My Chromecast Experience, a Tech review of it!

Suggest Retail Price 35$

Disclaimer: All Links on this post are affiliate links, I believe in this product and fully recommend it to my friends and family.   If you have a problem with these links please do not click on the links!

Chromecast is Amazing!

I got my Google Chromecast from RadioShack, but you can also buy the Chromecast from Best Buy, and Amazon.com (Affiliate Link).  Which is where you could possibly get it cheaper than I did.  I paid the full 35$ for mine because they had it there ready for anyone to buy. You will need a Television W/ HDMI Inputs (Affiliate Link) to be able to use this device and I must say it works really well once you have it configured.  

Some Specs for you:

• Supports Netflix, YouTube, HBO GO, Hulu Plus, Pandora, and Google Play Movies and Music mobile apps as well as select content through Chrome browser, works with recommended modem
• Box includes Chromecast, HDMI extender, USB power cable, and power adapter
• Easy setup: Plug into any HDTV and connect to your home WiFi network
• Works with Android, iOS, Chrome for Mac, and Chrome for Windows
• Stream online video, music to your TV using your smartphone, tablet, or laptop; Available for Windows computers running Windows 7 or higher

Portability is Excellent!

I was able to move the Chromecast from one room to another and not have to worry about setting up the device again.   You can stream movies that you buy from Google Play to the Chromecast and be able to watch it on the big screen.   From even my small cell phone,  I can stream movies to the Chrome cast with ease.  I have been using my Acer 200 10.1 Tablet to stream to the Television.  You can however use any device that has the Chromecast app on it like the IOS and even Chrome.   I could even use my Chromebook to stream whatever I want to the Television.  As long as you have the Chromecast extension and have it setup properly, I see no major problems.

Setting up the Chromecast

The process of setting up the Chromecast on your devices were simple and quite pleasure.   The only hitch that I came in was the downloading of the updates to Chromecast.   That took the most time.   It took me around 10 mins because of my connection to the internet.   If you have a faster connection it could be faster or slower depending on your internet speed.   You can name your chromecast anything you want and yo really do not need an internet conenction to stream to the device.   If your like me downloading movies and then watching them when you get home, this is an excellent option for those who want to watch movies on the big screen.   For 35.00$ (29.99 Right Now) (Amazon Affiliate Link), It was a bargain for me.   You really do not need an internet connection do watch movies you purchase on Google Play store and or Music.   You just need to have the App and the Chromecast device.   I found I made the best purchase possible, for the money!   You really should try it yourself.  

Secure Browser Alternatives for browsing safely on the web!

Cyber Security Awareness Month

If you didn’t know October is Cyber Security Awareness Month and I wanted to give out some ways to keep you safe on the internet.   I know I am not the only to suggest some of this but if you didn’t know please don’t use Internet Explorer to web browse.   If should only be used for updating Windows and that is the extent of what it should be used for it.

Is Chrome more secure than Safari?

Safari, to my knowledge as a few vulnerabilities and thus you should be keep away from using it.   I won’t say much about this because we never really know who is actually going to use these but you can bet hackers know of ways to get into your system.

Which Browser is best?

Any browser you think is safe is probably going to be wrong.   I am going to tell you which browsers are safer but none of them are a 100 percent safe.   Each one of them has good and bad but I am going to at least guide you in the right direction.  

Chrome Browser

Chrome is one of the ones, I do recommend but it shouldn’t just be used by itself.   You should add a few extensions to better protect yourself:

• Adblock Plus — Good to protect yourself from those annoying advertising.   (Please be aware that I use advertising on my site and that is how I pay for my hosting and other things like that.   Please consider white listing my website to allow advertising.)
• Lastpass — This is one of those that I recommend on a constant basis because it makes sure you create a strong password that you don’t have to remember.   It helps make sure no account password is ever the same!
• ScriptSafe — Keep unwanted scripts from playing when you visit a website!  Certain web sites should be allowed and white listed, like mine. 
• Dolphin Connect — I use the Dolphin browser on my Android Device and this is one of those ways to keep track of all your bookmarks.   Not really security related but it is very useful!

These are just a few that I recommend when you use the Chrome Browser.

FireFox Browser

FireFox is another one that I recommend when you are looking to browse the web securely.  Although it isn’t 100% secure because none are.   Some of the Add On’s you should add to your FireFox Browser are:

• NoScript Security Suite — It is another No Script app that lets you prevent unwanted scripts from running! 
• Lastpass — Just like Chrome, it helps keep your passwords safe and helps you keep all passwords unique!
• Adblock Plus — Just like Chrome this can help keep those annoying advertisements from showing but please remember to white list sites that do need to advertise and do not use annoying advertisements!
• Web Of Trust — This is a good add on for Firefox to know which web sites you can trust more with and which ones that are not trustworthy!  (if you like my site could you review it and let people know what you think about this site!)

As you can see these are the two that I always tell my family to install, I usually don’t tell them to install both but one of these two but it is up to you if you want to have both web browsers installed on your system.   It just varies from person to person which one is better for your use!   I am sure there are more addon’s or extensions that you should add but these are the ones I tell my friends and family to install first.  Which one of these two browsers are you favorite?  Leave a comment and tell others!