For many of us, our smartphones become the center of our lives, reminding us of appointments, keeping us up on the latest news, letting us know what friends are up to, telling us how to get to places, and even being a conduit to pay for products or services. At the same time, many new cars don't require a traditional key, instead letting us use a plastic fob transmitting an RF signal to unlock the doors and start the engine.

Viper, a company known for car alarm products, integrated the functions of that plastic fob into the phone, making one less thing to carry in your pocket.

As a new addition to Viper's alarm system, SmartKey works with the Viper Bluetooth module. With it, you can set your car to unlock the doors when you come within a set distance. Likewise, it will lock the doors when you leave the car's perimeter.

To test SmartKey, Viper installed the system in my car. Actually, Viper installed its Security system, SmartStart GPS module, and SmartStart Bluetooth module, all the components necessary to run SmartKey and some location features. There are quite few features beyond SmartKey in this system. It includes the basic whoop whoop car alarm (being a city dweller, I'm not a fan of this feature), remote engine start (not installed on my car because of its manual transmission), car locator, cloud-based remote unlocking, and geo-fencing.

An installer shop handled wiring the components throughout my car -- I just had to install the Viper app on my phone, sign up for an account, and pair my phone with the Viper Bluetooth module.

Setting up SmartKey involved a little extra trial and error, although a good shop will walk you through this procedure when you pick up your car after the installation. The Viper home screen, which shows lock and unlock buttons, includes a large Bluetooth icon in the upper left corner when the system is enabled. That button can also serve as a shortcut to turn off SmartKey, useful when you walk by your car but don't want it unlocked.

The proximity setting control for SmartKey is not very intuitive to use. Screenshot by Wayne Cunningham/CNET

Opening up the SmartKey screen, located in the setup menu for my specific car, I found a slider control with lock and unlock icons at each end. I could drag red and green dots along the slider to indicate at which distance I wanted SmartKey to automatically unlock or lock my car when my phone was in Bluetooth range.

This slider control is not all that intuitive to use, and it is difficult to differentiate the red and green dots when their positions overlap. Two separate sliders would be easier to use, something Viper could implement with a simple app update. I should also point out that I was testing SmartKey with beta software.

Setting the distance for SmartKey to unlock the doors involves a bit of trial-and-error, as there are no distance markings on the slider control. I spent a bit of time adjusting the slider, walking away from my car and then turning around and walking back to determine at what distance the doors unlocked. Getting that distance right will vary by your parking situation. If your driveway is next to your house, you might want to set a close proximity, otherwise your doors might unlock and lock every time you go in and out of the kitchen.

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Viper SmartKey unlocks cars with handsfree ease, but requires alarm

As the commercial and industrial demands for technology upgrades and data/voice cabling increases New York Network Cabling and Fiber Optic expands its area of service to include NJ, CT, and PA including Bridgeport, New Haven, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.

New York, NY (PRWEB) - Office locations are opening rapidly and business's are expanding. In order to continue to provide the network cabling and fiber optic resources needed for its commercial and industrial customers New York Network Cabling and Fiber Optic has increased its network of highly trained voice and data cabling installers and fiber optic cabling technicians to provide structured cabling services throughout the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, including New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

New and existing customers are coming with high expectations and demands for high quality, high speed, flawless networks. Network wiring and server room installations are a key factor as a foundation for business. With the popularity of wireless networks for laptops and handheld devices, voice over IP phone systems which run over the internet, and IP camera surveillance systems that are viewable online, business owners and systems administrators understand the value of hiring an experienced, meticulous team of installers to design and pull the cable. New York Network Cabling has committing to this expansion in order to give business's the access to a premier network cabling contractor for office moves, network expansions, and multi location management.

New York Network Cabling offers installation of Cat5, Cat6, telephone, and fiber optic cable for office, retail, and industrial customers. As well as sales and installation of all telecommunications equipment including business phone systems, surveillance, wireless access points, racks and patch panels.

For more information or to request a quote about network cabling installation or fiber optic service visit them on the web at, http://www.newyorknetworkcabling.com/request-for-quote.aspx or speak to a representative directly about your scope of work at (917) 832-1520.

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New York Network Cabling And Fiber Optic Expands Its Telecommunications Service Area To Include New Jersey ...

Nest is finally launching its sleek Learning Thermostat in the UK, following a series of delays caused partly by our slightly awkward way of doing central heating in this country. It's simultaneously launched its first utility partnership in the UK with energy provider npower.

The Learning Thermostat has been available for some time in the US and Canada and has been widely praised both for its bold design and connectivity capabilities that allow users to remotely monitor and control the temperature in their house using an app.

