Weekend project: 5 simple ways to make your home safer
When building a home security system, every little bit helps. You can make significant changes, like setting up outdoor cameras with facial recognition. This helps you spot familiar faces crossing your street every day.
Or you can make minor tweaks, like recycling old tech for security purposes. For example, you can turn a dusty old phone you no longer use into a surveillance tool. More on that later.
Thanks to our sponsor, SimpliSafe, we have a few tips to help you feel safer around the home. Keep reading for five easy ways to boost your home’s security setup.
1. Turn your old cell phones into security cameras
Security cameras are expensive. The outdated phone in your junk drawer is 100% free. Instead of selling your old phone or trading it in for less than you spent to buy it, try this DIY trick instead.
Turning your old phone into a security camera requires no fancy hardware or tech know-how. You just need to download a security camera app on your phone. Look for something with motion detection and alert features.
Also, when looking for apps, check if they store footage remotely or locally. Your choice of an app depends on how much storage space your old phone has. We recommend Critter.Camera, which also lets you turn old tablets and computers into security cameras.
Tap or click here for a step-by-step guide to turning your used tech into security cameras.
2. Don’t post pictures of your key or your home address on social media
Sure, you might feel proud of yourself for buying your dream home. That might make you want to snap a picture of your key with the caption, “Finally bought my home!” But before you upload your triumphant moment onto social media, hold your horses.
You’re giving burglars the key to your house. Or, at least, the key to creating the key to your home. That’s right: Thieves can make a copy of your house key based on a single picture.
Security how-to: Clever way to protect your packages from porch pirates
If you’ve never had a package stolen off your porch, consider yourself lucky. According to Security.org, nearly 49 million Americans have had this unfortunate experience within the past year alone.
Most people can’t stand guard 24/7, so Amazon built a package-protecting feature into its lauded Ring doorbell line of home security devices. Tap or click here for ways to extend your video doorbell’s battery life.
3 ways to get more life out of your video doorbell battery (and 1 way you're killing it)
Before video doorbells, you had to peek through peepholes to see strangers standing on your front porch. If vengeful exes or armed robbers are waiting on the other side of the door, standing too close can put you in danger. Luckily, with video doorbells, you can see who wants to come in from your smartphone.
More than just video calls: 8 new uses for your webcam
Thanks to the pandemic, video calls have become more common than ever before. People who never even made a video call are now using the tech to keep in touch for work, school, or simply a virtual happy hour.
You probably notice the difference in care among your friends, family and coworkers when on a video call. Aside from how much effort they put into their clothing (nothing wrong with pajamas for a casual chat), some people seem to look better. You don’t need a makeover or filters to improve your virtual appearance. Tap or click here for Kim’s tips on looking good for video calls.
Some Amazon Echos have a creepy but useful new feature
The phrase Big Brother is watching has been around for decades. But with today’s technological advances, this phrase is becoming more realistic. Tap or click here to see how someone can track you with a Tile or AirTag.
Security tip: How to choose and install cameras that upload right to the cloud
Picture this: You’re sleeping soundly in your bed one night. Suddenly, shattering glass jerks you awake. If a burglar’s combing through your home and snatching up your valuables, your mind’s probably racing 100 miles per hour.
Add peace of mind to your trips with these amazing dashcam deals
Accountability is everything when it comes to driving. That’s the reason cars come equipped with mirrors, turn signals and other non-verbal ways to communicate with other drivers.
But when an accident occurs, it’s your word versus the other person’s. Your insurance can mediate between both parties, but in a complicated crash, it ultimately becomes a game of he-said-she-said. Tap or click here to see how Google’s new app can detect car crashes and call 911.
4 settings you must change on your video doorbell
Many moons ago, we used to have peepholes. Kids, ask your parents about how they’d look through a little hole to see who was at the door to make sure it was safe to open the door.
In 2013, inventor Jamie Siminoff brought his idea for a video doorbell to TV’s “Shark Tank” hoping for a deal. All the sharks flatly rejected him, saying it was a dumb idea. But the product, Ring, became a huge hit and Amazon purchased his company in 2018 for over $1 billion.