LAS VEGASYou cant swing a burglars bag of loot at CES without hitting some new smart-home security system. Amidst all the cameras, sensors, and touchscreen control panels, Ekin Labs exhibit stood out: Its has a software solution, dubbed Hi WiFi, that transforms the hardware you already own into a sophisticated motion sensor array. And it will be free when it emerges from betafor a limited time, at least.

The Hi WiFi system is deceptively simple. You install the software on at least two Wi-Fi-enabled devices in your homesmartphones, tablets, PCs, or what have youand the software triangulates the location of those devices relative to the location of your Wi-Fi router. Anything that moves within that zone will cause the connection to fluctuate. If the fluctuation is significant enough to indicate that a person is moving around your home when it should be unoccupied, Hi WiFi can send an alert to your smartphone.

Ekin Labs co-founder and CEO Francescantonio Della Rosa explained that the alert system can be customized based on your preferences. For example, if a home burglary is taking place, he said, you might want to jump straight into calling the police instead of letting a neighbor know whats happening.

Della Rosa said that the Hi WiFi system is also able to detect and eliminate false positives from being reported. For example, the motions of a cat bolting through the living room or a breeze shutting a window are going to be very different from a human adult methodically breaking, entering, and pilfering a room.

Hi WiFi can detect someone moving around your home and send an alert via smartphone if the software is set to "away" mode..

The downside to this approach, of course, is that how the system only works while ones Wi-Fi devices, including the router, are strategically located. Youd probably want to use older devices for this job simply because you no longer carry them with you. And then youd need to make sure nothing has been moved every time you leave the house.

The story behind the story: Hi WiFis price tag zero-dollar price tag renders it worth checking out, and it could be a good supplement for other security systemsIP cameras, for instance that can deliver confirmation of whats happening inside your home. But the proof will be in the pudding.

Chanelle is a freelance contributor who writes about smart home products and connected devices. She has written for Fortune and Forbes covering business and technology. More by Chanelle Bessette

Your message has been sent.

There was an error emailing this page.

Read more:
Ekin Labs says its free software can build a home-security system using hardware you already own

Wind blows snow off the roof of a building Wednesday on Liberty Street in Chambersburg. Wind chill temperatures could dip into the double negative digits Thursday. (Markell DeLoatch Public Opinion)

FRANKLIN COUNTY >> Double-digit wind chill values will blow in Thursday and create what AccuWeather expects will be the coldest day of winter so far.

All of Pennsylvania, and most of the eastern half of the nation, is under a wind chill advisory for part of Thursday. In Franklin County and the surrounding region, the advisory extends through 3 p.m.

In this area, the coldest wind chills are expected late Wednesday night into Thursday morning, said Greg DeVoir, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College. Residents should prepare for wind chills dipping to 20 below zero at times, he said.

The cold morning forecast prompted Chambersburg, Waynesboro, Tuscarora and Shippensburg school districts to call two-hour delays for Thursday morning by early evening Wednesday.

The warmest part of the day will be 18 degrees with the wind chill making it -9 degrees, according to NWS.

The cause of the freeze is an arctic air mass which, combined with gusty winds, will produce lower temperatures the farther it reaches into the area, according to DeVoir.

As the digits drop, the danger they can cause increases.

The key to staying warm, and preventing hypothermia, is dressing in layers and ensuring skin is covered, according to NWS. Eat nutritious food and stay hydrated throughout the day.

Those older than 65 are especially susceptible to hypothermia, accounting for almost half of deaths caused by it, according to Home Instead Senior Care. This is because as people age, they can lose ability to feel how cold it really is.

Go here to see the original:
Negative wind-chill forecast prompts school delays

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) January 08, 2015

Vitt Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc., based in St. Louis, MO, wants to help customers prepare for the coldest month of the year with deals on new gas furnaces. The New Year's sale will run through January 31, 2015, and will offer gas furnace installation starting at just $1,400 for an 80% efficient 40,000 BTU American Standard brand furnace.

Although winter has already officially begun, Vitt Heating & Air Conditioning Co. vice president Jeffrey Vitt says that now is the time for homeowners to be proactive and replace their furnaces.

The typical life expectancy of a furnace is just 15 years, says Vitt, so homeowners with furnaces from the year 2000 or before should make sure to at least get an inspection.

While the special from Vitt Heating & Air Conditioning Co. will cover basic installations of new furnaces and removals of old ones, customers still need to call to see if they qualify for the special pricing -- especially, Vitt warns, if they have an older furnace. At that time customers may also make an appointment for a free estimate.

There are other reasons, Vitt says, that homeowners should consider getting their older furnaces looked at.

