REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KGO) --

7 On Your Side spoke with a hacker who tested 16 smart security systems, connected smoke alarms and thermostats and he found weaknesses in every single one.

This is how an alarm system is supposed to work. Someone breaks into your home and sets off the alarm. The crook is caught on video. But Colby Moore is a professional hacker and his job is to expose vulnerabilities.

"We could intercept the video stream to your cameras," Moore said. "We could watch what you were doing at all times. We could even shut off your video camera. We could sometimes turn off your home alarm system."

He's part of the professional security team at Synack of Redwood City. It bought cameras, home automation controllers, thermostats and even smoke detectors.

"So on all 16 devices, it took about 20 minutes to do what we call rooting the device, and that means we can run our own code on it, and manipulate the device any way we want," Moore said.

Moore can hack into a thermostat and smoke detector then use them as an entry into other devices in your home.

"They can then kind of pivot from that fire alarm to compromise other cameras, other computer systems," he said.

Through a Nest thermostat, another hacker took control of the lights and electronically imprinted his logo on the device. A third hacker cracked a password by running a program with every imaginable password combination until it spit out the network key.

"Once you can get the network key, it's as if you were in the person's house, because you're on their network," said Jeremy Hajek, a professor of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

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7 On Your Side examines weaknesses in home security systems

This grand crystal chandelier, which predates the historic home, came from Baur's, a confectionary in Denver.

SUMMIT COUNTY When Christy and Randy Rost bought Swan's Nest in 2006, they knew they were in for a long haul.

The historic mountain estate outside Breckenridge was in need of major rehabilitation, from the dramatically sinking foundation to the almost-total lack of insulation.

"It was not habitable in the wintertime only in certain rooms," Randy Rost said.

Contractors recommended they gut it and start over.

"We didn't want to do that because we would have lost all the historical nature and beauty of this home," Christy Rost said. "That was not right for the house."

Instead, the couple slowly but surely breathed life back into the Victorian mansion that was originally built in 1898 by Ben Stanley Revett, the Gold Dredge King, as a summer home for his bride.

The restored Swan's Nest is a mix of historic features and the modern amenities that Christy, a chef, cookbook author and TV lifestyle guru, needed.

The Rosts' Swan's Nest is a mix of historic features and modern amenities, chosen with an eye toward their love of entertaining, as well as honoring the outsize character who built it more than 115 years ago.

"I think Ben would be very happy with what we've done. There's been a lot of love in this house, a lot of heart," Christy Rost said. "It was our job and our honor, really, to restore this house so it lasts another 100 years."

Originally posted here:
My House: Swan's Nest restoration brings mountain mansion back to life

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Study finds optimal ratios of kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass for seed blend

LINCOLN, NE - Turfgrass professionals have created seed mixes specifically blended to ensure disease and insect resistance, water use efficiency, and tolerance to traffic. For example, a commonly used mixture of kentucky bluegrass (KBG) and perennial ryegrass (PRG) seed offers advantages such as rapid germination and establishment and provides turf cover that can compete with weeds. A new study shows how initial composition of KBG:PRG in the seed mixture affects species composition over multiple years in the Midwest, and offers recommendations about seeding ratios for optimal results.

Although the KBG:PRG seed blend is popular with consumers, both types of seeds have distinct advantages and drawbacks. Despite its ability to germinate quickly, perennial ryegrass is susceptible to numerous diseases when grown in humid regions of the Midwest United States, and can become thin during the heat and humidity of late summer or when subjected to winter stresses. Kentucky bluegrass is slow to germinate and establish, but is desirable in the long term because it spreads by rhizomes, is relatively drought tolerant, and will accommodate a wide range of management systems. Christopher Proctor and Zachary Reicher from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Daniel Weisenberger from Purdue University, published a study in HortScience that provides new recommendations for initial composition of the common seed mixture.

