Gaming can be such a dangerous past time

You often find these games containing scenes of blood splattered bodies, maiming, and other unsupportable acts. The game also may include communications, some in writing, and others via audio or video. There are no age controls among participants, and we cannot know their intentions.

Parents have to follow the content and search for aspects of the games. There are a lot of beneficial games, and moreover children cannot be prevented from playing. So let them play, but with controls on the quality of games, the length of time, and the banning of conversations except with those you know well.

Gaming platforms such as PlayStation and Nintendo Switch are still the best choices, and also the most balanced in content.

On top of infrastructure alerts

Monitoring the state of its infrastructure is important for any institution. Knowing the stability of systems and getting notifications upon the failure of any is a sensitive matter, and requires notifications to alert the work team in case something goes wrong. This readies them to fix problems before they escalate. There are a lot of programmes that monitor infrastructure such as OP Manager, BRTG, SolarWinds, and Microsoft Scom.

Most of these systems are similar and only differ in price, design, ease, and support.

Strategic placement

Everyone knows how important home surveillance cameras are, but they always ask the most important areas to be installed. Areas may vary, but we will mention some places such as the gate, the entrance to the house from inside so that the camera depicts everyone who opens the door go get in, kitchen, playroom, the location of the main cupboard, and the stairs leading to the roof to get an alert as soon as children try to climb, and the garage.

Cameras must also be installed at the top of the house to monitor the yard, all external squares, and outbuildings. The outdoor camera needs to be large to deter intruders or mark the place as monitored. It is also useful to install a camera that depicts the roof of the house at the top, to detect any leakage from tanks or pipes.

Don’t be conned

The nature of buying online is the same as buying from shops. You find that a single commodity has several prices and you do not know which one is the best. Sometimes, the seller does not aspire to a big profit and creates competition between sellers. Online stores should raise their levels slightly by having a quality check, even if this mark means a higher price, and whether they are in excellent condition.

I always recommend buying electronics from well-known stores after comparing prices, guarantees, etc. Among the most important things you need to review are comments written by real buyers, and you also need to read the negative and positive reviews because some of them degrade other brands on purpose. The most appropriate way for you is to see the frequency of evaluation.

You see that a lot in other countries, which I hope that will grow as part of the consumer culture here because it’s important. My advice to you is that if you have bought something, do not say later I wish I could buy another instead.

Go virtual

All of you know well the upcoming impact of virtual, augmented or even mixed reality devices and apps. One of these were the Google glasses, which are still used in companies and we can expect to see its return soon. Many companies have started to invest seriously in such VR/AR augmented glasses, which are expected to replace phones to some extent in the future and be active in several sectors, including electronic gaming, amusement parks, cinemas, the military and so on.

For those still unaware of what virtual reality is, it is an imaginary environment in which you see different things such as being in a different city, or even on the surface of Mars while you are sitting in a chair at home.

As for augmented, it is to see additional objects on what you see in the real-world. For example, seeing the direction of navigation on a map, or information about buildings, calories in food, prices of goods in stores with specs, etc. Apps for augmented reality are endless.

One of the best companies in this field is Oculus, which was bought by Facebook.

Exposed by open wi-fi

Weak-spirited people take advantage of the need of others to access the internet, and they simply activate a mechanism that creates a fake wi-fi network that provides for a network sharing as in phones, but with a different purpose, which is spying on everything you do on the web, saving the sites you visit and even get to know passwords in one way or another.

So, it is not recommended to use open networks. Thieves may deliberately name their networks with the same names as coffee shops or hotel names. Always verify with the providers.

Keep verifying

Many have lost money by not checking their financial transactions by confirming the account address, especially if there is a request to change the address to another. So it is necessary to contact both by video/audio and SMS plus email and verify the other party.

Now it is possible to make a video call and record the dialogue after disclosing it. This is important because fraud has become commonplace that many people fall for.

- Ahmed Al Zarouni is a Dubai-based tech specialist.