Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Persistence Market Research (PMR) has recently published a report with the title, DIY Home Security Solutions Market: Global Industry Analysis 2012-2016 and Forecast 2017-2025. An alarming rise in the number of crimes and burglary has triggered fear among people, thus leading to a rise in the adoption of security services and equipment. Due to the advancements in technology and the availability of internet connected devices, new smart home devices such as DIY home security systems are flourishing, which compliments the demand for an easy to install security system corresponding to the increasing crimes and burglaries globally. The demand for DIY home security systems is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. As a result, the global DIY home security solutions market is expected to foresee an outstanding CAGR of 22.4% over the course of the assessment period.

Consumer Tilt Towards Smart Homes to Bode Well for the Market

The adoption of smart homes and related applications in the past five years has increased significantly, especially in countries in Europe and North America, owing to the increasing advancements in home automation. The growing adoption of smart homes is expected to drive the demand for residential security gadgets. Smart home appliances include advanced security systems such as DIY home security systems, security alarms, video intercoms, sensors, electronic locks, and cameras.

Some of the other smart features include extensive control over the home living environment such as self-powered lighting, climate controls, fire alarms, and power management. Owing to the aforementioned factors, people are adopting security systems with advanced security features embedded in their smart home applications and are also considering this as a value added service for a better quality of living. These factors are encouraging DIY home security system vendors to innovate and come up with new solutions, which is further expected to propel the growth of the market in the long run.

A sample of this report is available upon request @https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/21109

Moreover, enhancements in internet penetration, network connection and the growing demand for wireless networks has propelled the use of home security solutions across the globe. The integration of a wireless network system has also eliminated the need for a skilled labor force, thus helping the owner in cutting unnecessary costs. However, if technology can be helpful and high-end, it can also cause errors and issues leading to the failure of the entire system such as network issues and false alarms. Further, the high reliability of professional security systems is another roadblock in the growth of the market.

Monitoring and Alarming Systems to be Most Preferred Product

In 2017, monitoring and alarming systems held a share of 68.5% in the global DIY security solutions market. It was closely trailed by DIY security cameras. It has been projected that the former will maintain its lead throughout the course of the forecast period owing to the fact that residential complexes prefer using monitoring and alarming systems over cameras as they find it difficult to keep track of camera monitoring. DIY security cameras are mostly used in commercial platforms such as shops and organizations.

Request for Methodology at:https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/21109

Innovation to Stay Focal Point of Leading Vendors in the Global Market

In order to stay competent in the market and surpass rivals, several top companies are focusing on new product launches with advanced features. Key players are also entering into mergers or partnerships in order to make use of the technology of other players and maintain a high rank in the market. Some of the leading companies operating in the global DIY home security solutions market are:

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Diy Home Security Solutions Market to Raise at a CAGR of 22.4% over the Forecast Period 2025 Dagoretti News - Dagoretti News

This case is not like other earbud-charging cases. Flip it over and it becomes a Qi charging pad for your phone!

Whew! We made it to Friday, everyone. And just a heads-up: I'm off Monday, though newsletter subscribers will receive their deal email as usual. (You do subscribe to the Cheapskate newsletter, right? If not, there's a sign-up box right at the bottom of this post!)

Today I couldn't decide on just one or two deals to share, so I'm giving you five!

Update: The Qi charging pad appears to be expired, but the other deals are still in effect!

Many modern true-wireless earbuds come inside a charging case that can recharge wirelessly, just by laying it on a Qi charging pad. The HolyHigh EA2 true-wireless earbuds come inside a case that is, itself, a Qi charging pad! It's true: Flip it over and lay your phone on it for easy on-the-go wireless charging.

So, in a way, it feels like you're buying a portable Qi power bank that just happens to have earbuds inside. And that power bank recharges via USB-C and has a Type-A USB output as well. If you use it just to keep the earbuds powered, the 5,000-mAh battery can net you a whopping 240 hours of total playtime, according to HolyHigh.