Wired.co.uk has spent some brief hands-on time with the Nest and never imagined it would take such pleasure in using something as humdrum a thermostat. Two simple actions -- rotating it and gently pressing on it -- give you access to the full array of features, and even programming timers this way is astonishingly easy.

The thermostat was designed by Nest founder and CEO Tony Fadell, who previously worked for Apple on designing the iPod. Nest was sold to Google in January this year for $3.2 billion(1.9 billion), but the company is continuing with its mission of reinventing household tech and making it available across an open platform.

The UK market has proved tricky for Nest to wrap its head around, but that the company's had a jolly good crack at making its popular piece of kit work for us, redesigning both the hardware and the software of the thermostat so that it will fit in with our way of heating our abodes. Nest has integrated the programmer and the frostat into the thermostat itself and there's an extra piece of hardware that comes with it -- a heat link, which will turn off your boiler automatically when we turn the temperature down.

There are a range of differences between the way we heat homes to folks in the US: we use boilers instead of furnaces; we don't tend to require air conditioning (no need, believe it or not); we have no idea what our exact "comfort temperatures" are and tend to go with how we feel and our main expectation of our central heating systems is to be able to turn of the boiler at a preprogrammed time.

Nest sure has done its homework alright, but it's been a longstanding ambition of the company to expand into the UK, which is why when it launched the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector last autumn that it did so here at the same time as it launched in the US and Canada.

"With the UK Office of Gas and Electricity Markets saying that UK residents spend on average about 1,342 per year on energy, and heating responsible for over 60 percent of the bill, it's the perfect time to bring the Nest Learning Thermostat to the UK." said Lionel Paillet, Nest's general manager for Europe."Nest Learning Thermostat customers in the US experience savings of approximately 20 percent on average off their heating and cooling bill and we're looking forward to helping customers in the UK save as well."

The potential for saving on energy bills is the main appeal of the Nest Learning Thermostat in the UK and the company knows it too. It's working with npower to provide thermostats to its six million existing customers and is also trying to incentivise other companies to advertise it to their customers by helping them relieve pressure on the grid and assisting with sales promotions.

Obviously the full range of scheduling features are built in to the UK version of the thermostat, but what Nest is really hoping will help sell it to us are the efficiency features, which are ultimately the elements that will help us to reduce our bills. The Nest Leaf appears on the thermostat whenever you are using energy efficiently and its True Radiant system that prevents your heating from overshooting or undershooting its target temperature. The smartest bit of the smart thermostat are the algorithms that learn your behaviour patterns, but it also helps you to recognise these patterns too by providing you with a monthly energy report.

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Nest brings Learning Thermostat to the UK

Business News of Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Source: Daily Guide

Professor Thomas Akabzaa, Chief Director at the Ministry of Energy & Petroleum, has expressed grave concern about the quality of imported wires and cables.

Such wires are substandard and could lead to fire outbreaks and consequently loss of lives and property, according to him.

Prof. Akabzaa therefore called on the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) to work with the Energy Commission (EC) to check the importation of inferior electrical cables.

Speaking at a ceremony in Accra recently, he said, GSA and EC must continue to work together to ensure that only certified electrical wires are allowed onto the Ghanaian market.

Prof. Akabzaa commended local manufacturers who produce quality materials, urging everyone to patronize made in Ghana cables.

He called on certified electrical wiring professionals to endeavor to use only the prescribed type of materials for electrical wiring and refrain from executing shoddy work and illegal wiring for clients.

Prof. Akabzaa reminded the agencies of Regulation 4 of the electrical wiring Regulations L.I 2008, which states that A person shall not use a material for electrical wiring unless that material is capable of maintaining the integrity of an electrical equipment or installation under environmental conditions stipulated by the manufacturer and approved by the GSA.

See the rest here:
Stop fake electrical wire imports - Prof. Akabzaa

An angry ratepayer destroys his recently installed water meter after learning of Dunedin City Council plans to charge households for water use. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.

The Otago Daily Times has learnt a ''small trial batch'' of meters has been covertly installed over the past year by contractors digging up footpaths for underground ultra-fast broadband (UFB) wiring.

A council spokesman denied the meters had been sneaked in, saying the project was timed to tap into the UFB work.

''It's about basic economies. If we went in and dug up the same piece of road that had just been dug up for broadband, we'd be flooded with complaints.''

A leaked document said the revenue from the water meters could be used to help pay off Forsyth Barr Stadium debt, although water used for civic amenities - including the stadium pitch - would be exempt from the water charge.

The document suggests households will be allowed 45 litres of free water each day, enough for drinking water, three, minute-long showers and six flushings of the toilet before being charged at 50c per litre thereafter.

It goes on to explain the estimated cost of water to wash a medium-sized car will be $4; watering a lawn $9 and extra toilet flushes at $1.50.

