By John R. Delaney

Automatic sprinkler controllers have been around forever, but the newest crop of digital homeirrigation regulators from companies like Greenbox, Rachio, and Skydrop make it possible to control your sprinkler system remotely via your wireless network. The Skydrop Wi-Fi Sprinkler Controller ($299) not only lets you schedule watering times using a smartphone app or Web browser, it will anticipate your watering needs based on your local weather forecast and lawn conditions, and can be programmed to adhere to local watering restrictions. Installing this snappy-looking device takes less than 10 minutes, and the app is well-designed and easy to use. Granted, Skydropis double the price of a standard controller, but it still merits an Editors' Choice award for connected sprinkler controllers.

Design and SetupWith its streamlined design, gunmetal gray finish, and large aluminum jog dial, the Skydrop controller looks nothing like a traditional square-box sprinkler controller. It snaps onto a 2.7-by-6.2-by-0.5 inch (HWD) wall plate, which contains eight watering zone wiring ports, two common wire ports, a master valve port (for systems equipped with a master valve option), a hot terminal for testing purposes, and a power plug port. All of the wire ports are tool free; just push the wire in until it clicks and press the rubberized button to release. There are two slots on the bottom that are used to run power and zone wiring to the plate, and there's a small built-in level on the top used for mounting the plate properly. If you have anextra-large lawn, Skydrop sells an expansion unit for $50 that allows you to add an additional eight watering zones.

The controller measures 3.4 by 9.7 by 1.9 inches (HWD). It has a 4.3-inch LCD in the center, and a round, 3-inch jog dial on the right. The dial sports a silver aluminum band around its outer edge and a backlit ring around its inner edge. The ring glows blue when the system is in watering mode, green when it is waiting for its next scheduled watering session, and red if there's a system error. Inside is a Wi-Fi radio that supports the 802.11b/g/n networking protocols.

In addition to the wall plate and controller, the Skydrop comes with four mounting screws, a power adapter, numbered stickers for the zone wires, and an Installation and Quick Start Guide that walks you through the installation process. Missing is any information explaining how the controller actually works, what the different colored lights mean, and how your input will affect how often Skydrop will water your lawn. However, the folks at Skydrop are currently working on a comprehensive user guide that will address these issues.

Installing the Skydrop was quick and easy. I marked each zone wire with the numbered stickers (I have five watering zones) before removing them from my original Orbit controller box. I removed the Orbit box and attached the Skydrop wall plate in its place (the Orbit controller was installed in a utility closet in my basement where the sprinkler plumbing is located). I ran the zone wires, a common wire, and the power wire up through the slots, connected them to the appropriate wire ports, snapped the controller into the wall plate, and plugged in the power adapter. The entire process took a little under 10 minutes.

Features and PerformanceYou can program Skydrop using the jog dial and LCD screen, but it's much easier to do using aWeb browser, or the iOS or Android app. When you first set up Skydrop, you have to answer a few questions regarding your lawn environment and location. It asks you what zip code you're in so it can monitor the local weather, and it wants to know what kind of soil you have (sandy, loamy, unsure) in each watering zone. For example, lawns with a sandy soil base will require more water because sandy soil does not retain water very well. Conversely, lawns with a loamy base require less water.

Skydrop also wants to know what types of vegetation you'll be watering (grass, shrubs, trees, ground cover), sprinkler types (spray, rotary, drip), shade (none, partial, full), and slope (none, slight, steep). Using this data coupled with your local hourly weather updates, Skydrop then creates a customized watering schedule designed to keep your lawn looking its best while conserving water. It even provides a daily history of water usage that shows you when the lawn was watered and how much water was supplied by the sprinklers compared to how much was supplied by rainfall. You can also create your own watering schedule if you don't want to use Skydrop's recommendations.

In my tests, the Skydrop controller did a good job of following my watering schedule, beginning promptly at 9:00 a.m. on most days and forgoing the watering schedule on cooler days or when it rained. I created a custom schedule for my backyard lawn, which was recently seeded and requires a more aggressive watering schedule than the rest of my property, and the Skydrop followed it to a tee. Since my water usage is billed quarterly, I can't say exactly how much the Skydrop saved me, but knowing that my lawn was not being watered every day (as it was with my old Orbit controller), it's safe to assume that the bill will be lower than usual. Moreover, with my old controller I had to go into the basement where the box was located to manually turn on a zone, and then go back down when I wanted to turn it off. With the Skydrop I was able to do this from my PC or smartphone and was impressed with the instantaneous response to my commands.

