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PC PLACE has been serving the Redlands area since 2015, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

How to Kick Things Off With Bluesky

How to Kick Things Off With Bluesky

Last week, we discussed why X—the social media network once known as Twitter—has been losing many users. Here, we wanted to direct those seeking a move to consider the up-and-coming platform known as Bluesky in case you were one of those jumping ship.

Let’s talk about how Bluesky operates, including how to sign up.

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The Latest Moral We Can Learn from Disney: Manage Permissions Better

The Latest Moral We Can Learn from Disney: Manage Permissions Better

The Disney brand has long cultivated an image of magic and wonder. However, this image has yet to materialize any magical effects in reality. For example, people still suffer from food allergies while visiting Disney’s various parks.

This makes it especially dangerous that a former Disney employee was allegedly still able to access a specialized menu-planning app and make alterations, like changing prices, adding language that Disney certainly would not approve of, switching text to the unintelligible “Wingdings” font, and worst of all… changing menu information.

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Did You Trade Your Data for a DVD Rental?

Did You Trade Your Data for a DVD Rental?

In June of this year, publisher Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, best known for its book series of the same name, filed for Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy and had many of its assets liquidated. One of these assets was the movie rental service Redbox and its eponymous scarlet rental kiosks, rendering the service defunct.

However, many kiosks remain standing outside businesses even now, which makes us wonder… what about all the data they collected while they were in use?

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Tip of the Week: How to Protect Yourself By Protecting Your Personal Data

Tip of the Week: How to Protect Yourself By Protecting Your Personal Data

Modern wisdom states that if you’re not paying for a product, you’re the product.

For all the good the Internet is capable of doing, it is equally capable of being extremely harmful… especially when data is involved. Websites and social media platforms collect data from their users and track their movements across the Internet, sell it to advertisers, and more recently, use it to train AI.

Let’s go over what you can—and arguably should—do to limit these platforms' ability to do so.

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Subscriptions Need to Be Easy to Cancel, Per the FTC

Subscriptions Need to Be Easy to Cancel, Per the FTC

It isn’t rare for people to subscribe to things and only stay subscribed because the cancellation process is so challenging and inconvenient. However, the Federal Trade Commission is looking to stop this, adopting a rule that eliminates the capability for businesses to put hurdles in front of cancellation processes.

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Sextortion Scammers are Going So Far as to Show You Your House

Sextortion Scammers are Going So Far as to Show You Your House

Sextortion scams are scary. The scammer contacts the victim, claiming to have gotten access to their computer and captured video footage of their target partaking in some private and decidedly adult activities, as well as the content that was onscreen at the time. The threat: pay up, or I send the footage to all of your contacts.

Lately, however, hackers have added another layer of “proof” to these claims, now referring to victims by name and including pictures of their homes. Let’s walk through what one of these scams looks like and what you should do if one appears in your inbox.

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What Should Employers Do About the “Act Your Wage” Trend?

What Should Employers Do About the “Act Your Wage” Trend?

In recent years, several workplace trends have emerged that many employers find challenging. One such trend is "quiet quitting," where employees do only the bare minimum required to keep their jobs. A more recent trend is to "act your wage."

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With a Massive Botnet Recently Disrupted, Let’s Review What a Botnet Is

With a Massive Botnet Recently Disrupted, Let’s Review What a Botnet Is

It was very recently revealed that a global law enforcement effort took down a massive botnet that was in action for almost a decade. In light of this, we wanted to review what a botnet is and how it works, drawing from these events for some context.

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Net Neutrality Seems Poised to Return in Upcoming FCC Vote — Here’s Why It Should

Net Neutrality Seems Poised to Return in Upcoming FCC Vote — Here’s Why It Should

The topic of net neutrality has had a tumultuous past few years, with steps forward canceled out by steps taken back. However, new efforts are being considered to restore the policies that made net neutrality what it was in the first place.

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Apple Users Hit with Rare Cyberattack: What Can We Learn?

Apple Users Hit with Rare Cyberattack: What Can We Learn?

On Wednesday, April 10, 2024, Apple deemed it necessary to send a rare alert to certain users via email, spread out across 92 nations. As Apple’s website states, these threat notifications “are designed to inform and assist users who may have been individually targeted by mercenary spyware attacks.” Let’s review these attacks so we all understand this threat better.

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Unfortunately, Scams Are Commonplace

Unfortunately, Scams Are Commonplace

The constant fear of falling victim to scams has become a harsh reality and is far from ideal. However, the good news is that there is always time to acquire the skills needed to avoid such scams. Let's explore ways to enhance awareness regarding the challenges posed by scams, not only in a business context but also in everyday life.

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AI and Work in 2023 and Beyond: A Retrospective

AI and Work in 2023 and Beyond: A Retrospective

2023 was a banner year for artificial intelligence, with the technology exploding into the mainstream and being more accessible by the public than ever before. Let’s explore how what we’ve seen in the past year in terms of AI has changed things for workers and workplaces everywhere.

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National Student Clearinghouse Data Breach Exposes Personal Information of Over 50,000 Individuals

National Student Clearinghouse Data Breach Exposes Personal Information of Over 50,000 Individuals

One major nonprofit has become the victim of a disclosed major data breach, affecting 890 schools all across the US: the National Student Clearinghouse, or NSC. The organization has announced that they have experienced a considerable data breach that has put their clients’ data at risk. What does this mean for affected organizations and their clientele?

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Should AI Development Be Stopped? Experts Say So

Should AI Development Be Stopped? Experts Say So

It seems that you can’t turn your head nowadays without seeing artificial intelligence being incorporated into some software or platform. However, many leaders in the technology space have expressed their concerns about—as they put it—the “profound risks to society and humanity” that AI poses, outlined in an open letter. 

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AI Can Help Your Employees Streamline Operations

AI Can Help Your Employees Streamline Operations

Artificial intelligence has gone through several developments in recent years, and with these developments come many concerned workers who think they might be out of a job as a result. With AI now moving into more practical and usable mediums, like writing, these fears are only reinforced and perpetuated by the Turing Test, which can measure the intelligence of a computer.

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5 of the Largest Cyberattacks of 2022

5 of the Largest Cyberattacks of 2022

Today, we release a list that no organization wants to be on. If you find yourself on this particular list, you probably have had a rough time and are likely still picking up the pieces. Today, we list the top five cyberattacks for the year 2022.

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If the Vatican Isn’t Immune to Cyberattacks, Do You Really Think Your Business Is?

If the Vatican Isn’t Immune to Cyberattacks, Do You Really Think Your Business Is?

If you think there is no way that a hacker could set sights on your business or impact your operations with a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, then you’ve got another thing coming. Even the Vatican’s official website has fallen prey to such an attack, proving that even large organizations can suffer from these types of attacks.

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