Congratulations to our winner, Sharon Varnelas of Real Endpoints, the lucky recipient of a Michaels' gift card!

QUESTION:  What is the hobby of using vintage hardware and software?

ANSWER:  Retrocomputing

Have you ever heard a shortwave radio transmission?  While shortwave listening as a “hobby” is declining, when you look at it, shortwave is just short of a miracle. When the signal is beamed at an angle, it hits the ionosphere which acts as a mirror around the Earth.

If you like to read, you may have a home library.  All good librarians have one thing in common...an organized index.  Confession time!  How many of you manage your computer and online passwords in any of the following ways:

Use the same/similar password for everything
Keep all your passwords written on a slip of paper
Change your password by incrementing the number by 1
Keep a spreadsheet with all your passwords on your desktop

We see it all the time and have heard every reason you can think of as to why it’s “fine.

I came to IT Radix with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Sociology from William Patterson College along with a P‑3 teaching certificate. My background and experience are quite diverse. Upon graduation, I taught Kindergarten in Roseland for a few years prior to moving on to more administrative and marketing roles in the corporate world.

There is a market for everything—2020 taught us that. One of the hobbies that rose again in popularity last year was building jigsaw puzzles. Social media was ablaze with folks proudly posting images of their completed creations. Some dove into them out of boredom because the challenge allowed them to use their brain and body interactively over time.

Did you know that January is National Hobby Month?  I’ve had my fair share of hobbies over the years.  With COVID-19 and the need to social distance, many are turning to their hobbies to spend time in a positive manner.  Let’s face it—all too often, we’ve let the busyness of life allow our personal hobbies to fall by the wayside.

In this issue:

• Fitting the Pieces Together
• Introducing… Marina
• Keep IT Safe
• Hobbies on the Rise
• Are You on the Same Frequency?