A practical, sharp-witted consumer technology column cutting through jargon to help everyday people protect their digital privacy and master modern software.
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Original reporting, essays, and analysis from Common Sense with Aunt Brenda.
I went down to AutoZone yesterday for some wiper fluid and bumped into my nephew Dave. He was staring at the replacement bulbs looking like he’d lost his best friend. Turns out his auto insurance...
My neighbor Dottie knocked on my door Tuesday holding her phone out like she'd just caught something in a jar. "Did you know MapQuest is back?" she said. I told her MapQuest never left, it just g...
My neighbor Carol came over last week with a folder of invoices she needed to scan. She has one of those HP multifunction printers — the kind that sits on a desk and costs about the same as a dec...
I saw a list circulating today of supposedly ridiculous startup pitches. Renting out your forehead to carry solar panels. Robot mosquitoes collecting blood donations. People were chuckling in the...
I was looking at Instagram yesterday—mostly hoping to see if my cousin’s tomato seedlings had survived the late frost—when a sponsored post cornered me about something called PersonaGen.The fello...
Arthur bought one of those "smart" vacuums last month. You know the ones that look like overpriced dinner plates scuttling around the baseboards. I told him we didn't need it. We have a perfectly...