July 2012

Getting Rugged in the 2012 Nissan Xterra Pro-4X SUV

by Michael Sheehan on July 30, 2012

in Auto, General, Review, Video

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For 7 days, my family and I went off-roading in the 2012 Nissan Xterra Pro-4x SUV way up deep into the mountains with no signs of humanity for miles. Well, actually we didn’t, we only drove over to Monterrey, CA, but in my mind, I imagined taking the Xterra up into the mountains using the 4×4 the entire time. We did head to the beach and got a little sand inside the Xterra but for the most part, we stayed ON the road.

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The Xterra is truly a vehicle built to go camping or up into the snow or somewhere where you can take advantage of the 261 horsepower V6 engine.

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This 4.0 liter, 24-valve engine is made to climb and to haul and the body of the Pro-4X is built to withstand twists and torques of merciless mountain roads as it is built with high-tensile strength steel. And if you get stuck in a particularly awkward situation, you can turn on the locking rear differential to give balanced power to your rear wheels. And you have the option to use a dial to switch from 2-wheel drive to 4×4 High on the fly. If you need to go into 4×4 Lo, you do need to stop.

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Phishing for Your Olympic Spirit – Buyer Beware!

by Michael Sheehan on July 28, 2012

in General, How To, HTD Tech Tip, Opinion, Safety, Security, Software, Trend Micro

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With the Olympics right around the corner, the last thing that you want to think about is security. Well, let me rephrase that, there is plenty of security at the Olympics itself and I’m one of many who sincerely hopes that the 2012 Olympics in London goes smoothly and safely. Go Team USA! But, if you are traveling or thinking about doing anything eCommerce-related, specifically regarding the Olympics, you need to be sure to follow this handyman’s adage, specifically “measure twice and cut once” but in this case, it’s “verify twice and order once.”

If you have already booked your travel, hotel and all related items and you have physical confirmation that all of the items that you have purchased are in order, you probably are ok. What is more concerning is the fact that many new sites are suddenly popping up on the internet related to the 2012 Olympics…and what’s worse is quite a number of these sites are fraudulent and trying to capture your personal information including financial items. And the ways that these fraudulent sites are going after you and your confidential information are getting more sophisticated each day.

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As part of the year-long program called “The Digital Joneses” that I’m doing with Trend Micro and several other parent bloggers, we are presented with themes in the form of challenges each month that we undergo and then write about. July’s theme is about raising people’s awareness about online security, the prevalence of scammers, and phishing campaigns as they all relate to the 2012 Summer Olympics. For me, as I have written about phishing scams in the past, I have taken this awareness challenge to heart personally as it is really a clear and present danger to all of us. In fact, every day I get phishing emails and my wife sometimes calls me to ask about some email that she has gotten that sounded odd in one way or another.

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How To Create a Bootable Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) Installation DVD or USB Drive [Updated]

by Michael Sheehan on July 25, 2012

in Apple, Application, Gadgets, General, How To, HTD Tech Tip, Software

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As many people know, Apple’s new Operating System, OS 10.8 – a.k.a. “Mountain Lion,” is officially available for purchase and download. Just head over to the Apple App Store on your supported Mac and purchase and install Mountain Lion now! As part of the upgrade process, your Emergency Recovery Boot Partition will be upgraded to support re-installs of Mountain Lion without the need for an external installer. But what if you want to install Mountain Lion on another computer (that is supported)? There is a way to easily do this, but remember, you should only do this with computers that you own or manage (and you wouldn’t need to do this if you had all of your computers use your Apple ID in the App Store – you would just install right from there).

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So, if you do want to create an installer DVD (and you could do this with a USB drive as well), here are the steps to do so.

NOTE: The expanded size of the Mountain Lion installer will NOT fit on a single-sided DVD. You MUST have a dual-sided DVD in order to burn the DVD.

UPDATE 07.26.12 – Thanks to commenter Benoit’s comments, you can now burn a single-sided/single-layer DVD. See updated instructions below.

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Dropcam HD is the Ultimate Home Monitoring Webcam Now with HD Video, Night Vision & 2-Way Audio

by Michael Sheehan on July 20, 2012

in Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, General, Hardware, Opinion, Review, Security

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Almost two years ago, I reviewed a new wireless webcam that I felt was a clear winner, especially for families – the Dropcam. It was by far the easiest to set up and use, wireless web-connected video streaming camera that I had used. Over the past 2 years, I used it pretty much every day. It allowed me to have eyes at home while I was at work, or to keep and eye and ear on my kids when I was out in the yard or down the street. It was one of those devices that you set up and forget about (in terms of the setup process) but you definitely don’t forget about in your day-to-day activities. Being able to stream live (or recorded) video via the Dropcam web portal or a mobile app was (and still is) pure convenience. So how could they improve on something that I already love and use daily?

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Easy! Come out with a new version with even more (and better) features. And that is what they have done with the new Dropcam HD. And it isn’t just an upgraded version, it is completely redesigned and re-architected from the ground up. And they are smart upgrades as well. Perhaps the best thing is to list out its capabilities and how they compare to the previous version I reviewed, the Dropcam Echo (the audio-enabled version):

  • Easy set up – definitely even easier to set up than the older version
  • Audio – not only can you hear the audio, you can also speak back through the camera
  • Video – you now have a wider range of view, and it’s HD (720p)
  • Night-vision – didn’t exist in the previous version
  • Zooming – anther feature that didn’t exist in the Echo

All of these features and functions are built on top of the existing Dropcam platform which is mobile and web-enabled, as I mentioned, and extremely easy to use and configure.

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Technology & Style Drive the 2012 Ford Edge Limited Edition

July 18, 2012
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I have been test driving Fords for a few years now and I see an evolution happening. Not only are the autos becoming more stylish, the technology driving them is evolving. I remember first testing out the Ford Sync (when it was known more as Microsoft Sync) in the 2010 Ford Flex. Now, Ford has [...]

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How to Use Olympic Gymnastics Scoring to Get Your Kids to do their Chores

July 13, 2012
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There is a lot of excitement in my house with the coming 2012 Olympics in London, mainly because my 10-year-old daughter is a competitive gymnast. We watched the women’s gymnastics trials a few weeks ago, and my daughter has some clear favorites and has been critiquing how each of the gymnasts are doing. But as [...]

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A Vacation on Wheels! Review of the 2012 Volvo C70 Convertible

July 9, 2012
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Test driving cars is truly a lot of fun and only over the past couple of years has it become regular content on HighTechDad.com. For me, I believe that cars are an important part of the family dynamic. They can be both utilitarian but also define the family persona. There may be one car that [...]

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Parents Beware: Instagram & Kik Messenger Are A Dangerous Combination & What Social Dangers to Check For

July 2, 2012
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Over the past few years, I have written about security and safety for the family, especially when it comes to protecting your kids from online predators and social bullies. My wife and I really try to practice what we preach. But as social networks and sharing services evolve, sometimes it is hard to keep up [...]

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