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Review: SecuritySpy
In our last house, I considered adding security cameras as my wife was a teacher in the area and some of the students knew where she lived. We all know that not every student is perfect and we wouldn't be surprised if a student toilet papered our house. This, luckily never happened. However, neighborhood kids did toilet paper our house once and someone (or a group of individuals) graffitied a number of houses including ours with anti-Semitic words and symbols. I never got around to installing cameras and it is probably best that I didn't as the technology has gotten so much better, that the quality of cameras and systems from just a few years ago doesn't compare with what we have today.
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Choosing a software contractor
When companies look to hire a developer to write software, in particular iOS (iPhone and iPad), they expect to hire an expert. However these days everyone and his dog claims to be able write iPhone and iPad software. While this may be true, it is nearly impossible to know if you're getting a good product. Apps may have great visual design, but in some cases it is just a pretty face. So how do you pick a developer that is going to produce a quality product that is stable, maintainable, and works well. Many projects get passed from developer to developer, so having good quality code to begin with, the app will have a higher change that it can continue without being completely rewritten.
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Money hungry cable company
As most tech people have heard, Time Warner Cable has raised its modem lease fees from $4 per month to $6 per month. While I think that is steep, I don't really have a problem with it as it doesn't affect me. When they started charging the modem lease, I spent $25 for a used cable modem (I have a standard Internet package, so a DOCIS 2.0 modem works fine). My father has been paying the lease fee and asked me about it now that it is going up. The difference with him is that he has telephone service through Time Warner as well. Instead of a standard cable modem, he has an MTA which handles both phone and Internet in one box.
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Using my Bluetooth knowledge
In November, I saw that TI announced a product called SensorTag which is basically a development board for working with Bluetooth 4.0. I was immediately intrigued as iOS 5.0 supports Bluetooth 4.0 (LE) and lets me write apps that aren't certified by Apple via the Made for iPhone program. I ordered the device (it was $25 which I consider a bargain) and then in early December, it arrived.