Conclusions Like the Valta Starter Kit, the Skydrop Wi-Fi Sprinkler Controller is one of those connected home products that makes life easier while saving you money. Having the ability to remotely control and monitor your sprinkler system is a win for homeowners who aren't always around to make sure their lawn is being properly watered, but the potential for significant water conservation is the best reason to consider replacing your existing controller with the Skydrop, and is partly why it earns our Editors' Choice for connected sprinkler controllers. You'll pay more for this smart sprinkler than you will for a basic model, but there's a good chance you'll recover the extra cost over time while doing your part to preserve a natural resource.

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Skydrop Wi-Fi Sprinkler Controller

Four Nations Kiwis sheds: Beale
Hear what Gerard Beale had to say about the Kiwis defeating the Kiangaroos in the first match of the Four Nations tournament.

By: NRL

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Four Nations Kiwis sheds: Beale - Video

Four Nations Kangaroos sheds: Mansour
Hear what Josh Mansour had to say about the Kangaroos losing to the Kiwis in the first match of the Four Nations tournament.

By: NRL

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Four Nations Kangaroos sheds: Mansour - Video

Four Nations Kiwis sheds: Taumololo
Hear what had to say about the Kiwis defeating the Kangaroos in the first match of the Four Nations tournament.

By: NRL

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Four Nations Kiwis sheds: Taumololo - Video

We have a wide range of timber garden sheds, storage sheds, and wooden portable workshops in different shapes, designs and sizesand can supply to anywhere in Cornwall including the following areas: Penzance, St Ives, Hayle, Helston, Camborne, Redruth, Penryn, Falmouth, Truro, St Mawes, St Agnes, Newquay, St Austell, St Columb, Par, Fowey, Looe, Lostwithiel, Liskeard, Callington, Boscastle, Tintagel, Delabole, Port Isaac, Padstow, Wadebridge and Bodmin

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Follow this link to download the materials list and cost estimate worksheet so you can do your own calculations.

Its in PDF format so save it to your computer and print it out when youre ready to go shopping and fill in the prices.

Here are my sample calculations based on the costs in my area as of June 2013.

This chart shows the estimated cost to build a gable roof shed with my $7.95 plans and compares it to the price of a tuffshed and estimates how much money you can save by building our own.

Im using tuffshed as an example because they are a nation wide company and probably the most popular shed brand around.

And they build a very nice shed.

This table shows the cost to build each shed in terms of its size and cost efficiency. Including

You will notice that the larger sheds are much cheaper to build in terms of the cost per square foot.

And in cases of going from 6 to 8 ft, 10 to 12 ft, 14 to 16 ft, and 18 to 20 ft in length it costs very little to build the next longer size.

This is because certain sizes have a lot of waste and the next length up has very little or no waste. And you are paying for the lumber whether you use it in the shed or cut it off and throw it away.

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CheapSheds.com | How To Build A Shed + Videos + $7.95 Shed ...

In a disturbing look at the abuses endured by 219 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Islamist insurgents, a report issued Monday describes victims being forced to convert to Islam and marry their captors, being raped and made to cook, clean, carry ammunition and looted goods.

The report by Human Rights Watch found the 219 girls seized in the town of Chibok in a mass kidnapping in April were among at least 500 girls and women, mainly Christians, who had been abducted since the beginning of last year by the Islamist militia in Nigeria known as Boko Haram.

According to the rights organization, more than 7,000 civilians have been killed in the Islamist insurgency in northern Nigeria since 2009. More than half of the killings have occurred since early 2013.

The kidnapping of the Chibok girls sparked a Twitter hashtag, Bring Back Our Girls, and a global campaign to pressure Nigerias government to do more to get the girls released.

Nigerias defense chiefs insisted they knew the girls whereabouts but ruled out a military attack to free them because of the likelihood of casualties. In recent weeks, Nigerian officials have been negotiating in Chad with representatives of Boko Haram, who they claim have offered to release the Chibok girls. Nigeria is reportedly considering releasing members of the militant group in return.

The negotiations have been aimed at securing the release of the Chibok girls but not hundreds of others in captivity. The mass kidnappings began in 2013, according to Human Rights Watch, but the abduction of the Chibok girls, gathered at a school for exams, was the largest single kidnapping.

The militants initially raided the school in search of a brick-making machine, according to the report, only to find there were hundreds of girls who were easy prey after the only guard on duty fled into the night.

