2010’s Top Tech Tips from Data Doctors

NOTE: This week’s advice column is a compilation of some of our favorite tips from 2010

This question was answered on December 31, 2010. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

2010 was the year that ‘cloud computing’ came into the mainstream (‘Pros & Cons of Cloud Computing’: http://bit.ly/GI8iX), but we also jokingly refer to cloud computing as using the Internet on an airplane flight For that version of computing in the clouds came our column on “Is in-flight WiFi safe?”: http://bit.ly/hh4Jax Fake security programs that trick users into buying useless software ranked amongst the top scams of 2010 and prompted “Why Antivirus won’t stop fake security infections”: http://bit.ly/bZfwTm Spring cleaning prompts some users to attempt to unclutter their computers, but be sure to avoid these “Common computer ‘cleanup’ mistakes”: http://bit.ly/bAY8pR 2010 was undoubtedly the year of Facebook as it became the 3rd largest country in the world (after China and India) which prompted “Blocking Farmville & other Facebook annoyances” : http://bit.ly/hUspPp and advice on what to do when a friend or family member passes “Facebook for the Deceased”: http://bit.ly/b057lp The smartphone came of age in 2010, full of features that suck…battery life, that is Here’s our “Tips for extending smartphone battery life” submission: http://bit.ly/8Xnm3d and video: http://bit.ly/a61ArY The impact of social media in general was huge in 2010 and introduced a new concern for all of us as individuals and businesses: our online reputation Here are our “Online Reputation Management Tips”: http://bit.ly/bS6HbS The #1 complaint in computing is that the computer has become slow and the #1 cause of slowness is excessive processes running in the background One great way to keep unnecessary background processes from sneaking into your computer is to “Pay attention to install programs!”: http://bit.ly/i9MBVh and we also wrote about “Exposing the ‘speed up your computer’ ads”: http://bit.ly/deVTmp Laptops have continued to outsell desktop computers, but they are subjected to more hazards because they are mobile Here are our “Top 5 laptop repairs & how to avoid them!”: http://bit.ly/9iLMxh Cellular-based data plans have become a critical component for mobile computer users and picking the right plan for your usage requires that you understand “What can you do with a 2GB data plan”: http://bit.ly/hsNFzD and “Mobile Tethering vs Mobile Hostpots”: http://bit.ly/drmJTE Twitter became the leading resource for fast breaking news in 2010, but it’s still largely misunderstood The fact is, you don’t have to ‘tweet’ anything in order to make use of Twitter A great way to understand how valuable all of those tweets can be is to read my column on “More reasons to use Twitter for Search”: http://bit.ly/96LFVA In 2010, Windows 7 become the fastest-selling operating system in history, because it was everything that Vista was supposed to be, which prompted the question “Is it time to stop using Windows XP?”: http://bit.ly/bGPILh The web browser became one of the most targeted pieces of software in 2010 and it’s likely to continue in 2011, so reading “Why multiple browsers is a Good Idea!”: http://bit.ly/fnmmTC will help you to deal with all of the issues that confront today’s web browsing One of the major threats of web browsing in 2010 came from rogue websites that were coded to silently sneak malicious software into your computer while you were visiting them Here are our tips for “Avoiding Drive-By Downloads”: http://bit.ly/esFMpe And finally, we addressed the recurring question of “Why you get spam from yourself”: http://bit.ly/9yVx96 in hopes of calming the fears that “My e-mail’s been hijacked (or has it?)”: http://bit.ly/gHQYqj If you found these columns interesting, you can scan through over 10 years of our advice columns here: https://www.datadoctors.com/help/kenscolumns - Happy New Year!

About the author

Posted by Ken Colburn of Data Doctors on December 31, 2010

Need Help with this Issue?

We help people with technology! It's what we do.
Contact or Schedule an Appointment with a location for help!