Leo tried out a new app called TalkaTone, and he's wondering if it'll become the future of cellphones. It may be that phones will essentially come with huge data plans and internet enabled, and if you want to make a call, you use the VOIP connection. Users must have a Google Voice account for Talkatone, but he says it works great.
Adam started a movie video podcast with his daughter called Piper's Picks TV and they've been doing it for years. They're moving to YouTube because they can monetize it, but YouTube is starting to take down videos because of complaints from others.
Tammy is going to Europe for about 8 months and wants to know if the SlingBox would be a good way to watch US TV. Leo advises getting the Slingbox 500. It has HDMI, HD, and WiFi and it's easy to set up. And yes, they'd be great for accessing a DVR at home while they're traveling. As long as they have an internet connection, they can access the Slingbox.
No, that's something different. Leo says VPNs (virtual private networks) are designed to allow users to connect securely to their own network while on the road. It provides secure access to an internal network. Leo recommends HotSpot VPN for that.
Wanting to be "your daily newspaper," Facebook has introduced another update to its design. Leo says that it'd be nice if they'd just stop messing with it for a year. Leo says the problem is that his newsfeed is filled with advertising now, and that's annoying. He likes the fact that the photos are larger, which is rather similar to Google+. Those wanting to try out the new design can scroll down to the bottom of the link above and get on the waiting list.
Walt bought a Foscam security camera that he wants to access online. Leo says that Foscam has a built in web server, so he can navigate to it online. It's inside his personal network, though. His choices are to DMZ (or port forward) the Foscam which would open up a port for the Foscam to be accessed. The downside is that TimeWarner may change the personal and public address from time to time. That's where noISP comes in.
When Patsy tries going to google.com, her network goes to "Facebook" with a message "unverified server" on all her devices. Leo says there's a chance her home network has been hacked. She should not log into Facebook. It makes sense that Google gets redirected so she can't figure out a solution to her problem. The chatroom says that it could be her DNS server. They advise going to http://74.125.224.72/, and if Google pops up, then there's a DNS issue. If it doesn't, then it may be the DNS has been changed on the router.
Jennifer lives out in the sticks and has no Internet access. Can she use her cellular internet with her computer? Her reception isn't that great for 3G. Leo says that's not going to work. Latency and lag will kill her internet service over 3G. And the bandwidth caps aren't really worth it either, especially if she's gaming. There are some solutions like Satellite - Dish offers 4G speeds for about $30 a month. Wild Blue Excede is another.
Hank is a photographer and he was locked out of his Facebook account for posting images he shot at an airshow. Leo says that it may be there was a copyright complaint and Facebook erred on the side of caution. He advises to appeal the Facebook decision. This is one of the reasons why professionals should have a personal webpage to post everything on, and just use social media for marketing purposes. He should always drive traffic to his own portals, that way he's not reliant on Facebook.
Leo says to first make sure all the filters are installed. If that isn't the issue, then it may be the wiring in the house. The lines could have noise. The phone companies hate DSL Extreme because they are forced to work with them. So they'll likely blame DSL Extreme, even if it's actually the phone company's fault. If it's anything outside the house, it's AT&Ts problem and by law, they have to fix it.
