The Lance J. Technoweb

Before you buy that unlocked Verizon iPhone 4S, you might want to read this. After considerable research, I conclude that Verizon's "unlocking" program does not actually unlock the iPhone 4S . Instead, Verizon's program seems to merely bless specific non-American 3rd party SIMs to be used with your iPhone.  It looks like American 3rd party SIMs from AT&T and T-Mobile USA are locked out forever, even after the Verizon "Unlock". In fact, within Apple's "Wireless carrier support and features" knowledge base article ht1937, Apple itself says that Verizon "offers unlocking on certain iPhones, some with certain restrictions ." That's certain ly ominous.  It reads like Verizon might be willing to unlock the deadbolt on your iPhone, but the security chain is still attached so only some SIMs can come through.  To me, that isn't an unlock.  That's a lock with exceptions. Do you want to use an AT&T or T-Mobil...

I bought an inexpensive WIFI security camera - an " EasyN F-M166 " - for my vacation home. Does it work?  Well, yes it works very well! Via a web browser on my Mac, I can view video, tilt-and-pan the camera, and control things like the infrared lighting.   It doesn't need any special software or plug-ins for my Mac, and I can even view the thing from my iPhone. My EasyN WIFI cam, mounted upside-down on my porch ceiling I have the camera mounted outside, in a protected area of my porch.  I'm not sure if it'll survive cold weather, but it still works OK even though it has been as cold as 15° F.  After a power failure it reconnects to WIFI just fine, so I don't have to worry too much about it getting disconnected from the Internet. Via a web browser on my Mac, I can view video, tilt-and-pan the camera, and control things like the infrared lighting.   It doesn't need any special software for my Mac, and I can even view the thing from my iPhone...