Tech News and Commentary

Dave and the team discuss Russia slowing down Twitter, Facebook lifting its political advertising ban, Alexa new follow up reminders and tasks, and more.

Our guest this hour:

Michael Biltz, Managing Director of Accenture Technology Vision

John now listens online and asked: "Looking for a video doorbell running only on battery power. Tried out a Ring Video Doorbell 3 - could not get it to hook up with Google nor Alexa - tech support tried but to no avail - returned it but still looking. Suggestions?"

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John, you already tried one of the heavyweights in the market, so well suggest the other one.

You can try Googles Nest. Their latest Google Nest Hello sells for around $200 and is built to connect to Google Home. The most interesting selling point for it is that it can recognize when a package is dropped off, so it will alert you of it being specifically a package so you can go get it.

You can also try the Arlo smart doorbell. Its cheaper than the Nest but have a look at the subscription they charge to access the recording before you make a decision.

If you had trouble connecting the Ring to Alexa, you might want to make sure your connection reaches the door. The Ring should be able to interact with Alexa relatively easily, since its one of its main selling points, and if the issue is the network connection rather than the device then youll probably run into trouble with any smart doorbell you try.

Tim in Anchorage, Alaska listens on 700AM KBYR Alaska Talks Here and asked: "How would you recommend one protect a list of passwords?"

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Tim, if you want to, you can encrypt the file but if this is just passwords your best bet is to get a dedicated password manager.

Password managers are built specifically to store your passwords securely and can suggest new strong passwords as well. Some will also alert you if one of your passwords has been compromised in a data breach so you know to update it before anything bad can happen.

There are many very popular subscription-based options like 1-Password and LastPass, but there are also free versions you can use if youre not ready to pay a yearly fee for the protection.

Some of the free offerings include Aviras password manager and Bitwarden.

If you do switch to a free version, keep an eye out for free on up to one device or similar phrasing. The ones we mentioned are just free (for personal use, there are paid team plans that allow multiple users), but some are only free on one device as a hook to get you to pay to get access on your phone or other devices as well.

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