I love my GPS and use it whenever I’m going to a new place. Last night I had to go photograph a band at a small club in San Francisco so I programmed the address into my GPS. I also used it to get home since the one-way streets in San Francisco can be confusing at night. Like most users I have a place called Home in my GPS address book. Handy, but is that really safe?

There was story in the news a few months back about thieves breaking into cars at long-term airport parking lots and stealing GPS devices from the cars. The thieves know the owner is away and may even have observed the family leaving for a family vacation. What better time to break into a house when the family is on vacation. Even better, if there is a GPS in the car, there is a good chance it has a Home favorite that leads directly to the goodies.

The take-away here is to not have a Home favorite or entry in your GPS address book. All you need to do is change the name to something else: Bob’s home; Doctor; Church. (If you travel a lot the thief may wonder why you’re going to Church every other day if he/she looks through your GPS Recent/History entries.) If you really want to be really careful, don’t use your GPS to lead directly to your house, but some place close. I changed mine to a shopping center two miles from my house.

It’s also not a good idea to have anything left in your car that has your home address. I think it’s safe to block out your address on your car registration and proof of insurance forms. If you are ever questioned, you can say you did it for security reasons.

Technology is a great time-saver but you need to be careful. Be safe out there!

73’s, Tom

I was surfing around this afternoon (quiet Friday here) and found a few neat new freebie things I did not know about.  Some might come in handy to more than just me, so I thought I’d share them.

Need to fax or scan something but you’re out in the wild with nothing but a cell phone and a signal?  Snap a picture of what you want to scan or fax, and text or email it off to Qipit. They will turn it into a PDF and email it to you, or fax it to wherever you need it to go.  The service is free.

I already knew about these but had convenienty forgotten them.  More and more often, despite the online yellow pages resources that are available, I just need to look up a number in an easy way.  If I call 411 from my phone, that costs me.  Both Google (1-800-GOOG-411) and Free411 (1-800-FREE411) offer free directory assistance.  Google depends on voice recognition and non-human responses, but Free411 will give you a real, live person.  Free411 is ad-based, however so be prepared to hear ads while you wait for them to look up the number.

Need a Wi-Fi hotspot where you’re going?  Think ahead and do your research; there’s no reason to pay for Wi-Fi if you don’t have to.   Many coffee shops, hotels, restaurants, and independent bookstores are now offering free Wi-Fi (one of my favorites is the Panera Bread stores).  Also, if you pay for broadband service at home, oftentimes you are also given access to that provider’s Wi-Fi where available.  For a great way to search for potential hot-spots, check out JiWire, a free search service for open, free Wi-Fi.  When I used it several years ago, it was not very accurate, but when I looked up a few locations this afternoon, it gave me some really great results.

All long-distance calls are free, using  Talkster services.  Using their system, you an get a temporary local number to use to calla  friend in another location.  It’s  bit complicated, but it works, and it’s totally free.  This service is ad-supported, as well, so expect to see ads on the screen when you’re setting up the phone call.

Do you have any freebies to share?  Post them in the comments!