The earbuds themselves: Pipe design, noise-isolating eartips, IPX5-rated sweatproof and waterproof. I'm listening to them right now; the sound quality is decent given the price, maybe a little flat overall, lacking in detail but definitely good enough for the gym. As with all such earbuds, getting a good inner-ear seal is key.

Oh, and speaking of price: Just $33.49 when you clip the on-page $5-off coupon and then apply promo codeTYDZD2RDat checkout. That's less than what you'd pay for countless earbuds that don't have a super-versatile charging case.

In recent years, SimpliSafe has become synonymous with DIY home security. It's also known for offering one of the most affordable monitored security systems you can get.

For a limited time, it's even more affordable: This five-piece kit, originally $250, has never been priced this low. It includes the base station (with siren), a keypad, a motion sensor, an entryway sensor and a key fob. You also get a yard sign and window stickers, and you can expand the system with more sensors, a panic button, cameras and so on.

Monitoring is optional. Prices for that start at 50 cents per day.

Will Apple do away with the Lightning port someday? Perhaps -- but not yet. Until then, you might want to stock up on cables. This four-pack includes two 3-footers and two 6-footers -- the former good for car use, I think, where you don't want excessive cord cluttering up the place.

These cables are not only MFi-certified, they're also braided and covered by a lifetime warranty. What's not to like?

To get this price, apply promo code XQVDLEJW at checkout.

I'm increasingly enamored with LED light strips, whether as bias lighting for behind your TV or just to enhance your decor. Govee's 16.4-footer is ridiculously affordable, dropping to $14.53 when you clip the on-page 5%-off coupon.

The strip is controlled entirely by remote. (Some support Wi-Fi, just FYI, which allows for app and voice controls, but not this one.) With it you can adjust brightness and color, set custom scenes and so on. Definitely worth a look if you've yet to try this kind of "mood" lighting.

Here's the problem with many Qi charging pads: They don't come with wall plugs. Sure, you can use an extra one you've got lying around, but unless it's a QuickCharge (QC) plug, you won't get fast charging from the pad.

That's one reason I'm seriously liking this Seenda pad: It has an AC plug built in. What's more, it has a pair of Type-A USB ports right alongside, so you can use it to charge other devices while you're charging your phone. Handy!

The pad normally sells for $20, which is decent, but the price drops to $14 with promo code 30SEENDA57. Update: This code works only with seller ZYH Shop.

Have a great weekend, cheeps, and I'll see you back here on Tuesday!

This article was published previously. It has been updated to reflect current deals.

CNET's Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow the Cheapskateon FacebookandTwitter. Find more great buys on theCNET Deals pageand check out ourCNET Coupons pagefor the latest promo codes fromBest Buy,Walmart,Amazon, andmore. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page.

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Some deals to get you through the weekend: Headphones, home security, LED lighting and more - CNET

The issue of smart home security has once again been pushed into the spotlight with the latest incident:a hacker accessing the Ring security camerain a young girl's room.

According to CNN journalistsElizabeth Wolfe and Brian Ries, thehacker proceeded to harass the child, telling her he was "Santa Claus" and encouraging her to destroy her room.

Ring responded to the incident, claiming thatthe hacker accessed the camera, not through a data breach or a Ring security flaw, but through the victimized family's weak account security.

While consumers should certainly employ security bestpractices, like choosing unique passwords and setting up two-step authentification, incidents like this one and dozenslike it represent a growing trend of smart home vulnerabilities.

Although security has often been discussed as a software problem or a consumer problem, some developers have taken extra precautions to bake security into IoT components at the silicon level.

Here are a few semiconductor companies that have recently released components with hardware security in mind.

One example of a company taking hardware security to heart isMediaTek. The semiconductor company recently announced a new IoT chipset,Rich IoT,which is designed to tackleIoT challenges related to voice recognition, display, and vision.

Rich IoT includes i300A (MT8362A) for display-oriented devices, i300B (MT8362B)for voice-enabled devices, andi500(MT8385) for AI vision devices.

MediaTek claims that hardware security was a priority since the inception of this chipset, reflected in the company's choice to build inArms TrustZone security technology.

