Four resolutions for a healthier tech life in 2022
Four resolutions for a healthier tech life in 2022
The coronavirus pandemic is filled with a lot of nasty technical surprises.
We ran into the problem of a constant lack of hardware like game consoles and graphics cards. Apple this year announced a major change to its data practices, including a tool to scan iPhones for child pornography, which critics labeled an invasion of privacy. And many of us who tried to order high-quality face masks to protect ourselves from the coronavirus had to swim in a sea of fakes.
Yet there was a silver lining to all of this: valuable lessons for improving your relationship with technology for years to come, such as becoming an online buyer and taking control of your personal data.
Think of it not as a New Year’s resolution, but for the sake of technology. Here are my top recommendations.
Resolution #1: Invest in infrastructure first.
The pandemic, which pushed many white-collar professionals to work from home, showed how many of us had slow internet connections. This underscores how little we invest in our technological infrastructure, such as the networking equipment and broadband services that power the Internet connections for our devices.
When people spend on technology, they usually buy gadgets first. According to a research report published by Adobe last month, electronics such as the Video Streaming Stick were among the top-selling items on Black Friday.
But we should spend on infrastructure before equipment. According to a survey this year from Consumer Reports, a fifth of consumers stay on their router for more than four years. It’s cutting it closer, say wireless experts, because we should be upgrading our Wi-Fi routers every three to five years. The new routers introduce new Wi-Fi standards that improve speeds and techniques to reduce network congestion, making it easier for multiple devices throughout the home — such as laptops and game consoles — to have a strong Getting internet connection.
If your router is brand new and your connection remains subpar, see your Internet service provider. The broadband plan you subscribed to several years ago might not be enough anymore, so consider investing in a faster plan. If your family streams a lot of videos and plays online games, shoot for around 40 megabits per second.
If you tried to buy a high-quality face mask online during the pandemic, you probably ran into a fair number of fakes. Fake masks have flooded the market with poorly made masks, a problem that persists to this day.
While counterfeit goods online have long been a problem, the pandemic has made the issue potentially life-threatening. Amazon and other retailers have policies in place banning sellers of counterfeit masks, but new sellers with fake masks constantly emerge. It has become a game of laughter.
learn? Always do your research before clicking the Buy button. Read buyer reviews. Check the seller and if it is an unknown brand, research its reputation. Some online tools like FakeSpot can scan a product page to look for signs of counterfeit products and fake reviews.
Be especially careful when buying anything known to affect one’s health, including vitamins and dog food. When in doubt, buy these items from a reputable brick-and-mortar store.
Resolution #3: Practice self-reliance with your digital data.
Apple, which has long portrayed itself as a defender of digital privacy, delivered one of the biggest tech surprises of the year.
In August, the company announced a software update with a twist. The software included a tool to scan iPhones for codes linked to a database of known child pornography. Once multiple matches were detected, an Apple employee could review the photos before notifying the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Apple’s positive intent to stop the spread of child abuse imagery was quickly overshadowed by the aggressive implications of its content-flagging system, which contrasted with the company’s pro-privacy image. In response to the backlash, Apple postponed the release of the software feature and clarified that the technology could be disabled if people opt out of backing up their images to iCloud.
This episode was a reminder that when we use cloud services, our data is on the whim of a tech company. learn? We should consider changing the way we manage our data so that we can be more independent of the big companies and their cloud services.
Security experts have advised that the best approach is to take a hybrid approach to our data. This includes backing up our data to the cloud, but also storing it on devices such as physical drives and miniature USB sticks. Having a local backup like this ensures that you have access to important files even when the internet is turned off. And if you get unhappy with a cloud service or get tired of paying a subscription fee, you have an easy exit because you already have a copy of your information.
According to data security firm Acronis, only 17 percent of people take the hybrid approach. Don’t procrastinate: The longer you wait to make a local backup of your data, the harder it will be to remove it from the cloud service if you decide to leave.
Resolution #4: Skip online sales events.
Last month, many shoppers trying to snag deals during Black Friday and Cyber Monday quickly learned that something was amiss.
Many items we usually buy at a discount, like new Wi-Fi routers and cheap laptops, were either not on sale or out of stock. This was largely the result of a global chip shortage and disrupted supply chains, which have halted manufacturing and shipping of goods around the world.
It’s rarely wise to wait until Black Friday to break away, but the pandemic-induced shortages have made this clearer than ever. Throughout the year, deals often emerge that are just as good — and sometimes better — than the promotions on Black Friday.
The tricky part is knowing when the cool stuff is cheap. There are many ways to find discounts, such as the following sites that alert you to sales. Our sister publication Wirecutter tracks deals on its Twitter Cause And websites, for example.
Automated tools like Camel Camel Camel, a website that lets you plug in products sold on Amazon and set up email alerts for slashing prices, can also help track promotions for specific items. In the future, you could get ahead of the holiday shopping frenzy and potentially skip Black Friday.
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