Techbyter Worldwide (formerly Technology Corner) With Bill Blinn

A new version of WordPerfect offers some features that Word can't match. The ability to link smart objects is a welcome new feature in Photoshop CC. In Short Circuits: Once again a comedian explains what clueless bureaucrats miss about Net Neutrality. Have you looked at thumb drives lately? They're no longer anywhere near the size of your thumb. If you're looking an application to replace TrueCrypt, which abruptly disappeared, I have some suggestions. Apple may have run out of cat names for its operating systems, but it continues to add cool new features. And revelations about snooping by the National Security Agency seem to have spurred development of tools for securing e-mail.

Opera, the Web browser that has consistently maintained its policy of working within the World Wide Web Consortium's standards, is a browser that more people should consider. If you'd like better e-mail security, but thoughts of public keys, private keys, and encryption sound like Old Church Slavonic to your ears, take a look at ProtonMail. In Short Circuits: The hacker turned informant avoids a long prison sentence; even so, a survey of business and government officials says hackers are winning; and Intuit acquires Check in a bit for more mobile capabilities.

Corel Graphics Suite X7 reminds me of all the great features I used to love and reveals some useful new functionality. Microsoft unveiled the Surface Pro 3 in New York this week and now there's a tablet that has a chance to replace your notebook and maybe even your desktop system. In Short Circuits, The head of the FBI says that cybercrime is an enormous challenge for law enforcement. Surprisingly, he did not announce that frozen water is cold. If you have an Ebay account, change your password -- now! An experience with Carboninte's tech support shows just how good tech support can be when a company really tries to provide superior support.

Don't forget to enter the drawing for the Corel Graphics Suite X7. Details are on the website. Dealing with e-mail on a small tablet is proving to be a lot easier than I thought. Life without Firefox continues. In some ways it's better. Have you done anything to protect your smart phone from theft, or to protect the information that's on it? In Short Circuits: The FCC makes its move against net neutrality, a European court ruling could affect search engines here, and a paper I wrote in the 1970s comes back to haunt me.

If you're tired of facing the tax man with nothing more than a shoebox full of receipts, maybe Quicken can help. Despite opposition from more than 100 companies, tens of thousands of individuals, and several commissioners, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will continue with the fast-lane proposal. In Short Circuits: Amazon promises Sunday deliveries for some via the US Postal Service. Patch Tuesday is next week and there won't be any patches for Windows XP. SanDisk is promising some huge solid-state drives, but they're likely to be priced for the one percenters.

May the Fourth be with you! About once a year, I review my backup procedures and generally change nothing. This year, there's a change. If you've thought about network attached storage, a new router might make the job easy. As bad as the latest Internet Explorer security flaw is, Windows XP makes it even worse. In Short Circuits: Wheeler says the FCC is not killing net neutrality, McAfee's applications created a problem for me, but customer service came through, and finding some guidance to take better photographs.

Adobe has a new vision for the future of photography and it involves being a lot more mobile. I'll show you an exercise that improves a not-so-good photo. In Short Circuits: The FCC plans to save net neutrality by killing it. Netflix will raise streaming prices. The Supreme Court tries to figure out Aereo. Microsoft completes the Nokia deal. And Facebook is cleared to grab Oculus VR.

Magix Video Pro X6 includes features that professionals will like at a price that amateurs can afford. My favorite weather site, Weather Underground, has been completely redesigned. In Short Circuits: Users of Facebook's mobile application will soon find a feature is gone, Mozilla has a new CEO and has lost a user, and Heartbleed -- reviewing what happened and why.

Maybe you heard about Heartbleed this week and wonder why you need to change critical passwords yet again. Security and privacy were two topics at a special South By Southwest session and we'll listen to some of the main points. The Windows 8.1 Update arrived this week and maybe it's enough to win over some of the nay-sayers. In Short Circuits: Two very short accounts are rolled into one, bad news for Intel employees in Costa Rica, and Microsoft is a step closer to acquiring Nokia.

You'll never have an excuse when you forget an appointment if you use Remember the Milk. Your Internet service provider lets you use their server to send mail, but maybe you should be using the one from G-Mail. In Short Circuits: An uncommonly convincing fraud showed up this week and I'd like to show it to you. Apple and Samsung are in court, but they're talking about Google. The New York man who said that he owned half of Facebook has been charged with fraud. Netflix Heads for Europe. The European Union jumps ahead of the United States in Net neutrality. And why you might want to consider a solid-state drive.

You don't want Windows 8, but support for XP is ending. Now might be the time to consider Linux. In Short Circuits ... Everybody wants a part of the wearables computer market, and that includes Intel. Google signs a deal with the world's biggest maker of optical frames for Google Glass. Facebook wants in on wearable virtual reality. A Turkish court orders the government to stop blocking Twitter. And I put on my Andy Rooney hat to examine support operations.

Browsers are a lot like cars, OK as they are but really not interesting until you add some accessories. Could I interest you in trying a new browser? What if I mention that it's made in China? In Short Circuits: The Khan Academy offers programs designed to help students do better on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, for free. Apple is rumored to be building a watch, but Google is about to bring one to market. FaceBook's DeepFace technology, which is still in development, is as accurate as a human in identifying people. After 7 years of court fights, Google and Viacom decide to be friends.

The media player that does everything for everyone continues to be VLC. That "sophisticated" attack on Target stores turns out to be something that might have been done by script kiddies. The Nexus 7 tablet I bought late last year has turned out to be a valuable addition to my tools. In Short Circuits: As predicted, Amazon Prime price increases 25% and Google goes after online storage business by dropping prices.

ThumbsPlus, one of my long-time favorites, stumbled with its previous release, but is back on track with version 9. Telephone companies have done little to oppose National Security Agency spying, but that seems to be changing now. In Short Circuits: Facebook has acquired a company that's planning to manufacture drones, Yahoo says that users will soon be required to have Yahoo accounts instead of using Google or Facebook credentials, and Firefox's market share is down a fraction of a percent, but that's enough to put it at a 5-year low.

How many updates are you asked to install every day? From computers and operating systems to DVD players and televisions, they're everywhere. If you're nervous about Windows 8, you'll still be able to buy a Windows 7 system for quite a while. In Short Circuits: The Facebook e-mail address that you probably didn't know you have will soon vanish and Netflix has agreed to pay Comcast's ransom, a decision that's bad for all of us.

Which of the 4 big cloud storage options is right for your files? Spring cleaning time is just around the corner and that applies to your computer, too. In Short Circuits: Nokia makes it possible to never misplace your keys again, real-time high-definition mapping is now possible on a (large) budget, and the FCC is reduced to begging for Net neutrality.

If you still need a replacement for the suddenly discontinued free version of LogMeIn, I have a suggestion. When a hard drive dies, recovery should be quick and easy. Sometimes it is. In Short Circuits: Microsoft renames SkyDrive, but the marketing department seems to have made another bad choice; the deal by Comcast to acquire TimeWarner seemes destined for approval; and malware called Careto sets its sights on high-value targets.

The Bat went through some tough times with version 5, but version 6 restores its position as a leader. You might imagine how surprised I was when I found more than 500 unexpected files on my computer. The latest trick by fraudsters seems to be fake coupons. In Short Circuits, changes are planned for broadband Internet in schools, Yahoo tries to recover from another hacker attack, and rumors of a new high-end Nexus tablet.

Snagit's latest free update raises the bar once again for screen capture programs. The cost of creating out-of-the-world desktop images is less than you might think. In Short Circuits, Google buys high and sells low, the US Justice Department says it's on the trail of the Target hackers, Facebook's profits astound just about everbody, and a malware author faces prison time, but you shouldn't feel any safer.

Many good ways exist to devise a good password, but there are lots of ways to create bad ones, too, and the crooks want you to do the latter. The Federal Communications Commission could appeal the recent Net neutrality ruling. Should it? And in Short Circuits: How to get more out of your cellular provider's data limit. Controlling a TV with your cell phone or tablet. Bank ATMs that run Windows XP (most of them) face a deadline. Goodbye to LogMeIn. And hello to a new music streaming service.