Arm posits that TrustZone technology establishes"a device root of trust based on Platform Security Architecture (PSA) guidelines" and offers ongoing support with operating system updates and security patches.

Arm TrustZone is said to onlyexecute code that is authorized and authenticated to ensure that malicious code has not been injected into a firmware update (this is what secure boot is particularly good at).

In addition to firmware security,the Rich IoT chipset comes with a software package called the Board Support Package (BSP), which allows over-the-air security updatesfor the Linux kernel, OpenSSL, and Yocto.

This solution addresses a pressingproblem ofIoT devicesthat they often go un-updated, despitebugs that can behard to fix on the fly.

Though security is paramount at the hardware level, asoftware-update toolis also essential to ensure that IoT devices are protected from new issues, making them less vulnerable to attackers.

Recognizing the trend in hardware security,IoTeX has announced two new IoT products, Ucam and Pebble Tracker.

The company prides itself as a leading privacy-IoT platform, incorporating multiple authorizationtechnologies. Theseincludeblockchain, confidential computing, and decentralized identity.

Thisrange of productsincorporates Intel and Arm'sTrusted Execution Environment in addition toblockchain technology. This combination is said to ensurethat code executed is 1) secure from attackers and 2)authenticated.

IoTeX also factored indata management in the new chipset.

Many other companies sell user data for profit without the user'sconsent, or the company obtains"consent" using dense, difficult-to-read contracts. (Haven't we all, at some point, clicked I Agree without reading the 5,000-word terms and conditions?)

But IoTeX claims that with their product lines, users are thesole owners of their data withtheopportunity to sell or trade data to third-party services, reveal data to service providers, or keep it entirely privateeven from IoTeX or IoT manufacturers.

Silicon Labs' ERF32BG22 is anotherexample of how IoT SoCs are shifting towardhardware security. The (PDF) SoC incorporates all the typical features you would expect from an IoT SoC including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, an ArmCortex processor, clock management, and peripherals; but multiple security features are also included.

LikeMediaTek's Rich IoT platform and IoTeX's product line, Silicon Labs' new SoC includes Arm'sTrustZone to create a secure hardware environment for the main application code to run.

It also incorporates secure-boot,Root-of-Trust Secure Loader (RTSL), which can ensure the authenticity of firmware updates as well as the booting sequence. Thisensures that malicious code cannot be injected into the boot sequence.

The SoC also includes hardware cryptography, a true random number generator, and a secure debug to allow designers to safely debug devices while not leaving them potentially exposed to attackers.

When IoT devices were first introduced, many designers did not incorporate strong security features (if at all).

Now that usersare becoming aware of troubling security problems, as in the Ring security camera incident, many designers must consider at least some measure ofhardware securityto prevent attackers from accessing data.

Many designs are utilizing secure boot systems whereby only authenticated boot code can be accessed and some designs even include multistage boot load sequences. Updating devices over-the-air can be highly beneficial as it can patch potential security risks, but this may be exploitable with a rogue update.

For many years,hardware engineers only incorporated simple security features such as IP protection. But now that attackers are increasingly hacking hardware, we should continue to develop ways toprevent our smart home devices from becoming gateways to places we never intended.

Read more here:
Three Recent IoT Platforms That Show Smart Home Security Isn't Just a Software Problem - News - All About Circuits

Wake Up Call Segment Host/Producer MK Mendoza takes a look at the introduction of 5G Technology and how it stands to potentially transform life as we know it. Some historians predict it will cause a revolution more drastic than that experienced by the industrial revolution. Starting with complaints from community activists about its unprecedented potential environmental and health effects to the legal implication of it acting as the transport system to usher in the latest in smart technology-communities are speaking out. Harvard Professor and Author Shoshana Zuboff calls the new business model it will mainstream Surveillance Capitalism. She argues that this new mode of business uses our personal data as its new raw material, to be exploited and mined to predict human behavior. When combined with things like facial recognition and Artificial Intelligence, this raw material becomes a profitable item, so profitable many companies are now turning to it to make more money from the data they collect than the products they sell. Once the data hits the secondary market, there is zero accountability for how that data may be used-where it can end up in the hands of totalitarian governments like that of China where it can be used as a means of gaining social control over not just their own population, but even to subjugate certain populations like that of the Uyghurs who many compare to the modern day jews of the Holocaust. Hi-Tech companies, like Google and Facebook have hidden their means of attaining this information in the internet of things smart technology with products marketed as providing "greater convenience" and "home security". It brings a new irony to the words "personal security system" especially when these items are those used for the surveillance that collects our personal data and where opting out of this surveillance capitalist model seems near impossible, leaving many finding themselves waking up into world that might have only been previously imagined in sci-fi movies and wondering if Big Brother has already arrived. MK Mendoza speaks with local activists and legal experts to weigh in on action that can be taken on a local level to ensure greater accountability from Hi-Tech companies and more protections for consumers in terms of their concerns over their personal data and safety.

