If you're an avid concert goer or a firearms enthusiast (or both... just please keep them as separate hobbies), these high-tech earplugs might be just what the doctor ordered. Although at $500, you may just have a heart attack from sticker shock. The Etymotic EB-15 BlastPLG earplugs protect ears from sharp or sustained noise above safe levels.

If you've taken a photo with your smartphone, there's a good chance you've revealed more about yourself than you intended, thanks to the inclusion of GPS in modern phones. Sean and Andy take a look at how photos are "geotagged" with your location, show how to get the information, and talk about how you can turn it off on your phone, if you want.

The

Email 'n Walk app for iPhone

grants multitasking techies the ability to see in front of them while

composing emails

. The app uses the main

camera of the iPhone

to show you what's going on in front of you. Over top of that is a keyboard as well as a translucent area where you can enter a subject and compose an email.

Here, we explain

what malware is

and what it means to your

computer's security

. Malware is a

computer term

that is used as a catch-all phrase to describe

malicious software and security threats

like

viruses, spyware, Trojans, worms

and more.

When

looking for an apartment

in a new neighborhood, it's important to know if that neighborhood is safe. One way to

check if a neighborhood is safe

is by going to CrimeStats.com, which allows you to

view details about crimes

by area and will give you a good idea of a neighborhood's safety rating.

When

looking for love online

, it stands to reason that you need to share some information with prospective matches to see if there's a potential fit. However, there's a limit to the amount and type of information you should share, even on the

safest online dating sites

. Molly McDonald offers practical

online dating safety tips

that will keep you safe while still allowing you to trawl the web for love.

Encrypting all or a portion of your hard drive is the best way to

keep your data safe

should your PC or laptop be lost or stolen. BitLocker encryption is built right into Windows 7 and makes it easy to secure your sensitive files and data.

Spyware and malware are the scourge of the Windows world. In Windows 7, Windows Defender is built right in to keep you and your computer protected against spyware and other harmful programs that might otherwise install themselves on your PC.

Windows 7 Firewall

is designed to keep you and your computer safe online. It blocks incoming requests and asks for your authorization. The

firewall in Windows 7

is much improved over previous versions and goes a long way to keeping you and your computer safe from intruders.

Any computer user will tell you, eventually you're going to need a system backup from which to restore your computer should it fail.

Backup and Restore in Windows 7

is much improved and makes it easy to keep a backup of important files, settings and even programs.

Windows 7 has many improvements over previous versions of Windows. Among these improvements is a more refined

User Account Control or UAC.

Users can now choose from one of four default settings from off to always notify. The default level of UAC will be much less annoying than UAC in Windows Vista but will still notify you of important system changes.

Safari 4.0

knows that it's a jungle out there so it does everything it can to

keep you safe on the Web

. With built-in

phishing protection, malware protection, safe downloads, pop-up blocking, anti-virus

integration among its security features, you can surf the Internet with confidence.

Google Chrome's built-in Safe Browsing function such a welcome feature. With viruses, trojans, malware, phishing, and more lurking out there on the Internet Google Chrome points out bad sites before you can actually visit them.

Michael "Doc" Callahan runs through the finer points of online safety and security for parents, kids or just about anyone who wants a better understanding online safety, how to protect against online theft, phishing scams, spyware, viruses and more.

The Internet is a wonderful place to explore and find things. Like the real world though, it has its dangers, but also like the real world there are precautions you can take to keep you, and your children, safe. Running anti-virus software is the first step.

Firefox offers a good balance of security and convenience. When visiting a web site, for example, your banking site, you can view the security certificate and other information associated with that site.
For sites that don't contain quite such personal and personally identifying information, you can opt to have Firefox remember passwords for you. This is convenient but not recommended for things like online banking, sensitive email accounts and so on.

Firefox allows you to take control of your privacy and security settings. Using the installed default settings gives a fair balance of privacy and security and ease of use. However, it's a good idea to change the settings so they're more in line with your own needs and preferences.

Michael "Doc" Callahan runs through the finer points of online safety and security for parents, kids or just about anyone who wants a better understanding online safety, how to protect against online theft, phishing scams, spyware, viruses and more.