For families who prefer to use the bath, the water department suggests sharing to save costs, with three (not too soiled) people able to follow each other in the same water with no undue health risk.

Households will be encouraged to collect rainwater, which could be bucketed inside in the event of hosting guests who may also need to use the toilet.

Anticipating a reluctance to wash cars, the document recommends city parking officers be given the authority to ticket cars they deem to be ''unnecessarily dirty''.

Excerpt from:
Dunedin water meters installed ultra-fast

Hayward, CA (PRWEB) March 29, 2014

SF Cable, a world renowned wholesale distributor of cables and networking solutions, has recently released a new product line of punch down keystone jacks. These punch down keystone modules are available at the companys online store at affordable prices.

The latest collection of SF Cable keystone jacks features easy-to-install and versatile modules that can meet the wiring requirements of growing networks. When requested to highlight the features of keystone jacks, the official spokesperson of SF Cable said, A keystone module is basically used to mount a range of electrical jacks into a patch panel, surface-mount box, or wall plate. This unit can support low-voltage connectors or jacks. Having a rectangular face and the right dimensions, they ensure easy and quick installation. Based on PCB technology, this keystone jack offers flawless signal quality and exceptional performance.

The high speed RJ45 keystone jack involves 90 degree connection features. This keystone jack is exclusively developed for high density patch panels. They are the perfect choice for data networks that demand great bandwidth and speed, the company representative further added while elaborating the uses of keystone jacks.

While discussing the compatibility features of RJ45 keystone jacks, the spokesperson said, Our keystone jack works well with all patch panels, surface mount boxes, and wall plates SF Cable has on offer. They are also compatible with our manufactured Ethernet patch cables.

The SF Cable product collection includes networking cables, home theater accessories, and other cabling solutions. The company claims to offer gold plated, UL listed keystone jacks. For more information about this product, please visit http://www.sfcable.com/1017-SF-06.html.

About SF Cable SF Cable is recognized as an established wholesale distributor of computer cables, laptop products, security accessories, and home theater items. Since its inception in 2002, the company has been offering quality solutions for varied electronic equipment. It presents more than 8,000 SKUs of components, accessories, and cables designed for a vast assortment of consumer electronics.

The product inventory of SF Cable also includes custom solutions, such as networking cables, fiber optic cables, and modular adapters. The company offers prompt delivery services, competitive prices, lifetime warranty, and extensive product collection to meet its consumers needs.

Contact Details SF Cable, Inc. 28300 Industrial Boulevard Suite F Hayward, CA 94545-4439 Toll-Free: 888-275-8755 Local: 510-264-9988 Fax: 510-264-9989 email: customerservice(at)sfcable(dot)com

Read the rest here:
Creating Effective Wiring Solutions, SF Cable Presents an Innovative Series of RJ45 Keystone Jacks

S

Patrick of Dallas, TX had been towing with his 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser for months, until a run with a rental trailer turned his truck into a ball of fire. Can we figure out what happened?

Patrick took to FJCruiserForums to share his plight, video and a few pictures as well as a detailed account of the incident and some advice to other owners hoping to hook up trailer wiring to an FJ. But most importantly, he described his hypothesis as to why his off-roader was consumed by fire and reduced to rubble.

Yes, it's in portrait mode. Let's move on.

Basically, he'd had his trailer wiring installed by a professional and the truck had been towing his camper for a couple incident-free years. The camper used a seven-pin connector. On the day he pulled a rented utility trailer from Home Depot, requiring him to hook up his four-pin connector for the first time, he was flagged down by another motorist who was alarmed to observe the FJ was billowing smoke.

Patrick had been towing the trailer for inside twenty minutes.

He called 911 and the fire department was dispatched quickly, undoubtedly using some of the car-fire extinguishing techniques we've discussed before. The fire was put out, the Dallas Fire Department satisfied with the scene's safety, and a tow truck was sent to pick up the scorched FJ.

But by the time the wrecker could arrive on scene, about an hour later, smoke appeared again... and soon 4X4 was completely engulfed in flames and obliterated. DFD returned to finish the job, assuredly with a little embarrassment.

Patrick has some ideas about what might have happened, but he admits his assessment is speculative and declines to specify the wiring installer "in case he's wrong," which is a classy move. What the hell do you think happened here?

In his own words:

Link:
Did Faulty Trailer Wiring Burn This FJ Cruiser To The Ground-- Twice?

