Lock 12 Tech LLC

05/07/2026

For Washington County, NY residents. You do have to register but it’s free! Note that this event takes place at the municipal center in Fort Edward., NY

♻️ Washington County Electronics Waste Collection Day is coming up June 6th from 8 AM - 12 PM at the Municipal Center in Fort Edward, NY.

Please register if you plan on attending!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/electronics-waste-collection-day-tickets-1988933607962?aff=oddtdtcreator

08/09/2025

Heads up for Whitehall residents (and potentially other surrounding communities in New York State):

I received a text from Spectrum stating that there may be service disruptions throughout the day and night from Sunday, August 10th through Tuesday, August 12th.

I’m planning on outages happening in Whitehall, though I cannot be certain if or how other communities will be impacted. And since I know that not everyone receives texts from Spectrum, I wanted to pass along the information regarding the potential for service disruptions.

The text did contain a link and upon inspection, it looks authentic.

I called Spectrum Tech Support and they could confirm scheduled maintenance but couldn’t confirm specific dates.

07/07/2025

Usually, Chrome (or any recent browser) will update itself, but you might want to check that it has.

Google has released an urgent update for the Chrome browser to patch a vulnerability which has already been exploited.

06/20/2025

You should check your network hardware (routers, switches and access points) for new firmware updates. This is crucial because it may increase the security of your devices and add some nifty new features, some of which are cool while others are absolutely essential.

Some devices download and apply firmware updates automatically but it never hurts to check yourself.

There are pros and cons to letting your hardware update its firmware automatically.

If you’re uneasy about updating your device firmware and need some help, or if you have other home and small business network needs, count on Lock 12 Tech in Whitehall, NY to get you on the right track.

Visit https://lock12tech.com/contact/

to make sure your network devices are secure.

06/19/2025

A fun event for people of all ages! And if you’re not in the Warren-Washington-Saratoga county (NY) area, another amateur radio club close to you is likely participating.

06/15/2025

Happy Father’s Day from Lock 12 Tech!

06/13/2025

Son: “Dad, did you turn off the Internet?”

Me: “Nope. But thanks for remembering that I do have such powers in this house!”

Users are reporting widespread errors at popular apps and websites.

06/13/2025

I have experience with all three of the major desktop OSes (Windows, macOS and Linux), all of which have been my “daily driver” at one point in time (Windows in a corporate and personal environment; macOS in an education and personal environment; and Linux in a personal environment, where I enjoyed assembling and editing a 40-minute video).

While cost is certainly a motivating factor, it shouldn’t be the only one.

A government ministry in Denmark is preparing to phase out Microsoft software and switch to the open-source Linux and LibreOffice.

The country’s Ministry for Digital Affairs will kick off the transition next month by dumping Windows and Microsoft 365, starting first with half of its employees. “If everything goes as expected, all employees will be on an open-source solution during the autumn,” Danish news outlet Politiken reports.

The change promises to cut costs and reduce the ministry’s dependency on US software. Denmark’s Minister for Digital Affairs, Caroline Stage, tells Politiken that "digital sovereignty" is now a priority under the ministry’s new four-year digitalization strategy.

The decision will also help the ministry avoid the costly undertaking of managing computers on Windows 10, which loses official support in October. However, Stage is leaving some leeway for the ministry to reverse course. “If phasing out proves to be too complicated, we can revert back to Microsoft in an instant,” she says.

More at PCMag
https://www.pcmag.com/news/denmark-wants-to-dump-microsoft-software-for-linux-libreoffice

06/11/2025

If you have an Intel Mac that you purchased within the last 5 years or so …

TL;DR
No, macOS 26 (Tahoe) will NOT run on it, even though the current version of macOS 15 (Sequoia) does.

macOS 15 Sequoia will receive security updates for awhile yet, at least another year, which gives you a little more time.

06/05/2025

The “key” (pun intended) takeaways here are:
1). This is essentially a beta program since it’s not ready for prime time.
2). The independent study they performed on their users showed that passwords across websites were commonly recycled.
3). At this point, there are no provisions to prevent a lockout of your “vault” if the USB key is lost or damaged, but that is on the roadmap as an added feature.
4). Don’t use a PIN that’s easy to figure out.
5). It appears to only reliably work on Chrome and not their mobile app (refer to point #1.)

I have used Dashlane but it has been awhile. I stopped using it several years ago because of some quirks with the program that greatly annoyed me. But I would guess those bugs have been zapped. But this is another tool you could potentially use for online security.