Connecting to open Wi-Fi networks, like those in coffee shops, can leave you open to all sorts of attacks.
To keep your personal information safe, a free app, Cloak, encrypts and reroutes all your traffic through a VPN whenever you connect to a public Wi-Fi network.
There are a lot of things you can do to stay safe on public Wi-Fi networks, such as using HTTPS whenever possible. One of the best ways to secure your browsing is with a virtual private network, although that can take a lot of work to set up.
Cloak makes the process as dead simple as it could possibly be: whenever you're connected to an open Wi-Fi network, it connects you to its VPN service for totally secure browsing. It could not be any simpler to use.
All you need to do is sign up for Cloak's service, then download and install Cloak on your Mac.
After you log in, it sits in your menu bar and waits for open Wi-Fi networks, securing you when you connect to one. If you have an iOS device, you can install the mobile app and just flip a switch in your device's settings to turn the VPN on.
You can use the service for free for up to two hours or 1GB per month, whichever comes first - which isn't that bad for most of us.
For those of you that frequent coffee shops a bit more often, you can upgrade your account to a premium one, starting at $US8 ($NZ9.75) a month.
Of course, if you already subscribe to a VPN service, you can use the similar Sidestep app (chetansurpur.com/projects/sidestep/) to perform a similar function.
Cloak itself is a free download for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
Follow the link below to read more: www.getcloak.com/
The app is available in the iTunes app store.
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Don't want to be reminded you strapped your bike to the car roof by the sound of a sickening crunch when you pull into the garage?
Look to your phone.
It comes a little too late for Bill Pauling. Returning from one of many bike trips last summer, he tried to pull into his garage to disastrous results for the vehicle, bicycle and garage door. His fellow cyclists could empathise: Two of them had done the same thing.
"It turned out that a lot of people had done it," he said. "The roof racks are so secure that you forget that the bikes are up there. And not just bikes; it happens with canoes and kayaks and cargo holders, too."
Pauling figured that forgetful folks like him needed a warning system. With the help of Nils Hansen they came up with Bikesavr. Users activate it when they load their bikes (or whatever) atop their cars. As they approach their homes, the app reminds them that the roof rack is in use.
"This was the first app for us, so it was a great learning experience," he said. "Using the app is fairly simple, but making it turned out to be much harder than we expected. Each phone, each network and each operating system is a little different. We did a lot of driving around, checking to make sure it would work everywhere."
The app launched two weeks ago, is available for US99 from www.bikesavr.com.
"We realise that at that price, we're going to have to sell quite a few of them to recoup our money," he said. "We probably won't [break even], but it was more about doing a fun project with a friend than making money."
Besides, even if they end up in the red, he figures it probably still will be cheaper than the cost of another rack-related garage mishap.