"In my experience, the biggest problem with furnaces is that they can be operating but not safe," he explains. "Therefore, a lot of people never have work done on their furnaces, so they simply dont know whether or not the furnace is safe to use."

Technicians from heating and cooling companies like Vitt Heating & Air Conditioning Co. are able to tell homeowners whether or not a repair is "worth it," Vitt says, depending upon the age of the furnace.

The best solution, Vitt explains, is to "get the furnace inspected, get an estimate and consider the options from there. Most times it will be more cost effective to replace a furnace rather than repair it, but only after an inspection can homeowners know for sure."

When in doubt, says Vitt, homeowners should call Vitt Heating & Air Conditioning Co. for their free estimate.

See the rest here:
During January Only, Vitt Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc., Offers Special on Gas Furnace Installation to Help ...

Welcome To Sell Your Home Frisco TX Video 5
Sell Your Home In Frisco TX http://sellahome.indallastexasarea.com 214-636-7138 Big News for Dallas TX Area Real Estate. Home Solutions Realty, 214-636-7138 has been awarded the Toyota...

By: Home Solutions Realty

More:
Welcome To Sell Your Home Frisco TX Video 5 - Video

CO1HR website
This is an Ad video for my Home Repair business. Crew Of One Home Repair provides handyman services in the central Oklahoma area. My website is http://www.CrewOfOneHomeRepair.com.

By: Crew Of One Home Repair

Excerpt from:
CO1HR website - Video

LEMON GROVE Strapped for cash for infrastructure improvements, Lemon Grove has been seeking innovative, cost-saving ways to fix existing sidewalks and bring more sidewalks into several of the city's corridors.

The Lemon Grove City Council on Tuesday shared ideas about how residents and the city might work together to make it safer to traverse city streets.

Also, City Manager Graham Mitchell offered, there is "anecdotal evidence that homes with sidewalks tend to have higher values."

One idea the City Council considered was a neighborhood assessment district, which would ask property owners to pay for sidewalk improvements over 10 to 20 years. A matching incentive from Lemon Grove could be added to the program, City Manager Graham Mitchell told the council.

Another idea was to require participation only if an entire section of a street segment agreed to participate. A third possibility was to offer no- or low-interest rate loans to property owners to finance the sidewalk installations. Loans could be paid over a five- to 10-year period. The city could also offer a matching incentive to encourage the installation of larger sections.

"As we look (at options) the first step has to be coming up with the money," City Councilman Jerry Jones said. "As we begin to crawl out of this recession, there is some opportunity to re-prioritize how we spend the increase in revenues."

Lemon Grove resident John L. Wood said that while "curbs and sidewalks are definitely needed in this town," he didn't think people in the city would want to pay for the maintenance of the sidewalks once they were put in.

"The city putting sidewalks in is fine, but I'm not going to be (held) responsible," Wood said.

Most of Lemon Groves housing development occurred before the citys 1977 incorporation, when the county managed the growth and development standards for housing. The county required sidewalk installation in the majority of its housing developments, but even to this day, many Lemon Grove neighborhoods do not have sidewalks.

During the preparation of the city's last General Plan update in 1996, Mitchell wrote in a report, "this was an issue of community debate some community members pushed for sidewalks while others wanted to maintain a rural feel by not installing sidewalks."

Continue reading here:
Lemon Grove seeks improved sidewalks

Gutter Cleaning Perth ,Thornlie , Canning Vale , Huntingdale ,Gosnells
Gutter Replacement Perth is a professional and experienced gutter guard and gutter replacement services in Perth, Western Australia. We are proud to have man...

By: Gutter Replacement Perth

Read the original:
Gutter Cleaning Perth ,Thornlie , Canning Vale , Huntingdale ,Gosnells - Video

Scammers posing as utility or home repair workers have been targeting homes in and around the Quad Cities according to Davenport Police.

The scammers target homes at times when no one is expected to be home, or they work as a team to get inside.

Typically, these burglars will know on your door and be very persistent in distracting you, while their partners enter your home and burglarize it, said a release from Davenport Police.

The scammers often tell the victim there is some sort of emergency, like a water main break, that requires them to get inside your home right away.

Police said the scammers use other techniques as well, including offering to shovel walks or remove tree stumps or perform other work at your home. The scammers typically travel in groups of two to five people.

Once inside, the scammers take items from the home.

Its a technique similar to one Rock Island Police reported in July 2014, when they said people were going door-to-door offering gutter cleaning as a scam to actually try to get inside to steal items from local homes.

Police say you should keep doors and windows locked, even when you are home, and never open your door to anyone you dont know.

Do not be fooled by phony uniforms, work vests or ID badges. If you did not call or request the service, do not open the door, the police statement said.

If the scammer continues to pressure you or refuses to leave, police recommend that you call 911.