Part One (A look at Community Activist Concerns over Environmental and Health Concerns)-An Interview with Kathleen Dudley

Part Two (A Look at the New Economy-Surveillance Capitalism)-How Local Governments Can Keep Industry Accountable

(Extended Interview with Julian Gresser)

To find out more on Kathleen Dudley, email: seasidereflexology@protonmail.com, or call 575.666.2529

To find out more about Julian Gresser, see link below:

https://resiliencemultiplier.com/author/julian/

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5G Technology: No Ordinary Upgrade-Critics Say May Change Life as We Know It (Part One and Two) - KSFR

Securing and making your business premises safe is critical for guarding your valuable assets. Its premises could be inventory, cash, confidential data and documents, housing computers, and more, relying upon the nature of your business.

And effective, reliable security systems can aid in reducing the risk of crime-related activities and give you peace of mind. For a little help, heres how you can protect and secure your business premises from damage or theft. Read on to know more!

Identify Hazards and Risks Factors

Take note that every property is distinct and unique. Perhaps your business will have dissimilar points of entry compared to other buildings, different security options. Also, the location can differ wildly. Moreover, the property type of your business has an influence or effect on its security. For instance, office blocks are more difficult to secure or guard compared to retail stores within a shopping mall. Initially, you need to identify the hazards and risk factors presented by your business. It is wise to perform a risk assessment analysis to know what things will affect your security. Do consider your security budget, any clear weaknesses of your business premises, valuables you want to secure, people who have property access other than you, existing security systems and access points, and crime rates of the common types of crime in the area. Risk assessment helps you identify and determine the core issues of your security, and thus, give you ideas to resolve the problems.

Have an Alarm System

Against any kind of crime, alarm systems act as the first line of defense. Professionally installed and monitored systems inform or alerts a monitoring station and then notify the authorities in case of serious emergencies.

The most advanced and sophisticated security systems function via Wifi and make use of cloud storage. In this way, alerts and notifications can be checked or overseen through mobile devices.

Thus, minimizing the extra work caused by false alarms. Also, you need to make sure that a professionally installed security system is calibrated or serviced periodically. Additionally, it is wise to post a few signages in prominent places as it can help deter would-be intruders or thieves.

There are a lot of high-quality, effective, and reliable security systems available today. And among them is the Night Owl Security System. This alarm system offers Google Assistant integration, self-monitoring, and DIY installation.

Whats more, the Night Owl Security System is one of the inexpensive, budget-friendly options for securing your business premises. You will love the one TB hard drive, storing all of your photos and video footage from your surveillance cameras.

Another thing, the system comes with four Night Owl 1080p Wired Bullet Cameras. These cameras can work both outdoors and indoors, have 1080p HD video, and 140 field-of-view. Do read a Night Owl security system review in many online sites to see if this product meets your needs.

Install Security Cameras

Criminals, burglars, intruders, and thieves deemed CCTV cameras as the number one obstacle or hindrance against any crime. The presence of these cameras alone is more than enough to deter most thieves since many of them are usually opportunistic. The possible evidence or proof gained from clear-cut video recordings merely presents or gives them high risk. Its particularly true when intruders have no idea of what valuables are within your business premises. That said, they are unaware that the pay-off may be worth the time and effort or not. Even for thieves who plan and carry out calculated robberies, security cameras still provide an impediment most burglars seek to avoid.

