“Safety” collection
Explore essential technology and practical strategies designed to enhance personal and household safety in both physical and digital spaces. From emergency preparedness equipment to health monitoring tools, these reviews focus on keeping your loved ones protected.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →March 12, 2012
PocketFinder – A Cellular & GPS Locating Device That You Throw in a Bag and Start Tracking Your Loved Ones
Technology is really great sometimes. Not only have devices gotten smaller, they have become more powerful and more useful. Think about cell phones - do you remember the size of them back in the 80's? They were simply HUGE and clunky. GPS technology has gone the same way and are now so small, they can be integrated into a smartphone.…
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March 6, 2012
How Internet Security Savvy Are You?
If you have read any of my articles in the past, I find it extremely important to use technology as a tool to better your life. Some of those "tools" are for entertainment, and others are for security and safety of yourself and your family. Entertainment is obviously fun, as it should be, but security and safety is not as…
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March 2, 2012
Guest on Intel’s Digital Nibbles Podcast – Talking about Consumer Clouds
Recently, I was invited to be a guest on a podcast (sponsored by Intel) called Digital Nibbles and the topic was Consumer Clouds. Digital Nibbles is a podcast that discusses data centers, cloud computing and other topics around big data, DevOps, mobile and IT in the enterprise. As an interesting twist to the traditional corporate subject matter, we turned to…
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October 25, 2011
How Ford is Saving Teenage Lives, One Person at a Time – “Driving Skills for Life”
I'm scared. In 1 year, I will have a teenager. In 4 years, I will have a teenage driver. And I have two more daughters after that. Just writing the past few sentences has given me a few more grey hairs. While automobile safety has improved dramatically over the past few years, so have distractions. It's a leapfrog race to…
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August 5, 2011
10 Ideas for Facebook Parental Controls and What You Can Do Until They Are There
Facebook needs parental controls - although I will bet that if you ask kids between the ages of 13 and 16, they would say that it definitely does NOT need ANY type of parental control whatsoever. But, being a parent and a bit of a social media junkie, I know that something is definitely needed. Children are simply too young…
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June 8, 2011
Tips for Improving your Child’s Safety Online – An Interview with AVG Internet Security
Last week I spent some time speaking about Internet Security for your kids with Tony Ascombe, "Ambassador" of Free Products for AVG, an Internet Security firm specializing in keeping your business and home safe from Internet threats. My feeling is that these types of discussions should take place regularly, and not just with security experts, but also in the home…
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June 6, 2011
Hey, No Messaging While Driving, Unless It’s Your Car Doing It – Ford Safety Technology Preview
Last week, Robert Scoble (Scobleizer.com), Mark Hachman (PCMag.com) Xavier Lanier (Notebooks.com & GottaBeMobile.com ) and I squished into a Ford Explorer to get a preview of some new safety technology that Ford and other auto manufacturers are starting to develop. With this new tech, appropriately outfitted cars actually "talk" to each other, many times a second, sending information about speed,…
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May 25, 2011
WARNING: Mac Malware Variant “MAC Defender” Even More Crafty – No Password Install Required
And you thought that Macs and Apple products were immune to virus and malware threats? Think again! At the beginning of May, Intego, a developer for internet security and privacy software for Macs, identified a pretty scary piece of malware, dubbed the "MAC Defender" (also now has names like "MacSecurity" and "MacProtector" and "MacDefender"). What is malware? It's essentially a…
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May 16, 2011
Traditional Fans are NOT Safe, Fans Have Evolved, And Now I’m a Fan of the Dyson “Air Multiplier” Fan
When you think of Dyson, you think of those techie-looking vacuums that don't have a bag and look like they are an exercise of a engineering design firm coupled with a SciFi set designer. But, did you know that they also made fans? Enter the Dyson Air Multiplier. These aren't ordinary fans though, and I would expect nothing less from…
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May 10, 2011
Ooma VoIP Adds Innovative Feature to Assist in 911 Notifications
Today, I learned that Ooma, a VoIP company who I recently reviewed, has added a pretty interesting feature to their telephony service. In the past, there has always been a bit of a question around the reliability of 911 calls using a phone service that uses an Internet connection for it "digital dialtone". Advances have been made and now most…
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April 25, 2011
10 Days in a Lincoln MKX – A Crossover SUV with an Almost Perfect Blend of Technology and Luxury
It seems that I have started sort of an annual tradition every Spring Break. For the past two years, Ford Motors has graciously lent me a car to enjoy with my family during our vacation. Each year thus far, we have driven from San Francisco to Los Angeles and back again. And each year, the car that we used has…
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March 16, 2011
IMPORTANT: Enable SSL on your Social Media Accounts NOW! – Twitter and Facebook
As hacking into people's accounts has become a "clear and present danger", it's important to note TWO quick and easy configuration settings that you can now enable within both Facebook and now Twitter that can make your Social Media account just a bit more secure. While it won't protect you from other types of hack attacks, phishing or other social…
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