TechByter Worldwide 2021-08-06: Checking For Spyware On Your Computer. Short Circuits. Spare Parts.

We've heard a lot about spyware recently because it's been found on phones owned by world leaders and journalists, but they're not the only targets. And it's not just phones that are at risk. In Short Circuits: Perhaps you know about medium-format digital cameras and think that you should upgrade to one. There are lots of technical benefits, but you might be surprised by the downsides. • We're drowning in disinformation, lies, misinformation, and deepfake videos. Technological safeguards are being developed, but the best protection is still critical thinking. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Solid-state disk drives are fast and small, but we shouldn't count mechanical drives out just yet. Some gigantic drives are on the horizon. • Those who have monitors and video subsystems that support high dynamic range will enjoy improved brightness, color, and contrast when they enable it in Windows. • Twenty years ago: The internet wasn't in every restaurant, store, and coffee shop, but McDonald's had started introducing it in some stores at $6 per hour.