Who hasn’t been interrupted during some important task by a strictly-imposed network requirement to “update” a password? And who hasn’t solved this modern annoyance by some ridiculous, unsafe naming convention like “CorpPassword1…CorpPassword2…CorpPassword3” and so on. People already have 150 or so passwords they must remember. Forced expiration made this already [Keep reading]
Work addiction, like gadget addiction, is a real problem. But you don’t have to be an addict to suffer the consequences of overwork. American workers are struggling to find balance in a world full of new demands — always on technology, a proliferation of messaging apps, dual-income households struggling to [Keep reading]
“Working too hard can give you a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack. You oughta know by now.” It’s the official start of summer, and if you haven’t planned your vacation yet, you aren’t alone. Americans are terrible at taking vacations, terrible at relaxing — terrible at shutting down and rebooting. I think I [Keep reading]
Does your power company know when you get home at night? Does it know how often you use your microwave oven? In this week’s week’s episode of So, Bob, we examine the sometimes controversial topic of smart meters. They have great potential to help cities manage the increasing power demands [Keep reading]
How would you feel if you discovered your smartphone was recording you while you sleep without your knowledge? Last year, co-host Alia Tavakolian came to me when she discovered a sleep app had made dozens of such recordings. Worse yet, to hear what was on the files, she had to [Keep reading]
I’ve spent a year working with Alia Tavakolian and Spoke Media developing this podcast, and I’ve spent almost 25 years preparing for it. So, please give it a try. Click play below, if a play button appears, or click on this Stitcher link or this iTunes link. I started [Keep reading]
Every once in a while, a passion project becomes something real. And I’m over-the-moon to share with you news of our new podcast, called “So…Bob?” — a weekly conversation about the unintended consequences of technology. I haven’t been this excited about a new project since the birth of The Red [Keep reading]
Stealing money using Zelle is apparently as easy as adding a phone number to a consumer’s checking account, and then telling the bank to “Zelle” money to a hacker-controlled account — at least in some cases. When following up my story earlier this week about consumers who don’t even use [Keep reading]
Teenager Osmane Bah says New York City police dragged him out of bed at 4 a.m. last fall to arrest him for serial shoplifting, when the only “crime” was Apple Inc.’s misuse of facial recognition software. A lawsuit filed by Bah in a New York federal court claims Apple’s security [Keep reading]
Milt Tipperman had never heard of Zelle before April 18, but he learned about the P2P payment app quickly when 8 fraudulent Zelle transactions drained $800 from him checking account. “I was mad, and I still am,” says Tipperman, of Maryland. He says his bank, PNC, is investigating, but when [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan