery life out of your iPhone, Android
phone, or laptop on a given charge instead.
What do viruses, trojans, and other malware actually do?
Everyone knows viruses and trojans are bad, but a lot of people don't
know how exactly they work. Viruses, for example, are programs that
copy themselves and infect a computer, spreading from one to
another-just like, well, a real life virus. Trojans, on the other
hand, are applications that look normal, but secretly have code that's
doing something else-like letting someone else control your computer.
We highly recommend reading this explanation for more detail on the
different types of malware, as well as the biggest myths surrounding
them. And, as always, make sure you're running a good antivirus
program-even if you have good browsing habits.
What's wrong with using public Wi-Fi?
Most of us put a lot of effort into finding free Wi-Fi, but public
Wi-Fi networks have their own share of problems-particularly that it's
very insecure. Even if a Wi-Fi network has a password, that doesn't
keep you safe from other people on the network.
It's notoriously easy for any of them to see what you're doing and, in
some cases, steal personal information or passwords. Luckily, there's
a lot you can do to stay safe, whenever you're on a public network,
and you should be a-ok.
Do I really need to "eject" USB drives?
Ever wonder why your computer warns you about ejecting those USB
drives before you remove them? It's because computers use something
called write caching to improve performance-if you copy something to
your drive, sometimes it'll tell you it's completed the task, but it's
actually waiting until it has a few other tasks to perform so it can
do them all at once.
When you press eject, it finishes anything in the queue to make sure
you don't yank it out before it's done. Windows does a better job of
avoiding problems than OS X and Linux, but we recommend ejecting all
your drives anyway. It's small price to pay for avoiding lost data.
While we're on the subject: if you've ever wondered why your external
drives never have as much space as the box claims they do, we've got
answers for that as well.
How can I tell if an email is spam?
Some spam is obvious ("I lost 30 pounds and made $24356 in five hours
by taking this special pill!"), but other messages are more subtle. A
lot of spam relies oh "phishing," in which a spammer will try to make
their email look like it's coming from a legitimate source. They may
tell you to click a link that looks like it's going to paypal.com, but
really goes to their PayPal-disguised site where you willingly type in
your information.
Luckily, you can usually avoid those tricks by checking the URL and
typing it in yourself instead. Be careful, too-sometimes those links
will cause you to unknowingly spam one of your friends, too.
Why are cables so expensive?
So you've bought yourself a shiny new Blu-Ray player, but you need an
HDMI cable to go with it. The Best Buy employee hands you a cable
and-what the crap-it's $40?! But you buy it grudgingly because you
need it. Well, never again: the reason those cables are so expensive?
Because they know you'll buy it anyway. The truth is, back in the old
days, cables with gold-plated connectors or fancy shielding actually
produced a better picture, but with modern digital cables-like HDMI,
USB, and others-things are much simpler (and cheaper).
A cheap cable from Monoprice will work just as well, so don't waste
your money. While you're at it, buy refurbished and skip the extended
warranty if you want to save even more money on your tech.
What happens when a site I use gets hacked?
You've no doubt heard about all the sites that have gotten compromised
in the last year, but what happens when they do? Usually those hackers
are after your username and password, but whether they can get it
depends on how a site stores your password, as well as your password's
strength (weak passwords are much easier to crack than you think).
After you've read up on those things, get started on protecting
yourself with a good password manager, a different strong password for
every site you use, and backup plans in case someone gets into your
account anyway.
Why do I need to keep resetting my router?
It's a tale as old as time: your internet gets finicky, so you unplug
your router, plug it back in, and all of a sudden it's magically
working again. But why does this happen, really? It could be a number
of things: maybe it's overheating, maybe it's getting bogged down from
too much traffic (like BitTorrent), or maybe it's just a crappy
router.
Luckily, there are a lot of things you can do to fix it. Check out our
guide to fixing your constantly-resetting router for more-and while
you're at it, make sure you're waiting the full 10 seconds when you
unplug it. There's a real reason for that, too.
Will I get caught if I download a movie on BitTorrent?
If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me about getting
"caught" downloading stuff with BitTorrent, I'd be swimming through
money like Scrooge McDuck. But seriously: yes, the media companies are
always on the prowl, looking for people downloading their content.
Your internet provider may even watch your traffic to see if your
torrenting. The legal ramifications of doing so aren't as heavy as
they used to be, but you may still get letters from your ISP,
throttled speeds, or other punishments. There are ways to keep
yourself anonymous, of course, but nothing is foolproof.
Do I really need to care about my online privacy?
Everyone knows it's bad if someone steals your password or credit card
information, but a lot of people are a lot more apathetic about what
they put on Facebook, their personal blog, or anywhere else. Your
personal data is worth protecting, though, whether you think so or
not.
Not only does that data give companies and governments more power to
track you, but it can make it easier for someone to steal your
identity, even if it doesn't seem like it. Plus, you never know where
that data may end up one day, and who might see it (potential
employers, for instance). Some stuff is more important, of course, but
don't let the little stuff slide just because you don't think anyone
will care. Somebody probably does.
URL
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/slideshow/techquestions/Techs-10-most-common-queries-answered/itslideshow/24037683.cms
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