"Landscape contractors are pressured to deliver lawns from seed quickly for customer satisfaction," the authors said. "However, few studies have evaluated how initial composition of KBG:PRG in the seed mixture affects species composition over multiple years in the humid Midwest, just north of the transition zone of adaptability between cool- and warm-season turfgrasses." Proctor, Reicher, and Weisenberger studied the establishment and species composition after 3 years of a turf stand seeded with different ratios of KBG and PRG maintained as a lawn. They conducted experiments in West Lafayette, Indiana, using seed mixtures of KBG:PRG of 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 50:50, and 0:100 of pure live seed. The plots were seeded in late August, and the researchers rated speed of cover for 6 weeks after seeding and also percent KBG in the stand in August for 3 years. According to the authors, analyses showed that 100% PRG, 50:50, 70:30, or 80:20 KBG:PRG ratio had the highest percentage turf cover at 6 weeks after seeding during establishment because of the quick germinating and establishing PRG. This was especially important in 2007, when late summer heat stimulated late summer crabgrass germination. Regardless of turf cover during establishment, all treatments except 100% PRG shifted to greater than 95% KBG cover by 3 years after establishment.

"For the region in which our study was conducted, it may be desirable to seed with a higher proportion (greater than 50%) of PRG to speed initial establishment for customer satisfaction, erosion control, and/or to offset years with high weed pressure," the authors said. "Under lawn conditions similar to our study, seeding ratios with high KBG (80:20 or 90:10 KBG:PRG) will likely shift to a stand composition of greater than 95% KBG within 2 years, whereas all other ratios lower in KBG will likely shift similarly within 3 years."

###

The complete study and abstract are available on the ASHS HortScience electronic journal web site:

http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/50/1/137.abstract

Founded in 1903, the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) is the largest organization dedicated to advancing all facets of horticultural research, education, and application. More information at ashs.org.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Seeding mixtures recommended for midwest lawns

West Coast and new captain Shannon Hurn face an anxious wait to see whether Domain Stadium will be ready for training this month.

The West Australian Football Commission say it will work to ensure the West Coast Eagles will be able to commence training at Domain Stadium in two weeks, despite reports there could be a delay after Friday's One Direction concert.

The Sunday Times reported West Coast was concerned it might not be able to use the ground for up to a month. The first AFL game for the season scheduled at Domain Stadium is Fremantle against Port Adelaide on April 5.

"We've got no clear timeline for when we'll get the oval back," Eagles general manager of football Craig Vozzo told The Sunday Times.

Thousands of fans turned out to see boy band One Direction play at Domain Stadium on Friday night. Photo: Matthew Tompsett

It was reported large parts of the ground's surface had been damaged following the One Direction gig and that sections of the ground would need to be replaced and would take two to four weeks to settle.

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But in a press release that first trumpeted the value of having major concerts at the venue, then addressed the ground damage issue, the WAFC said damage to the ground was not significant and in line with expectations.

"We currently have a booking for West Coast to recommence training at Domain Stadium on Monday, March 9 and will ensure the turf is prepared to meet AFL standards for this booking," he said.

Mr Walton said after the turf was installed, the last pre-season renovation work would then get underway, including re-coring, sanding and seeding for the rye grass to ensure the surface was well prepared for the AFL season.

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1D damage: WAFC says Eagles will be back on Domain Stadium in two weeks

HERBICIDES are one of the most important tools in a no-till farmer's arsenal, but increased - and sometimes incorrect - use has the potential to render these vital chemicals ineffective.

Speaking at a recent herbicide resistance forum at Karoonda, organised by the Mallee and Coorong NRM group and the Karoonda Ag Bureau, the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative's Peter Newman, Geraldton, WA, said resistance was a growing problem.

"Herbicide resistance is a big issue worldwide, and in Australia WA and parts of SA have been the leaders," Mr Newman said.

While herbicide resistance in the SA Mallee is not as great as other parts of the country, issues are starting to crop up.

"Our big concern for this part of the world is that brome grass will very quickly evolve resistance to Imi (imidazolinone) herbicides and once they fall over these growers are going to have a lot of trouble on their hands, so we're trying to intervene before that happens and make those herbicides last a lot longer.

"The reason more farmers don't have Imi resistance is because they haven't used enough of it, but it will happen - it's not one of those low-risk groups," he said.

"If you're just in the stage of getting a few resistant populations, that's the warning sign that it's going to happen."

He said herbicides were not the answer to herbicide resistance.

"Herbicides are fantastic - but has anyone actually completely eradicated ryegrass on their property? We've had 30 to 40 years of new ryegrass herbicides coming out, and we've still got ryegrass. Herbicides are brilliant, but they're not the complete answer," he said.

"With a lot of farmers, when herbicide resistance bites, they just start rotating herbicides. They're still living year-to-year, just focusing on killing this year's weeds, then it's all the same the next year. As soon as farmers make it about the seed bank, they start to have wins.

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Herbicide future under threat

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