A whole generation has grown up that never experienced Y2K, an abbreviation for the Year 2000. We give commands to our computers to do things at a certain time, and track everything from email to transmitter events in accurate time (assuming we set systems for the right time zone). But, even as we […]

They are not all sitting inside nice racks. Lurking under desks and sales cubicle counters, hiding inside cabinets, or nearly forgotten behind control room furniture are the computers that run broadcast stations. Along with the rest of the station’s Spring Cleaning efforts, here are some thoughts that might be some good computer maintenance […]

Whether you are working alone or with a competent IT department, it is getting harder to stay truly safe when dealing with the Internet. Here, we offer a list of ten mistakes many folks make that puts them in danger of loss of files – or more.    There was a time when […]

It used to be that email was an easy way to communicate across town or across the world. But, like many things, email users need to be much more careful these days because there are a lot of bad actors out there – and now with AI, it is even more dangerous. When […]

Cowboy has been involved in designing and writing computer programming and security for over three decades, including one of the first – and still rather effective – anti-spam filters. Unfortunately, he still sees many of the same security problems he wrote about 20 years ago, even as the bad guys have become more […]

Every company has its policies on cyber security. Depending upon the size of the company and network, procedures can be relatively simple and rely on each user, or there is an IT department with policies that can make things easier or harder. Seeing the purpose of the policies and working with them makes […]

IT security is not a simple equation. Among the many levels of security, some devolve on the individual user while others involve the IT specialists and network administrators. However, everyone needs to work together to keep everything tight and secure. Last week I got an email from a friend saying “I almost forgot […]

This White Paper was first put up by Digital Alert Systems in 2014. It is still a good resource today – an excellent checklist – for recommendations of best practices for users. Because the Emergency Alert System (EAS) equipment is required to be connected to the Internet, broadcasters have been introduced to all […]

Are you a professional procrastinator? All kidding aside, we all know the reasons why we should regularly backup our computers and key files. Yet, the reality is that everyday issues often take over the day, and we basically end up saying “I’ll get to it tomorrow.” But that could leave you open for […]

Broadcasting is mostly an “in the moment” medium. The air talent works hard to present an engaging presentation. After the program, it used to be that all that was left was memories. Today, technology has provided a way to get more – sometimes a lot more – use from the program. Many in […]