computers

If you recently changed your password to “starwars” in honor of the blockbuster movie, congratulations. Your new password is among the world’s worst — or rather, one of the most hackable.

How are families paying for college?

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the “Internet of Things” (IoT). Often, the discussion revolves around issues associated with data privacy and cybersecurity.

Noteworthy events from our shared experience

Notable events from our shared experience

Planned obsolescence. You expect it with your cellphone and your TV. You're used to it with your car. But your computer operating system - the software that determines what you see on the screen and how you make the hardware work -  has nearly always allowed you to upgrade and stay connected and productive.

You can call Terrell Danley Sr. a techie. At 81, the Washington, D.C., resident is fluent in the language of the Internet: downloading, Google Hangouts, social networks, apps, Web surfing, you name it. And he's committed to plugging his contemporaries into the online world.

"When I first discovered that was my voice, to be honest it was a little creepy."

Software manufacturer Adobe says that hackers infiltrated its computer system, gaining access to sensitive information on nearly 3 million customers - including names, encrypted credit and debit card numbers and details of past orders.

If it weren't for Douglas Engelbart, the computer on your desk might still be little more than a glorified typewriter, and you might still be struggling to remember arcane DOS commands so you could type them into a luminous green C:\ prompt on a black screen. And the multimedia marvels of the Web might not have ever existed.