Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-01-19)

14 pagesofeasy-to-followworkshopsandexperttips

Workshops & Tips

HOWTO...

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nternet-connected cameras are

shrinking. Thesmallestaren’tmuch

bigger than asugar cube,andyoucan

even findpens, calculators andpower

adapters with tiny lensesandsensors

builtin. It’s neverbeeneasiertohide one

in adiscreetplace so youcan secretly

monitorwhat’sgoing onin your home.

That’swhatwe’ll do here with aBlink

Mini camera(£27fromAmazonwww.

1

Set uptheBlink app

Once you’ve boughtthe camera,

remove everythi ng fromthe

boxaside fromtheEuropean(two-pi n)

plug,and peeloff allprotective film.Next,

installthe BlinkHomeMonitor appon

your phone.It’sfree, andavailable foriOS

12.5 or later(www.snipca.com/40434)

andAndroid 5orl ater(www.snipca.

com/40435). Once it ’s installed, launch it

andtap Create Account at thebottomof

thescree n.

Select your country fromthedropdown

menu on thenextscree n, then tap Next

andselectyourregion.There areonly

five options here,three of whichare

foreastern,central andwestern United

States,somakesureEuropeisticked,

then tap OK.Provide an emailaddress,

tap Next,then create apassword.

There’s no option to useatwo-

factor authen ticationapplikeGoogle

Authen ticatorfor iOS(www.snipca.

com/40437)orAndroid (www.snipca.

com/40438), whichcan be setupto

providecodes foravariety of services,

includingthose off ered by Facebook,

Google an dMicrosoft,withoutyou

divulgingyourphonenumber.

Howeve r, whilewehavenoreason

to doubtthatyournumberwould be

safe if youprovide dit, ther e’saway to

avoid supplyingiti fyou’d prefer not to.

We called Blink’stechnicalsupportline

(01158 384189)and askedtos et upthe

account usinganemail addressrather

than aphonenumber.After we had

provided theemail addressofthe account

we were settingup, theagent sent alink

forust oclick,whichauthorise dhim to

snipca.com/40445,picturedright),

whichmeasuresjust50x49x36mm

(HxWxD).It’s easy to findspaceforiton

ashelf or desk, anditcomeswith a

moveable stand,completewithscrew

holes,soyou canfixit to thewallinyour

lounge or by thefront door.Wemanaged

to squeezeitinbetween books onour

shelf,where intruderswould be unlikely

to spot it.

Tap‘Next’, andBlinkwill send a

verificationcode to theemail addressyou

provided. Checkyourinbox,makeanote

of thecode, andtypeiti ntothe appto

provethatyouraddress is correct.

2

Set up two-factor

authentication

Blinkalsoasksfor aphone

number,whichitu ses to authorise

changestoyouraccount,for password

reminders, andwhenyou addnew

devi ces. It sendstextmessagesormakes

automatedcalls to thenumberyou

provide which, like thecodesenttoyour

emailaddress during setup, areused

to verify your identity. Blink(whichis

ownedbyAmazon) promises that the

number youprovide will neverbesoldor

used formarketing.

Whatyouneed:Blink MinicameraTimerequired:Onehour

Setupaspycamera

in your homeby NikRawlinson

Pull Out

&Keep

Issue6 23

44 Phone&Tablet Tips

46 MakeWindows

Better

47 MakeOfficeBetter

48 In TheClub: Promote

your club on Nextdoor

35 Setupaspy camera

in your home

38 RunWindows11on

your Windows 10PC

40 Readers’Tips

42 BrowserTips:

Translateforeigntext

automatically

Issue 623 •19 –1February 2022