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Tech News & Commentary
Steve calling in via our free App asked: “I’m looking for a security camera system for my house, four maybe six cameras, something I can look at remotely. I have a detached garage so I need something that can do wireless. Anything you suggest wireless, and maybe something I can connect to the TV when I’m at home.”
Wireless systems will cost you more money, if you need at least 6 cameras, you could look into a Lorex Edge+ system, it’s an 8 camera system, but it comes with 4 cameras, and can be connected to a monitor or viewed remotely and it will cost you around $1200. If you can live with just 4 cameras, a similar system from them will cost you $750.
You can also look into getting a cheaper wired system for your main house, and an individual wireless camera for your garage, that way you can save money on the main system, but protect every area.
You can find wired 8-camera systems for around $400, 4-camera systems are available for as little as $250, though you might want to invest a little more for the sake of quality.
Individual wireless cameras can cost you as little as $80, and considering you probably don’t need a $5000 bullet-resistant dome camera for your garage, you can probably stay fairly close to the lower end of the price spectrum.
NextAlarm.com offers individual outdoor wireless cameras for about $230. Logitech also has cameras in the same price range, and both of them will let you access your camera remotely, so whether you’re home or traveling you would be able to check on your garage.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Group Discussion:
Has your Twitter or Facebook account ever been hacked? What did you do to fix it? Share your experience with our audience. We’ll read your comments on the air this week. | In case you didn’t know, Dave’s Twitter was hacked over the weekend. Don’t click on any weird links.
These are some of the responses we shared:
Louise: My Facebook account was hacked by an ex-girlfriend who wrote something on my wall trying to embarrass me. It didn’t work. It just made her look even more stupid than she already is. I changed my password.
Matt: My brother sent me a direct message saying “hey! check out some pictures from our last family vacation.” I naturally thought this WAS my brother and opened it to find nothing, next thing you know I’m sending out these profane messages. A quick change of my password and a few apologises later, everything is back to normal.
Trevor: Ya mine was once. But I changed my password and haven’t had any problems since.
Alexandre: I thought it was hacked because he sent me a very profane private message lol. *No offense taken
Ellen: Yes I was phished. Changed my password.
Christine: My account sent out Direct Messages to all my friends with links that apparently installs some kind of backdoor to their account as well. Some friends clicked on the link and got stopped by their anti-malware. Others clicked and it didn’t look like anything happened, but then their account started sending out similar Direct Messages. When I changed my password, the nastiness stopped. Come to think of it … I may have seen your Twitter Direct Message and clicked on it. Hmmmm, wonder why my anti-malware didn’t stop me?
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Wayne in Fairbanks, Alaska listening on KFBX 970 AM answered our question about whether he’d buy Facebook stock: “No. Hell, no. I wouldn’t buy any Facebook stock. As far as I’m concerned it has no value at all. Even from an advertising standpoint. I think the stock market investors are being led down the fantasy lane. I wouldn’t invest a nickel in it.”
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Jamie in Tampa, Florida listens on UpSnap asked: “I’m looking into buying an HD Radio. I’m not sure how much you guys know about HD Radio. What models would you suggest?”
The only question we have is are you looking for an HD-Radio for your car or just a home receiver.
For your car we could recommend you look at the Kenmore- KDC HD545U. Some sites rate this unit highly among its competitors and is somewhat reasonably priced under 140 dollars. However, if you’re also looking for a Bluetooth interface as well that will unfortunately cost extra. But as an HD radio this unit appears to be very popular. Also products from JVC, Pioneer, and Sony are of high quality and they all have a solid reputation for making a good product.
Home tuners are a little harder to find, and way more expensive. However we found one that was highly rated and was around 100 dollars. The Sony XDR-F1HD. This receiver looks like your standard clock radio, but has VERY high quality audio as well as the other HD radio functions such as iTunes tagging, and purchasing, for all the songs you like and want to keep on your MP3 player.
The IHD 171 might be another good option for you as well, because this model has a dock for your iPhone or iPod that allows you to play music from those devices as well as the radio. This unit is also priced around 100 dollars.
The HD Radio website actually has a very good buyer’s guide to help you make the right decision based on your needs.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
Jeff Blyskal, Senior Editor – Consumer Reports
Want to save money on your next cable, Internet, or phone bill? Consumer Reports recently published an article with some very helpful tips.
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT with Rob: Tech Gifts for Grads
A lot of smartphone and tablet owners face a common problem: not enough storage! It’s very easy to fill up those 8, 16, 32 or even 64-gigabytes. While there are some cloud services you can use, others would prefer a USB storage approach. Kingston Technology, a company known for flash storage cards, has created a mobile storage companion for your mobile devices. Check out the Kingston Wi-Drive.
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 You can browse through pictures, watch videos, or stream music. It supports up to 3 devices simultaneously. The Wi-Drive has a built-in rechargeable battery. It charges while it’s connected to your computer via USB or use the included charger. Wi-Drive is available in 3 different storage capacities: 16, 32 or 64GB like the one we evaluated for this Product Spotlight. Prices vary online. For example, our sponsor Newegg.com sells the 16GB Wi-Drive for only $50.
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Zack, Phoenix, AZ listening on KXEM 1010am asked: “I recently just got an iTunes error and I don’t know how to fix it. The error number is 1601. PLEASE HELP!”
Have a look at Apple’s Support Page where they list a solution for this error.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Blue Microphones: Yeti Pro — A professional USB and XLR microphone. Great for podcast recordings!
Kingston: 16GB SD memory cards and a 64GB Wi-Drive
Radio Shack: Enercell Universal Portable Power chargers
ZoneAlarm (Check Point Software): Download keys for ZoneAlarm Extreme Security