From virtual reality to eye-tracking software, surgeons are helping patients by welcoming advanced technology into the surgical room.

Am I the only one spending too much time worrying about our rapidly advancing technology, rather than celebrating it?

For a few minutes, let’s focus on how the positive advancements in technology — virtual reality and smart tech specifically — are bringing to the surgical world.

1. Virtual Reality meets surgical planning

Who would’ve expected virtual reality (VR) to enhance surgical planning? More so, who expected surgeons to even want it?

Well, surgical planning is critical. The planning phase allows surgeons to discover the best methods for the procedure, like where to make incisions. Typically, surgeons use a realistic image of the body’s tissues, bones, and blood vessels, but now they can take it one step further and interact with these images in the VR space. …

Are you ready for an unfortunate truth?

You’re as much a target to hackers as a celebrity or CEO.

You may not think you have as much to offer, but you’d be surprised.

If you own a smartphone or computer, you’re carrying the perfect gateway to wealth, and what hacker doesn’t want that?

Indeed, some hack for political justice or publicity, but cyber-based crimes wrack up nearly $6 trillion a year. The victims? Companies and individuals like you and me.

Even worse: Most of these hackers only use a few simple tricks to gain access to your money.

Hackers don’t need any elaborate tricks to steal financial information

Phishing scams and malware are the most popular methods used by hackers to swipe your financial information. …

A deepfake is a doctored image, video, or audio using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques. Although used for the occasional funny meme, in the wrong hands, deepfakes can cause public distress and financial crises.

First: How are deepfakes created?

Deepfakes are the result of a generative adversarial network (GAN) and unsupervised machine learning. After getting initial data, the computer teaches itself henceforth, using a Generator and a Discriminator.

The generator creates the initial fake image, audio, or video and sends it over to the Discriminator for examination. If it determines the image is fake, the Generator modifies the file based on the Discriminator’s feedback. Then, using the data provided, the Generator alters the file again and sends it back to the Discriminator for appraisal. …

Not sure if it’s worth hiring a freelance editor?

In all honesty, an editor should be a vital part of your team. Here are six reasons why.

1. A brand new spankin’ perspective

You know your piece inside and out. And, even if you don’t mean for it to happen, you’ve become biased in how you see it. You may fall in love with an unnecessary sentence, but because of that love, you won’t cut it.

But editors don’t hold those same feelings.

They look at your content with fresh eyes. …

Phishing is a digital scam. The attacker wants one of two things: your login credentials or your money.

It’s usually money though — that’s what nearly half of all phishing attacks in 2016 wanted.

And likely, that’s what they want from you too.

Email: The home of most phishing scams

Email is the common vehicle for phishing attacks. The attacker uses them to entice you to download a malicious attachment or click a shady link.

The attachment will likely install some type of malware onto your system. It may rifle through your files in search of personal and financial information. Or it’ll encrypt your files to be held for ransom. If you pay, you may get your files back. …

Worried about the privacy of your online data?

Having a Virtual Private Network (VPN) keeps all your online activities discreet — even invisible. But the protection it gives is only as good as the VPN you’ve chosen.

Here’s what you need to know.

First things first: How does a VPN work?

A VPN provides a new IP address for your computer or devices to connect to. In most cases, you select a country and the VPN provider assigns you an IP from that country.

Most VPN providers will encrypt your data while using the software. This means, while you’re leaping from website to website, your digital info isn’t tracked. …

Here’s the truth: there’s no one-size fit all security solution. There isn’t one, and there’s never been one.

But don’t panic. As long as you know a few key pieces of information, it’s 100% possible to keep your assets secure.

Secure, in this case, means lowering the risk of bad things happening to your important information. Like ensuring your confidential files are inaccessible by unauthorized people. Or keeping your browsing hidden from ISPs and corporations.

In this article I’ll be teaching you a few things, including…

• How to identify what you want to protect most
• The common security tools to help…

Wanna know if your passwords were exposed in a data breach? Google’s new Chrome Extension, called Password Checkup, checks for free.

Once installed in the browser, the extension can check any of your login details for breaches. It runs the password against four billion usernames and passwords found on “most” US sites, according to Google. If your login credentials match any in the database, Google gives you a heads up. Meaning: You should change your password ASAP.

Why Should You Regularly Check Your Passwords for Compromises?

These days, password breaches are common. Too common.

The best way to keep your information safe and secure means using unique passwords for each log-in. Why? Let me give you an example. …