This week on the podcast we're talking about Facebook annoyances, tracking stolen gadgets, and how much water you actually need. We're also answering your questions about streaming from XBMC over the web, sharing music with your significant other, and how the six-strike law can impact you.

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News and Top Stories

Facebook Annoyances, Retrieving Stolen Laptops, and Six-Strike Safety

Questions and Answers

Facebook Annoyances, Retrieving Stolen Laptops, and Six-Strike Safety


  • How can I stream my XBMC media over the internet? Set up an SMB/AFP share, forward the necessary ports, and access the share remotely through an XBMC client. This isn't terribly secure, however, so consider using SFTP instead. For added security, a VPN will allow you to act like your on your home network while you're away (read this guide for setup) but it will be kind of slow. Really, this is what Plex is best at. It handles all this trouble for you. You're an XBMC fan so you probably don't want to switch, but you might consider running a Plex server in addition to XBMC for remote access purposes only.
  • How do I merge my music with my wife's music so we can get it all on both our Google Music accounts? She uses iTunes, I use folders. There isn't an easy way. You need to start using iTunes or she needs to stop, but how you manage your music is going to have to be the same if you want to automatically sync everything. If you go the iTunes route, MediaRover or even Dropbox can sync everything. Any file syncing service can do the trick if you're just using folders, of course.
  • Will my VPN (VyprVPN to be exact) protect me from the new six strikes rules with my ISP? No, VyperVPN keeps logs. First, read about the six strikes law so you know how it works and how you need to protect yourself, then read our safe torrenting guide and VPN-choosing guide.
  • Should I ever use two Antivirus apps at the same time? No, never run two antivirus apps simultaneously because they'll conflict with each other. That said, you can install two and run them separately, always making sure one is off when the other is on.
  • Is there a good Android alternative to Due, my favorite iOS app? We couldn't think of anything and AlternativesTo didn't have suggestions, but sometimes searching the Google Play Store for the app you're looking for often helps. Due is such a simple name that none of these suggestions are really helpful. If anyone knows of a good alternative, please write in an tell us. That said, if the only thing barring you from switching is one app, you should just switch anyway. I didn't want to switch because my favorite iOS app, Downcast, didn't have an Android equivalent that I knew of. I switched anyway, tried out about six podcast apps, and eventually found what I was looking for.
  • I have a large iTunes library that has come from...various sources. I'm super OCD and would like all of the song names/artists/albums/art/etc/etc to be correct and up-to-date. Can you point me in the best direction for an automated solution to this? Sure.

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Facebook Annoyances, Retrieving Stolen Laptops, and Six-Strike Safety

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Facebook Annoyances, Retrieving Stolen Laptops, and Six-Strike Safety

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