TechByter Worldwide 2021-01-15: Turning A Simple Task Into A Multi-Day Project Short Circuits. Spare Parts.

Sometimes it's possible to turn what should be a quick, easy task into a frustrating multi-day adventure. Usually this happens because of incomplete planning, and yes I do have an example. In Short Circuits: Troubleshooting a strange problem can take time. Hardware and software like to drop red herrings that confuse the troubleshooter, but everything makes perfect sense once you figure it out. • Scammers are running in high gear to steal money based on false claims. These scams can fool anyone, but older people are often targeted. There are defenses against the dark arts. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Taking a few minutes to run diagnostic tests on a schedule can give early warnings about hardware problems that would otherwise be unpleasant surprises. • Firefox has added a new HTTPS-Only mode that forces all website connections to be secure if the website supports security, and it warns you if the site doesn't. • Twenty years ago: Macromedia acquired Allaire to gain full access to its text editor for use in Dreamweaver, and Macromedia was acquired by Adobe five years later.