Home Security Gadgets & Reviews

If you’re worried about what kind of Internet sites your kids are surfing to, or who they’re chatting with online, when you’re not in the room or at home, this gadget may help. The Snoop Stick is a USB device that allows you to monitor who’s doing what on your home computer.

At first, I thought you stuck the drive into a free slot on your home computer and it downloaded recordings (and all someone would have to do is unplug it to evade its eye), but it looks like the drive is for the monitor not the monitoree (ok, that’s not a word, I’m sure). You take it with you to work or wherever and plug it into that computer, and then it lets you sync up with your home computer to see what’s going on there.

The device can monitor in real time or play back recent activity. The Snoop Stick is $60 and can be used to monitor up to 3 different computers.

http://www.snoopstick.com/

In this day and age, it’s just stupid to leave the keys to your car in the ignition (even if the vehicle is in the garage), and it’s not much better to just toss them on a table just inside the doorway (like so many of us do). Anybody who comes into the house or the garage (whether neighbors, potential thieves, or just your kids who think they should be driving your car…) can make away with your prized ride. And if you’ve got extra vehicles (snow mobiles or other grown-up toys), there’s just that much more of value that could be stolen.

One way to protect your goods is to keep your keys in a key safe when you’re not using them. A simple wall-mounted safe like the GE AccessPoint Slimline KeySafe is easy to use (you can pick your own combination) and gives you the peace of mind of knowing nobody can take off with your cars and other vehicles.

A key safe can also be used to store an extra house key (in case your kids are always losing theirs but get home from school before you do). A key safe is just a smart addition for any home.

This one is available online for $27:

GE AccessPoint Slimline KeySafe

We tend to forget about flashlights until the power goes out. Then there’s a mad scramble, tripping over furniture and people and dogs, and rummaging until you find one. If it’s been a while since you checked the batteries, you may be in for a disappointment however. It’s a pain in the butt if the flashlight is dead.

This rechargeable flashlight from Home Depot is a smart alternative to the traditional battery-powered units. If you keep it plugged into the outlet all the time, not only will you always have a charged flashlight, but you’ll also know exactly where it is when the lights go out. In addition, there’s a built-in night light panel that automatically turns on when the lights are off, so that will help you locate it in the dark. At $13, you’re not looking at a big investment either. It sounds like a good idea to me!

Home Depot

If you like the idea of having a residential safe but you don’t feel the need for some big hulking box taking up a third of your closet, this anti-theft drawer safe from Honeywell might be a better solution.

The digital safe can be bolted in a desk drawer or onto a shelf in a closet (it comes with 4 pre-drilled holes in bottom of safe, but you would need to get your own hardware), so you can use it in your home or even in an RV or boat. The digital locking system has a re-programmable combination that you can choose and an emergency override key in case you forget your combination (just don’t be a doof and store the key to the safe in the same desk as the safe itself… maybe keep that key at work or some such). Though not as large as a traditional floor-mounted unit, the Honeywell is large enough to store a small laptop computer or jewelry, cash, documents, etc.

The safe retails for $90 at Amazon:

Honeywell Digital Drawer Safe