Start here

New here? This is the guided tour. Pick the thing that's bugging you, or the topic you've been meaning to get a handle on, and start there. These are hand-picked, not just the newest.

Not sure where to begin? Take the two-minute digital health check. It scores where you stand and hands you a short list of the few things worth fixing, most important first.

• Spotting scams
• Protecting your accounts
• Your privacy
• Kids and family
• Making sense of AI
• Fixing common problems
• Your phone
• Print-and-keep guides

Spotting scams

• You just got scammed. What now?. The first hour, in order: stop the money, lock your email, report it, and expect the second scam.
• How to spot a phishing email in 2026. The one skill that catches most scams before they cost you anything.
• The fake CAPTCHA scam you run yourself. The scam that talks you into infecting your own computer.
• Police take down major pop-up scams. That alarming “your computer is infected” popup, explained.
• Why the robocalls about your Google listing won't stop. Why the support number you Googled might not be the real company.
• The power company is not calling to cut you off in 30 minutes. The utility shutoff call, the script it follows, and the number to call instead.

Protecting your accounts

• Start using a password manager. The one habit that fixes reused passwords, and which manager to actually pick.
• What the heck is a Passkey?. The login that's replacing passwords, and why it's harder to steal.
• Why MFA annoyance is worth it. The extra login step that stops most account takeovers cold.
• Freeze your credit before someone else uses it. The free lock that stops someone opening loans and credit cards in your name.
• Who gets your photos and email when you're gone? Set this up in five minutes.. What happens to your email, photos, and logins after you're gone.
• Check your email's recovery info before you get locked out. Five minutes on the account every other password resets through.
• Leaked Email. What to actually do when your address turns up in a breach.

Your privacy

• What a VPN actually does. What a VPN does, what it can't, and whether you actually need one.
• Your photos know where you live. The hidden location tag riding along in the photos you share.
• Your car has been grading your driving and selling the report card. Your car has been scoring your driving and selling the report.
• Your browser can block trackers and scam sites. The strongest settings just aren't on by default.. The browser privacy settings worth turning on, in five minutes.
• Data brokers have a file on you. California is making them delete it.. Who buys and sells your information, and the delete button California built.
• Two people agreed to your location sharing. Three are in it.. Who else ends up in the loop when you share your location with one person.
• What a Flock camera actually does. The license plate readers on your street, and what they keep.
• Shark fixed the vacuum flaw. Here's what yours knows about you.. The map your robot vacuum made of your house, and where it goes.
• Your TV has a side hustle, and you're paying for it. How a free smart TV app turns your connection into someone else's.

Kids and family

• Most teen safety features don't work. Here's what does.. The controls that survived independent testing, and the ones that failed it.
• The school laptop is a work computer. Here's what it does and doesn't monitor.. What the district can see, what it cannot, and what to tell your kid.
• The Disturbing Reality of AI-Powered Plush Toys. What the AI toys say when nobody is testing them.
• How the UK Plans to Keep Teens Off Social Media (and What It Means for Adults). Where age verification is heading, and what it costs the rest of us.

Making sense of AI

• Fake face. Real money.. How AI deepfakes power a new wave of impersonation scams.
• How to get a deepfake of you taken down. Which report actually gets it removed, ranked by what works.
• Boring AI Advice: Five Practical Uses for Your Business or Career. The unglamorous ways to use AI that actually pay off.
• AI tips for people who don't want to get left behind. The habits that make AI actually useful, and why each one works.
• What is an AI agent, and should you let one loose on your computer?. What an agent actually does, and how to try one without getting burned.
• Your doctor wants to record the visit with AI. Here is what to ask before you say yes.. Four questions for the exam room, and how to decline.
• What do you do when an AI deepfake has your face?. The first moves when it is your face in someone else's video.

Fixing common problems

• Your computer feels slow. Here's what to do.. How to find what's actually slowing your PC, before you buy a new one.
• Your phone says storage is almost full. Don't delete anything yet.. Where your photos actually live, the cleanup order that can't cost you one, and when to just buy storage.
• Why rebooting your router works, and when it won't. What the restart actually does, which device to restart, and when it won't fix anything.
• Do you need backups? You might already have them.. The short answer is yes, and the painless way to set it up.
• Four steps to fix your printer (and the rule for when to stop). The printer fix that works more often than it has any right to.
• Microsoft stopped patching Windows 10. Now what?. What to do now that Windows 10 has stopped getting security updates.
• Check Your Router's Expiration Date. No Manufacturer Is Required to Tell You It Has One.. Every router stops getting security patches on a date nobody tells you.

Your phone

• Set up your phone to share your medical info in an emergency. Set up the screen that helps first responders help you.
• The apps I'd recommend aren't the ones I use most. The short list of apps actually worth a spot on your phone.
• Are those smart glasses recording you? How to tell. How to tell if the glasses across from you are recording.
• Make your phone stop ringing for robocalls. The setting that sends unknown numbers straight to voicemail.
• Your phone can copy text out of any photo. Lift a serial number, a password, or a menu straight off the screen.
• Share your Wi-Fi without ever spelling out the password. A QR code your guests scan instead.
• Your phone has a magnifying glass. The built-in tool for reading the fine print.
• Five shortcuts I wish somebody had told me about. Small things your phone and computer already do, if you know where to press.

Print-and-keep guides

Some help is better on paper. The Cache is our library of free printable guides: a scam-spotting card, a phishing check, a first-hour-after-a-scam card, a who-gets-your-accounts worksheet, and more. Print them for yourself, or for someone you look after.

Run into a word you don't know? The glossary explains the jargon in plain language, no assumptions.