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Smart Home tips.

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Smart home technology is becoming ever more popular.  But everyone forgets about one key component that can ruin your experience.  Your home router.   Most people who are not tech savvy use their providers router.   These are typically capable of handling up to 6 devices without major slow downs.   Once you add that 7th device, things become sluggish.  Add 8 and your network may seem downright slow.    My home has about 18 devices 7-12 of which are active all the time.   I use a mid-high end ASUS router with 8 antenna and 3 networks across multiple channels.   I divide my traffic up by putting TV's, Lights, and other appliance types on 1 network.    I put computers, desktop and laptops on the second wireless network. And my phones and kids tablets are on the third network.   I also have an Akita Smart home Monitoring device in addition to my routers packet inspection and firewall features.    I also enable all the default firewall capabilities of every device (where applicable).  F
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How to deal with cyber bullies.

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So the SINGLE, MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO, IS TO LOVE YOUR CHILD UNCONDITIONALLY. Tell them you love them, EVERY, SINGLE, DAY! Talk to them and make sure they know you trust them.   Establish this trust EARLY. In case you aren't familiar with me, I have a degree in psychology, 20 years of cyber security experience, father  of an autistic child and another on the way. Be aware of what they are and are not watching on TV, tablet, and telephone. Show them this!  This video is POWERFUL.  These same tactics work in real life and online. Show it to them several times. Will the tools in this video work every time?  Probably not, but it will MOST of the time.  The most powerful tool you can teach your children is KNOWLEDGE.  Understanding.   Most kids have been bullied, at some point in their lives.  I was rarely a victim of bullying because I was the second tallest/biggest kid in my class up until about 8th grade.  Even in high school it happened to me once and it bug
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What is Cyber Bullying?

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Cyber Bullying is defined as: W illful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices ” Harm in this instances means emotional abuse.   For example, someone posts an embarrassing photo and then bully's make hurtful comments repeatedly.   Cyber bullying comes in many forms.   Emotional abuse through social media. Public shaming Creating/spreading rumors about people online or through instant messages Sending threats or mean messages to people directly. Creating a fake person in order to use that "person" to be hurtful to another.  Some facts about Cyber bullying Half of all adolescents and teens have reported cyber bullying.  About half have participated in cyber bullying in one form or another Only 1 in 10 report the cyber bullying to a parent or guardian.  Cyber bullying makes someone 2 to 9 times more likely to commit suicide.  Girls are more likely than boys to be victims of cyber bullyin
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Tech Toys Go Pro Hero 5

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You may have noticed I rarely post about the cutting edge tech toys.  I don't spend money on most cutting edge items because I don't have it to throw around. I have had the GoPro Hero 5 for almost a year now and I purchased it about 2 months before the Hero 6 was announced so I paid full price. It is a great action camera.   It is fantastic for under water/beach/wet filming.  It's also very small and light weight so it is easy to transport and attach to things in a variety of ways.   The water slides right off the lens when you transition from underwater to air.  It is very light, has a huge variety of accessories through 3rd parties.  The digital stabilization isn't bad but it isn't spectacular.   It is better than my MotoX camera phone and does take good pictures but if you want pro quality smoothness you will need a Gimbal. If you use the GoPro stabilization and some video editing stabilization it can make for fairly smooth video. Also you will want to ge
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Is it possible to have to much security?

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Part of me really wants to say No, there is no such thing as to much security.  But the reality is that there is such a thing as too much security! What, but in this age of digital everything, Equifax, target, Facebook hacks/leaks how can there be too much security? Simple! When it drastically impedes your ability to do your fu(k!ng job, it is to much security. I was troubleshooting a networking issues for my day job a couple months back and it took 8 people at 6 companies to identify on which network segment and what piece of equipment was the source of the problem.  There were, routers, switches, and firewalls from different vendors and different networks all looking at packet traces to figure out which stupid piece of equipment was responsible because there were so many different layers of security and routing.  (8 firewalls in between.) This is what I'm talking about.   IT WAS NOT NECESSARY.  All those extra layers of firewall and routing were completely unnecessary f
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How to copy large files faster.

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Over many years I have tried dozens of different methods to copy large amounts of files. On home small networks windows drag and drop is sufficient.  But when you start moving 500+gigs and 100k files, you want something more robust. The clear winner is still Robocopy. If you haven't used Robocopy or are afraid of the command line, use winRobocopy.  It is free and builds the command line for you. The reason I recommend Robocopy is MULTI-THREADED.  Windows Drag and Drop uses between 1-8 threads to copy files. Robocopy can be set as high as 128.  This can change 1 day copies to just a few hours. This means it uses 128 channels so is effectively copying up to 128 files or segments of files simultaneously.  There are many additional switches you can use and this GUI makes it really easy to build commands and then copy and paste into the command line.  http://www.upway2late.com/#/projects/winrobocopy  #sysadmin #techtools #techutilities
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Your phones are tracking you.

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Did you know that your phones can track you even when you have the GPS OFF. Even with both GPS and WIFI off, many phones can and do still track your location.  You agreed to this in the terms and conditions of use when you didn't read them and signed your contract.  All modern cell phones are capable of this, and it will depend on the company how and when they collect and use that data.  SO be aware that you are being watched.  This is part of big data.  Tracking your movements and using your location to target advertising to you based on your preferences and your location. The goal for businesses is to sell you more things and make money off that data. 
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