Passwords

12 Feb 2026 - All about saving and managing Passwords

Plus other stuff as usual:

• The TurboTax Super Bowl ad: “The Pain is coming, brace yourselves!"  <link>
• OBTW, Turbotax is still charging extra for digital filing of Delaware taxes.  :-(
• The only online betting site legal in Delaware is BetRivers
• Bob tracks the NFL Playoffs results in a Spreadsheet, it's neat <link>
• "Let it Snow!" - An example done with Microsoft's Movie Maker <link>
• It was colder in Jan 2026 than in Dec 2025, but Bob's DP&L bill when down!
• Space News: Crew-11 was evacuated from the ISS early, Bob has a theory why
• No, you won't see that in the presentation, but it's common on the Internet
• The Windows 11 start menu has suddenly changed.  Bob thinks it's for the better <link>
• If you don't like it, try Start11 <link>
• Or even the free Open Shell <link>
• Ccleaner - not recommended, it's got too agressive,  PC Manager is better
• Get it in the Microsoft Store <link>
• Four ways to manage your Passwords:
• Write them down on a piece of paper
• Save them in a computer file (encrypt it!0
• Save them in your browser (but careful signing it to your browser on other computers!)
• Use a Password Manager, we like BitWarden, it's free! (link)

15 Jan 2026 - Windows 11 Customization

First ... sorry about that for our remote attendees.  "News and Comment" went as normal, but when I switched to a new sign-in account for show how Windows 11 can be customized from scratch, Zoom went away.  I should have realized that was going to happen.  I thought everything was going to be fine when I re-launched Zoom from the new user; but 1) Zoom wasn't even installed for the new user and 2) if I did a quicky install, I'm sure the re-login to Zoom for our Pro account would not have been quick.

Topics of the Day

• For all the fun Star Trek AI videos (the preshow) simply go to YouTube and do a search.  <link>  The more you know ST, the better these are.  :-)
• The Amazon Vine Program <link>  I get free stuff to review.
• The first couple minutes of this week's "Security Now" podcast with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte <link> talk about their being phished.  In Leo's case, the phish was successful (!) and he had to change 3 of his credit cards.  Proof that this can happen to anyone, even experts.
• Bob Rankin re-addresses the old question, "Is it possible to get a computer virus just by opening an email?"  <link>  Short answer: No ... but what you do after that can make all the difference.
• The Wave Browser <link> is not malware by itself.  But ... big but ... Nare-do-wells have used it so often for malware attacks that it is now considered a "PUP" - a potential unwanted program. <link>
• You can check the details of your Delmarva Power bill here <link>.  My bill for December was $500 -> a new record high for me by $100!  Why?  A combination of factors: Major factor was it was cold, but gas generation up by 43% and generally everything is now more expensive.
• I like and subscribe to the Microsoft 365 family plan, now called 'Classic' for $100/year.  It's a cost effective plan if, and only if, you need it installed on multiple machines.  That can be up to 30 computers!  Recommend the Classic plan w/o AI ("Copilot") features.  <link>
• Alternately, StackSocial has "Permanent" license for Office <here.>
• Or, the 100% free https://www.libreoffice.org/ 
• Link to my updated "Customizing Windows 11" paper <link>