Most kidnapped girls and women are taken into mountain caves near Gwoza, where the militias are camped. The militants have taken over more than 10 villages in the area.

Human Rights Watch said it based its reporting on the accounts of more than 46 witnesses and victims, including girls from Chibok who escaped after being held in captivity.

One 19-year-old woman who was abducted by Boko Haram in 2013 described being held in several hill camps for three months. She became a military porter and slave, forced to carry ammunition and to cook for 14 gunmen.

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Report sheds light on misery of kidnapped Nigerian girls

By Cassie Carpenter for MailOnline

Published: 16:45 EST, 27 October 2014 | Updated: 18:03 EST, 27 October 2014

Kendall Jenner spent Monday morning working up a sweat during a particularly grueling gym session in Beverly Hills.

The stunning model - who turns 19 next month - was certainly dressed for action in her yellow sports bra and black-and-grey capri leggings.

In the Instagram video, personal trainer Gunnar Peterson is heard cheering the reality star as she does squats holding a rope and tosses a medicine ball.

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Squats with a heavy rope: Kendall Jenner spent Monday morning working up a sweat during a particularly grueling gym session in Beverly Hills

'Feet up! Core engaged! Overhead! Inbound!' Peterson barks at Jenner. 'There are no accidents. All for a reason.'

Gunnar has also sculpted the bodies of Kendall's sisters Kim & Khloe Kardashian, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Sofa Vergara, and Ben Affleck.

The 5ft10in catwalker managed to cut her shin in the process and captioned the snap: 'Blood, sweat, and only like one little tear.'

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Kendall Jenner sheds 'one little tear' during grueling gym session

Toronto A gunman who shot and killed a soldier at Canada's national war memorial and then stormed Parliament before he was gunned down had prepared a video recording of himself that police say shows he was driven by ideological and political motives, police said Sunday.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson said in a statement they have "persuasive evidence that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau's attack was driven by ideological and political motives."

A detailed analysis of the video was being conducted and Paulson said they cannot release the video at this time.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called Wednesday's shooting a terror attack, and the bloodshed raised fears that Canada is suffering reprisals for joining the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.

Police are investigating Zehaf-Bibeau's interactions with numerous individuals in the days leading up to the attack and whether they could have contributed or facilitated it.

Paulson said a knife carried by Zehaf-Bibeau was taken from his aunt's property in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, and they're looking into how he got the rifle. Paulson called it an old, uncommon gun that police suspect he could have also hidden on the property.

Paulson said investigators also identified where he got his money for the car he bought and his pre-attack activities. He said Zehaf-Bibeau has been employed in the oil fields in Alberta, saved his money and had access to a considerable amount of funds.

"The RCMP is confident we will have an authoritative and detailed account of the shooting, including a complete reconstruction of the heroic actions of those involved, in the weeks to come," said Paulson, who also said the Ontario Provincial Police will investigate the shooting inside Parliament.

Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, shot to death Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24, who was assigned to the honor guard at the national war memorial. Zehaf-Bibeau was eventually gunned down inside Parliament by the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Commons, Kevin Vickers.

The attack inOttawacame two days after a man described as an "ISIL-inspired terrorist" ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec, killing one and injuring the other before being shot to death by police. The man had been under surveillance by Canadian authorities, who feared he had jihadist ambitions and seized his passport when he tried to travel to Turkey.

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Canada shooter: Selfie video sheds light on his motives

NEW YORK, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- While the European economy should be able to survive another crisis, a grim forecast Monday from Goldman Sachs pushed oil prices downward.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for December delivery pushed below $80 per barrel, dropping more than $1.20 to $79.76 in early Monday trading.

Brent, the international benchmark price, fared no better, shedding $1.25 early Monday to post $84.86 for the December contract.

A lackluster European economy was in part dragging on oil prices, though much of the demand growth was coming from Asian economies outpacing their rivals in terms of gross domestic product gains.

The European Central Bank concluded Sunday that most of the largest banks servicing the European economy would be able to survive a major financial crisis.

A note Monday from Goldman Sachs, however, erased much of the confidence in an oil market recovery from the bear market that emerged in June.

Goldman cuts its forecast for WTI to $75 and Brent at $80 for the first quarter of next year. Long-term, the bank said WTI would reach $80 and Brent $90 by 2016. It said the forecast was lower because U.S. drillers could likely withstand a lower price.

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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WTI falls below $80 per barrel, Brent sheds gains