Remember, people: Alt-Tab. Or on a Mac: Command-Tab. The fastest way to flip from the web page where you are sneaking in Internet shopping to the spreadsheet your boss thinks you are working on. You, of course, would never do that at work. You also would also never fall victim to online fraud that’s so pervasive this time of year. Computer security experts say on Cyber Monday many people are prone to what literature professors call a “willing suspension of disbelief.” Be careful, that deal might just be too good to be true. 

Shopping headaches today? Take two tablets… or perhaps four. Tablet computers, the ones you control with your fingers, are considered the big gadgets of the season. The fresh iPad from Apple, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Google’s Nexus and the Surface from Microsoft are key options. But which is the best?

Today we start with a story of the sock puppet and the politician that should put us all on alert for digital dirty tricks. In Britain — as in the U.S. — here is a debate about so-called payday loans: how much is too much to charge, for very short-term lending to people with low incomes. A British member of parliament pushing to cap these fees found herself getting attacked on Twitter. But it’s Thanksgiving, so instead of nasty tweets, let’s make the world a better place. One Silicon Valley entrepreneur has a plan: he wants startup companies to engage in more philanthropy.

24 million people are expected to board airplanes this week, and all relying on complex computer systems to keep everything sorted out. As United Airlines combines with Continental, it has been struggling with its computer foul ups, including one last week that delayed more than 600 flights. If you think about it, flying is like factory logistics: everyone’s hoping for just-in-time delivery. The widget you hope gets there “just in time” is yourself.

We’re told the secret of humor is timing. So is the secret of rolling out the Thanksgiving meal. Today’s the day for planning the complicated logistics. A food and recipe website has been running scenarios for the holiday food extravaganza and has a piece of software that could be a guide to making sure everything gets ready on time.

What is the Wii U? The first thing you notice is that the system’s controller is like a tablet computer that supplements the big image the Wii puts onto your TV. And what good is that? Well, the small screen is enough to keep the kids happy if they want to play with the Wii U while the grown ups are watching TV. In a few weeks, Nintendo will unveil software that also lets the second screen act as a souped up remote control for all the digital content, from music to movies.

Federal accident investigators want to bring robotics to the next new car you buy. The National Transportation Safety Board says all cars, not just fancy ones should come equipped with technology that warns of accidents ahead, slows you down if the car in front of you hits the breaks, or helps you stay in your lane when you start weaving.

Get to know this phrase: Cyber Ops. President Obama has reportedly signed a secret directive that sets out rules for how the military might get aggressive in the face of a cyber attack. The order acknowledges that the military response to a computer attack isn’t just battening down the hatches on government computers to stop hackers or malicious software. Washington Post national security correspondent Ellen Nakashima found out about the directive and says it spells out what’s considered defensive versus offensive.  

Did you see how former CIA director David Petraeus communicated electronically with his biographer and paramour? It is an email technique supposedly favored by terrorists to cover their tracks. Open an email account using, for instance, Google’s Gmail.  Write a message, don’t send it. Instead, save it as a draft then give your email password to the recipient. She then logs in and reads the message in the draft email folder. The message seems tougher to trace because it’s never been sent, like leaving a message in an envelope on your desk and giving the recipient a key to your office.