Techbits

With all the news about the Heartbleed security hole, it's a good time for a review of how to create and manage passwords. The advice is particularly useful in light of certain reports that came out post-Snowden that the NSA really didn't work too hard to put backdoors into online systems because they could usually just guess the passwords people used with much less effort. Most common password? Still long time champion "password."

Nikon's latest Android based camera continues to blur the line between camera and cell phone. While it would be extremely painful for me to ever give up my digital slr and 40mm macro lens, I don't carry it around most of the time. Having a high quality camera that also just happened to make calls and let me update my fantasy football roster could be a real convenience. We will see what the market says.

Chromebooks have been the one bright spot in an otherwise horrible market for traditional pc's and laptops. The devices, running Google's Chrome OS, which is pretty much just a power infused version of the Chrome browser, are popular because they are light, (usually) cheap, free from worries about viruses, and extremely quick booting. Now it looks like there may be Chrome OS tablets as well. It will be interesting to see exactly how these compete with standard tablets running Android, Google's other operating system. Perhaps people predicting the eventual convergence of Chrome and Android are on to something.

If you have an old laptop around that's gathering dust, you may be able to trade it in for credit on a new one, perhaps even one of those Chromebooks. Just don't be the person who causes them to end the program. At least, not until I've had my chance to do it.