This week, Benjamin brought us some helpful tips in computing, particularly in regards to travel. While free wi-fi is easily found in travel hotspots, he pointed out that each one also poses a potential threat to your safety, as it may contain viruses or be honeypots, where people pick up passwords and sensitive information. Also, make sure your wireless is simple turned off when you’re not using it, and of course don’t leave your laptop anywhere where it can be stolen.

In a general information column, Benjamin gave us info on Captchas, and what they are. These are the boxes which ask you to type in the letters or numbers you see in an image. These are used to verify that you are in fact a live person using your computer. Because the images don’t contain information on the characters themselves encoded into them, only people can see what they contain. They’re annoying, and most sites give you the ability to turn them off, but its safer to leave them on.

In the news, Benjamin mentioned that Charlie Crist has removed the pro-life section of his campaign website. Also, Turkish censors are targeting Google, blocking Google Docs and Google Translate in Turkey “because of legal reasons,” though the exact reasons remain unclear.

Benjamin also discussed blacklists, which are lists of un-safe e-mailers. Unfortunately, these lists aren’t very exact. Many of them contain entire ISP’s domain names, instead of just specific addresses, simply because it’s quicker and easier to do things this way. Being on these lists makes it hard for you to send e-mails, and also hurts your reputation. Unfortunately, there is little you can do about this situation other than asking friends to set you as a safe sender, or switching ISPs, which is highly inconvenient.

In the “Changing World” series, Benjamin discussed letter-writing, which has largely died out as an art. While e-mail surely is more convenient, this convenience comes at a cost. The time and energy and patience required to write something out is gone, and so has the sentimental value. Of course, it also means that things are legible, which is always a plus.

Benjamin also talked with Aaron of Rapid Repair (www.rapidrepair.com) about the iPhone 4, and their plans for parts and repairs for is, as well as simple information about the iPhones 4’s features.

With E3 rapidly approaching, Benny came on and spoke about the show with his dad, and they spent three segments discussing the upcoming expo, and all of the things they are excited about.

This week, Carol asked about finding the owner of a website, and Benjamin suggested http://coolwhois.com/.