Read the original post:
Burglars posing as workers to get into homes in Quad Cities

Bruce Morrison always wanted Lovell to grow. And he wanted to help make that happen. And looking back somewhat nostalgically over the last 33 years, 26 of which he served his community either as mayor or on the town council, Lovells outgoing mayor believes he made a difference.

Bruce Morrison

Morrison first ran for office in 1982, elected to a four-year term on the town council. He was re-elected to the council in 1986, then ran for mayor in 1990 and was re-elected in 1992 and 94 in the days when a mayors term was two years.

After stepping away for a few years to raise his young family, he said he was asked by then mayor Glen Olsen to run for council again so he did, and when Olsen didnt seek re-election in 2004, Morrison sought the mayors chair again and was elected to a two-year term, then re-elected to four-year terms in 2006 and 2010. But his time in office ran out in 2014 when he was defeated by former councilman Angel Montanez.

It was the same reason as now, Morrison said when asked what prompted him to become involved in town government. I grew up here. I wanted to be part of the community and help the community grow and progress.

One goal I always had from the beginning was for Lovell to grow. John (Nickle) got the grant for the bigger sewer pond that was designed to handle 4,000 to 5,000 people. I was always for that, and for the Shoshone Municipal Pipeline.

Now that he looks back, Morrison can say with pride that the community he loves is ready to grow some more, with a solid infrastructure in place.

I leave office with the security of leaving the town where it can still get to four or five-thousand with what weve provided.

There were two more projects that Morrison wanted to see through a new lift station for the sewer lagoons and a new water tank on the hill to provide better pressure to the hospital and homes on the hill. Both projects are in the works, however, and should come to fruition.

Asked about his leadership style, Morrison paused and said, Somebody told me I had a knack for getting people to work together. Thats something Ive hung my hat on. I always tried to look at people for who they are and what they have to offer and try to use that to our advantage.

View post:
Morrison looks back on 26 years of service

Maybe its the childlike nature coming out in adult gardeners, or maybe its the joyful expectation of spending more quality time with children or grandchildren. Whatever the reason, so-called fairy gardens are a hot trend in the gardening community these days.

Hidden under shrubs or stately trees in botanical landscapes and private gardens or displayed at garden centers or on tabletops in homes, fairy gardens are providing an escape into a miniature world.

Fairy gardens consist of small-scale structures, tiny accessories, and diminutive plants that offer a fun way to create little landscapes that reflect the atmosphere and charming beauty of life-size natural settings. Ideally, the minigardens are set in small, somewhat secluded parts of a garden, giving visitors the feeling that they have happened upon a magical place.

But just as many fairy gardens are planted in containers and proudly displayed on tabletops, windowsills, patios, or porches.

These gardens can be as large or as small as you wish, filled with fairy figurines, furniture, gazebos, bridges, food accouterments such as cupcakes or hamburgers, beach umbrellas, and more.

Gardeners who lean toward formal gardens might create something akin to the Kensington Palace Gardens in London or the gardens at Frances Palace of Versailles. Traditionalists might choose a woodland setting; others might opt for a house surrounded by floral abundance. In truth, except for cultural requirements for plants, rules are few when it comes to designing a fairy garden.

The popularity of fairy gardening has spawned a flourishing industry in accessories. Numerous catalogs, online sources, and garden centers offer everything from the tiniest flip-flops, cups, and saucers to arbors, gazebos, and ornate fences. You can find tiny chicken and duck figurines as well as campers, tents, and hammocks even tiny potted plants, barbecues, and lounge chairs. Or you can make many such items yourself. Use rocks for tables and chairs; make teapots and birdhouses from acorns, or trellises and fences from twigs.

But what really makes the fairy gardens shine are the plants. Just as in any garden setting, select plants whose needs align with your intended site: shade plants for low-light areas, sun plants for areas that get plenty of daylight. Additionally, the idea is to choose plants that are on the same scale as your accessories. That means small, slow-growing plants. Here are a few good choices: babys tears (Soleirolia), mosses (Sagina subulata), and woolly or elfin thyme for lawns; creeping fig (Ficus pumila), miniature ivies, and red-stem pilea (Pilea glauca) to climb arbors; and miniature daisy (Bellium minutum), herons bill (Erodium sps.), and Mexican heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia) for a dash of colorful blooms.

Youll also find good options among dwarf houseplants such as miniature African violets, succulents, and even slow-growing palms. Small-leafed basil, rosemary, and boxwood can be trimmed to resemble trees and shrubs, while dwarf and mini-conifers are ideal for the outdoor gardens.

If you are eager to flex your creative horticultural muscles without the labor-intensive work of preparing and caring for a large garden, fairy gardens may be for you.

The rest is here:
Heres a big botanical trend thats tiny