Hello (Online) World!

The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow

– Bill Gates

It’s plain to see that since the dawn of the Internet, more and more of everyday life has moved to its digital analog – shopping, communication, business. Along with it, trillions upon trillions of gigabytes of data have been generated, ushering the world into the Information Age and creating spaces for brand new jobs and economics.

The online world has brought incredible ease of access to products, knowledge, and friends in ways people could never have dreamed of even just a century ago! For the average consumer, this is a significant time-saver and leads to many conveniences. However, as many have begun observing over the years, there is much more than meets the eye regarding how these conveniences are brought to our eyes (and I’m not talking about how screens turn on/off!). Remember those trillions and trillions of gigabytes of data from earlier? There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than we realize; and if we’re being honest, we all know that it would be good to understand what’s going on when we open up our computer or smartphone and type into Google: “Funny Cat Videos”. Or we all would like to know how advertisers seem to ‘read our minds’ with that very specific strawberry patterned cooking apron you were thinking about. Heck, it sure would’ve been nice if that one time I paid for Google to advertise my company’s products for a month, we got more than a single sale from it!

We hear a lot of stuff these days about data privacy, security, SEO, data brokerage, cookies, and more. But researching these topics quickly feels like it’s enrolling in a self-study Ph.D. program without a faculty advisor or anyone to verify that your knowledge is correct. Oh, and by the way, the curriculum changes every 4-6 months, so good luck with keeping your knowledge up to date. Unless you’re a professional in this field, this is a losing battle!

If you’re feeling this way, we here at CyberLight applaud you for even attempting to take the plunge in learning this new way of life. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed or confused, or just want to learn something specific and move on, we’re here for that too. In fact, if you couldn’t tell by the name, CyberLight exists to illuminate the online world, and provide individuals with tools, tips, and resources for doing life in this new global village.

We’ll be focusing on a few key areas at first:

• Data Privacy – guides/tutorials and resources for keeping your data private
• Online Security – everything related to conducting life online in a safe and secure way
• Shopping – how to find great deals

Take a look at our first blog post – Why You Need a Password Manager in 2023.

Thanks for checking out CyberLight. We hope you find plenty of resources and an inviting community here.