Techbyter Worldwide (formerly Technology Corner) With Bill Blinn

Even if you don't click anything, just visiting a site (sometimes a trusted site) can load your computer up with malware; Adobe and Nielsen Ratings have formed a partnership and I can't imagine a better combination; and in Short Circuits: Zoho aims for the back office, Yahoo sees something unusual -- profits, bullying seems to be everywhere, and CBS decides that streaming video is the future.

Drowning in a sea of new Adobe products, I grabbed the latest version of Photoshop Elements for closer examination; my favorite Mac FTP program comes to Windows; and in Short Circuits: the Double Irish may come to an end, tablet sales are poised to rise more slowly, the New York Times reports that Russian hackers are taking advantage of a Windows flaw, and I'll share a few whispers about TechByter 2015.

Because phishing attacks depend on social engineering, they're harder to defend against that normal malware; if there's a designer, photographer, publisher, or videographer that isn't excited about the latest from Adobe, you should check to see if they're breathing; and in Short Circuits: AMD gets another CEO, talking to your car is unsafe, the PC market that's been sluggish for several years may be about to open up, and I picked up Walter Isaacson's new book about the people who invented computing this week -- I think you'll like it.

Microsoft caught just about everyone off guard by announcing that there will be no Windows 9 in the near future and that Windows 10 won't be released until late next year. We'll try to catch up. And in Short Circuits: Mark Twain was right when he said that lies travel faster than truth and this is even more true in the age of the Internet, considering where the FCC will go with Net Neutrality, Ebay plans to spin PayPal as an independent company next year, and the good news from BlackBerry is that losses are smaller this year.

Those who have wondered who receives information about their browsing habits may find a new Firefox plug-in useful, Adobe has just released Elements 13 and I'll have a quick first look. In Short Circuits: Apple says NO to police who want data from Iphones and Ipads; Resetting the terror meter on the Bash Bug; A new idea for voice communication by phone; and Apple bought Beats several months ago, but now what?

The Chromebook I bought about two months ago is even more useful now that I've read a book by Michael Miller and I'll talk with Miller on this week's podcast, Firefox continues to delight and annoy, and in Short Circuits: Sony's profits sink even faster than expected, the final contenders for returning the US to space are SpaceX and Boeing, and a comapny in Norway wants to be Instagram for children.

If you remember using PaintShop Pro, now's the time to consider what the latest version can offer. Passwords may be the best first line of defense, but multi-factor passwords are better. In Short Circuits ... Apple's new phone and watch are cool, but this week Apple unveiled something even better, Amazon drops the price of it's Fire phones to 99 cents and some think that's overpriced, and Internet slowdown day generated a lot of messages, but the FCC will probably ignore them.

Quattro was derided as a knock-off by Lotus in the 1980s, but after all these years, it's Quattro Pro that survives. After shrinking for decades, cell phones are now becoming larger. In Short Circuits: It appears that Home Depot is the latest retail operation to be hacked, a quick follow-up on a couple of free applications, another quick update on my troubles connecting a Seagate hard drive to a NetGear router, off-line fraud comes to your mailbox, and nude celebrity pix push Apple's stock lower.

Productivity features added to the 2014 CC edition of Dreamweaver can make a real difference, Tablets are outstanding devices for reading books if you can find a way to add the books you want to read to the tablet, In Short Circuits: Steve Ballmer retires from Microsoft's board of directors, HP releases a $200 Windows PC to counter Chromebooks, and the upcoming Windows 9 preview will be available to everyone.

Productivity features added to the 2014 CC edition of Dreamweaver can make a real difference, Tablets are outstanding devices for reading books if you can find a way to add the books you want to read to the tablet, In Short Circuits: Steve Ballmer retires from Microsoft's board of directors, HP releases a $200 Windows PC to counter Chromebooks, and the upcoming Windows 9 preview will be available to everyone.

Identity theft is probably more common and more expensive than you think. Protection is better than recovery, the number of fraudulent e-mail messages seems to be increasing daily, Adobe's InDesign updates are pushing the application into the future, and in Short Circuits: employees may take proprietary data with them when they leave and a happy little hotel robot might do a dance for you someday.

Nasty Russian hackers have your password! Or is this all just a ploy to sell a monitoring service? Xara's latest Web Designer program looks like a hit. Lightroom works with modern pictures, but also with antiques. In Short Circuits: Thumb drive turn out to be more rugged than I thought, Microsoft sues Samsung, and it appears that Android is about to own the smart phone market.

Are Chromebooks viable alternatives these days? Three years after Google released these Internet-based computers, they're beginning to look like they might work for lots of people. In Short Circuits ... Android phone and tablet users are facing a scary-looking threat that may not be so scary after all, Congress says that it's now OK to jailbreak your phone, and Facebook has released its new Messenger service, but only for some devices.

The Nigerian e-mail scam now targets businesses; sometimes, with tech support, you have to be persistent; Apple may be spying on you; Chromebooks are starting to push Apple out of schools; rent that e-book you want to read; and Netflix hits another growth spurt.

With the second iteration of Creative Cloud, Adobe is working hard to convince users of its value and it appears that they're succeeding. Google Maps added some new features and redesigned the interface recently; it looks like an improvement to me. In Short Circuits: The FCC had to extend the comment period on net neutrality because their website blew up again, Intel's profits are up as the company appears to be learning how to deal with smaller devices, and Rupert Murdoch wanted Time Warner, but an $80 billion bid has been rejected.

Alhough Muse is only 2 years old, Adobe has already rewritten it, and it shows. The Onion Router could interest you if you want to keep your actions on the Internet more private. In Short Circuits, Tablets are poised to roar into the lead, watch out for "domain service" messages that offer something you don't need, and if any Microsoft application or operating system puzzle you, there's a free ebook for that.

The first look at Adobe Creative Cloud 2014 shows that it's both gigantic and mobile, If you're ready for a summer road trip, maybe it's time to consider in-car Wi-Fi, and in Short Circuits, Rumors that Google would kill the Nexus seem to be incorrect, the FTC says that T-Mobile and Amazon have charged people for things they didn't buy, Facebook admits a failure of communication but says there was nothing wrong with its manipulation of users, and Canada's new anti-spam law increase spam, at least in the short term.

With version 6, Alien Skin makes Exposure even faster and better. Adobe has released new versions of the Creative Cloud applications and I'm impressed. In Short Circuits: A plan in Congress to defend net neutrality has no chance of success, Facebook's answer to Snapchat is now live, and if you think the NSA is the only threat to your privacy, you have another think coming.

With version 6, Alien Skin makes Exposure even faster and better. Adobe has released new versions of the Creative Cloud applications and I'm impressed. In Short Circuits: A plan in Congress to defend net neutrality has no chance of success, Facebook's answer to Snapchat is now live, and if you think the NSA is the only threat to your privacy, you have another think coming.

If you need a screen-capture utility, you won't find anything better than SnagIt 12. It's enough to make you stop using a credit card: A restaurant chain is the latest company to bleed information about thousands of people. In Short Circuits: Google acquires SlickLogin, but now what? China's 11 Main opens in the US. Another Google-buys story and this one's about SkyBox. Amazon adds streaming music for Prime subscribers. And NPR airs an oustanding series on Internet privacy. There's a link on the TechByter Worldwide website.