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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October 27, 2010

The Next Generation of Home Alarm Systems – Alarm.com & APX Alarms
When you first move into a house, one thing that you should first consider is a home alarm system. Often, various companies will have special deals for new homeowners and you should definitely consider having one installed if you have the opportunity. Typically, the "special" you will get is for a base system and then some additional monitoring points like…
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August 30, 2010

The BACtrack S75 Pro Pocket Breathalyzer – Don’t Leave Home Without One!
About a month ago, I did something pretty dumb. I had too much to drink at a neighbors house and on the way (WALKING) home at 2am, I tripped and fell in my driveway, landing on my forehead, which resulted in 18 stitches and a wonderful scar that I will use to for "crazy drinking" stories and kid lectures for…
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July 13, 2010

Laptop Got Stolen? Send PREY Out to Find It, for Free!
I'm sure that many of you have heard of the Find My iPhone service for MobileMe that helps you locate missing iPhones or iPads. Or the equivalent on Windows Mobile phones called My Phone. And I'm sure you know about LoJack that helps you locate stolen cars. LoJack also offers a service for computers as well, for a price. There…
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March 29, 2010

SchlageLINK Gives You Security & Access, Even When You Aren’t Home
Keys are a pain! I have so many keys on my keychain that I feel like a locksmith and I'm not even sure what keys go to what lock. But you can't just throw them away, right? And, keys get lost. To top it off, they are simply and completely low tech. Also, the more people you have in the…
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March 4, 2010

Are You Prepared for Disasters? The Cast of Dads Discuss This in Episode #11
With the recent tragic disasters striking around the globe recently, when the Cast of Dads got together to record Episode #11, we spent a majority of the show talking about the serious subject of family preparedness when a catastrophe strikes. It's a touchy subject to discuss, actually, because when you listen to others, you realize how far behind you might…
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February 9, 2010

Special Thanks to Life360.com for the Blogger Spotlight & a Critical Family Service!
Life360 is a site that deals with ensuring the safety of your family and protecting your assets (people & property). Obviously, this is something very important to me and my wife so as a service on its own, it definitely deserves a thorough discussion. However, in this case, I wanted to mention something else: one of their editors contacted me…
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January 30, 2010

20+ Ways to Harden and Secure Your WordPress Blog
Recently, some high-profile blogs that are running WordPress have been hacked or hijacked by malicious users (e.g., TechCrunch). The worst thing is having to try to recover from such an event, you not only have to repair your site, but also your reputation. So, spending a little bit of time trying to prevent or at least make it a bit…
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December 21, 2009

WARNING: WP-Polls WordPress Poll Plugin Can Be Exploited
Last week, I ran a giveaway which, because of a variety of reasons, I had to cancel and declare "null & void". While I won't go into the details, I did want to bring some actions to the forefront, especially if you are using the WordPress plugin called "WP-Polls" which is a great plugin that provides users with the ability…
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December 17, 2009

HighTechDad’s Reasons for Canceling the HP TouchSmart Giveaway
This is a copy of my original post that appeared on Blogspot while my site was undergoing a Denial of Service (DDoS) and botnet attack. The original post appears here. TITLE:Â NULL & VOID: Statement and Winner Announcement from HighTechDad on HP TouchSmart Giveaway UPDATED #2 @12:20pm (Pacific): I made a huge mistake here. Popular Vote giveaways tend to not be…
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December 4, 2009

Tech News: IE Hole Plugged, BitLocker Cracked, New Twitter Mobile & Bing Bombs for 1/2 Hour
Happy Friday all! Here's what grabbed my attention this morning in Tech News: Microsoft to plug critical IE hole targeted by exploit code "Microsoft said on Thursday that it will offer six updates for 12 vulnerabilities next week including a critical hole in Internet Explorer that affects Windows 7 and other current versions of the operating system for which exploit…
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December 2, 2009

Tech News: Bing Maps Beta, AT&T/Verizon Not Suing, Blue Sky of Life for Microsoft & Cheap Apple Tablet?!
More fun from the tech world! Sometimes it is hard to keep up! Bing Maps Out Your Tweets with Revamped Bing Maps "Microsoft has been trying to take down Google Search by not only advertising like mad, but by launching feature after feature. Now Bing is looking to outdo one of Googleâ€™s best features: Google Maps. And itâ€™s making its…
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