Every year at this time I sit down to pen a piece looking back at the top technical news of the year just past.

Last week I began relating my experience using a program “uBlock Origin” (not to be confused with the similarly-named “uBlock”), the function of which is to block advertising from appearing on web sites. 

There is a war going on!  It is a titanic struggle between advertisers who want to put their message in front of as many people as they can, and consumers who do not want to be bothered.  Advertisers have resorted to in-your-face ads that cover the whole screen and are often difficult or impossible to close.  Computer users have then resorted to using software to block ads.

As this column goes to press the sordid quadrennial political circus north of the border is thankfully coming to a close. 

Way back in the 1960s when I started helping out around my dad’s camera shop I quickly learned what it was like to deal with people who had been ripped off elsewhere. 

Readers need to know that this week it was fully my intention to cease and desist excoriating Microsoft Corporation, at least temporarily, over its botched introduction of Windows 10 but an item in the news is too important to let pass without comment.