Get ready for a whole new generation of connected lightbulbs. Philips latest concept replaces an office's traditional electrical wiring with Ethernet, used to power LED bulbs and pass info to and from each lamp. Each fixture outputs light, but also collects information from a variety of sensors. A motion sensor can track the number of employees in a given area, for example, while a thermometer can report back on the current temperature. Facility managers can track any section of the office in realtime, adjusting lighting and heating from a smartphone app to save on utilities whenever possible. Of course, as you'll need to replace traditional cabling with Ethernet, the installation itself is sure to cost a pretty penny. Philips quotes a 50-percent reduction in installation costs for PoE over traditional wiring with new installations, however, so if you're planning to refurbish an office this is definitely an interesting option to consider.

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Philips' new LED bulbs are powered over Ethernet, provide occupancy and climate info to office managers

Placing guidelights up your hallway or down your staircase can involve bulky plugin solutions or a professional and expensive installation. SnapRays Guidelight, an easy-install outlet cover with built-in LEDs, could simplify this process by turning any standard power outlet into a night light without the need for re-wiring or batteries.

At a glance, the SnapRays Guidelight looks no different to a standard power outlet cover, but features patented "power extractors" on the backside. In removing the standard outlet cover and replacing it with SnapRays, these power extractors slot into the outlet and extract enough juice to power the LEDs without rewiring or using batteries. The company says this process takes only seconds and that the LED lights will last for up to 25 years.

Once installed, a built-in light sensor will turn the Guidelight on in the dark and off when it is light, automating things and avoiding unnecessary use of electricity. According to the company, the units draw 5 mA of power and costs less than five cents (US) a year to run.

Aside from energy savings and ease of installation, the unobtrusive nature of SnapRays adds further weight to its creator's claim as a convenient replacement for typical plug-in guide lights. While SnapRays look like a regular outlet cover, its ability to extract power from the wall while leaving the outlets free for other appliances means that it functions as one too.

The SnapRays Guidelight measures 2.9 x 4.9 in (7.3 x 12.5 cm) and less than a quarter-inch (6 mm) in thickness. It is compatible with standard outlets that have exposed screw terminals and operates at 100-120 volts (those used in the US, Canada, Mexico and certain Latin American countries). The team says it is looking at the potential for units compatible with European outlets but warns these are likely to be some ways off.

Two styles are available the Duplex, which has two separate holes to fit over standard duplex outlets, and the Decor with one rectangular hole for use with standard decor outlets. The lights are available in white, light almond or ivory.

The team has taken to Kickstarter to raise funds for mass production and after setting a humble target of US$12,000, has just surpassed $360,000. It is offering single Guidelights at a pledge level or $12, while a pledge of $36 will put you in line for a pack of three. Shipping is estimated for May 2014.

You can hear from one of the company's founders, Sean Watkins, in the video below.

Source: SnapPower

Continue reading here:
SnapRay Guidelight turns standard power outlets into safety night lights

Employer:

Intermountain Electric / Quanta Services

Updated: Mar242014

Job posting bookmarked!

Largest and leading local contractor is searching for General Foremen with Oil & Gas experience. Work location is ND and CO. Very self-sufficient with the ability to oversee several projects and manage multiple field personnel at any given time.

Journeyman's License in CO or ND (or a State of reciprocity for ND) Minimum of 3-5 years at similar position Excellent leadership qualities including exceptional communication skills oClient interaction must be professional and courteous! oAbility to relay field requirements to office personnel Must be self-sufficient with ability to design and layout; and complete a project start-finish oResponsible for overseeing multiple projects and multiple field personnel at any given time Clear understanding of NEC and hazardous locations, with ability look up and/or research Controls experience: Strong skills at installation and troubleshooting for Industrial/O&G applications oPLC and ROC Controller's (Allen Bradley, Emerson, GE, etc) oAbility to read and install from Schematics, Ladder Logic, blueprints oInstrumentation installation and wiring experience. Adhere to job specific and company safety plan as well as prepare company job hazard analysis (JHA) for every task. Preferred Computer skills - Internet explorer, Microsoft office, PDF. This position will require electronic paperwork and communication. Work schedule / conditions: The work is located in ND/co oMay offer Rotational schedule. oWe believe you need to stay connected with your family and want you to have time with them on a scheduled basis. oPossible Travel allowance is included. oFlexible work hours, mostly 4-7 days a week 8-12 hours a day, Overtime based on work past 8hrs in a day or over 40 in a week and all weekend work at OT scale. Housing and Perdiem may be provided. Company truck provided. FR program provided. Ability to work in adverse weather conditions. Valid Colorado Driver's License; must have clean MVR. Clean Drug Test.

Full Family Medical Insurance coverage, pension, annuity, and Paid Vacation.

In order to apply for this position, applicants MUST meet the following criteria. If your resume does not match these criteria, you will not be able to apply for this position.

Location: North America

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Superintendent / General Foreman