Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Most laptops come with built-in webcams these days, but some older models don’t. And unless the monitor has one built-in, desktop PCs don’t typically come with them either.
If you ever find yourself in need of a webcam but you don’t happen to own one, a nifty free download called DroidCam will let you use an most any smartphone or tablet as a webcam for your Windows or Linux PC.
Question from Callie: I bought a new Windows laptop (an Acer) that has a camera built into it.
I don’t ever plan to use the camera for anything and I’d like to completely disable it.
I don’t want to just prevent apps from accessing the camera. I want to disable it completely.
Is it possible to do that? If it is, can you tell me how to do it? [Read more…]
Do you have a laptop or desktop PC that’s equipped with a webcam?
How about a baby monitor or some security cameras that are connected to your home’s Wi-Fi network?
If so, people from all over the world might be spying on your family at this very minute! And I’m not just saying that for dramatic effect – it’s absolutely true. [Read more…]
Question from Alice T.: Rick, I have an HP laptop running Windows 7, and I have a question for you.
I read somewhere that hackers can take control of your webcam and make videos and take pictures of you without your knowledge.
I NEVER use a webcam for anything so I’d like just disable it completely and be done with it. How do I do that?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
If you have a spare laptop and webcam laying around your house, you have at your fingertips all you need to set up an outstanding free baby monitor.
It doesn’t have to be a top-of-the-line laptop either. You can easily use one that has been sitting on a shelf gathering dust for a couple of years (as long as it still works).
All you need to do is open a free Google + account to use as the digital “connection” between your spare laptop’s webcam and your smart phone. Here’s how to set it up, step-by-step: [Read more…]