Smart Locks

The advancement of technology over the years has produced many methods of securing homes or business premises, from voice-controlled locks to advanced biometrics. With all of these sophisticated security options, businesses now have a lot of ways to protect and safeguard their building. Before, locks and keys were common. But remember that locks can be picked, and keys can be stolen. The good news is that today you can have security solutions beyond the common locks and keys. Now, you can monitor whoever enters your building through digital tracking, limit access to certain people, and use thumbprints to access buildings. Undoubtedly, smart locks are the present of business security, not the future. Any business premises can incorporate technology that increases the difficulty of acquiring unauthorized access.

Takeaway

Small businesses are more likely to be targets of burglaries compared to homes. As a matter of fact, the FBI 2016 crime statistics state that there were 412,743 reported burglaries in business establishments, which includes stores and offices. Keep in mind that no business is not liable or susceptible to intruders. For this reason, its critical to keep your business premises safe and secure. It should be your number one priority as a business owner. The steps mentioned above can help you cut down the risk of a burglary taking place.

Authors Bio:

Tyler Pack is a content marketing specialist for seven years. His target audiences include property sellers, realtors, and buyers, as well as homeowners and parents. He attended several home security seminars and relevant training like those under the Electronic Security Association (ESA).

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Effective Ways to Secure Your Business Premises - FinSMEs

The Internal Revenue Service has confirmed Jan. 27 as the first day the tax agency will accept and begin processing 2019 tax returns.

The deadline to file tax returns for 2019 and pay any owed taxes is April 15, which this year falls on a Wednesday.

Taxpayers may prepare returns through the IRS Free File program or tax software companies and tax professionals before the start date, but processing returns will begin after IRS systems open later in January.

Officer Sterling Hall of the Pendleton Police Department is among the recent graduates of Basic Police Class 394. Hall, who graduated from Hermiston High School in 2014 and previously served on the reserve officer corps with the Hermiston Police Department, attended the 16-week course through the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. The class concluded with a graduation ceremony Jan. 17 at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem. For more about the training, visit http://www.oregon.gov/dpsst.

An upcoming Museum After Hours program at Fort Walla Walla Museum will feature Mike Denny, an author, conservationist and past president of the Blue Mountain Audubon Society.

The program is Thursday, Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. in the museums Grand Hall, 755 Myra Road, Walla Walla. There is no admission charge.

Denny has also been involved with the Secret Life of the Forest series on the Blue Mountains, which aired on Blue Mountain Television in 2019. He will speak about the early naturalists and collectors who explored and documented the Walla Walla region in the 19th century, including Lewis and Clark, Thomas Nuttall, John Kirk Townsend, David Douglas, John C. Fremont, Charles E. Bendire, and Dr. Lee Raymond Dice.

The museums regular hours are daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free to members and kids under 6, $4 for children ages 6-12, $8 for seniors/students and $9 for general admission. For more information, call 509-525-7703 or visit http://www.fwwm.org.

Governor Kate Brown signed House Bill 2896 into law last week, authorizing loans to nonprofits to create programs to help people be able to afford to replace their outdated manufactured homes with something much more energy efficient.

The law, which was sponsored by Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, and supported by Umatilla Electric Cooperative, passed in the 2019 session.

Keeping Oregonians in affordable homes is crucial to ensure our communities continue to thrive, Smith said in a news release. The funding options created by this bill will enable more low and moderate-income families to replace their housing without taking on considerable debt. Keeping people in their homes while building a better supply of affordable, efficient homes is a win-win!

UEC general manager Robert Echenrode also called the bill a big win for rural Oregon.

The menu at the Harkenrider Senior Activity Center for Thursday is chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice, salad and birthday cake. Friday is clam chowder, coleslaw, garlic bread and dessert. Monday is pizza, green salad, fruit and dessert. Tuesday is tuna noodle casserole, peas, carrot salad and dessert. Next Wednesday is BBQ beef sandwich, potato salad, fruit and dessert.

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By the way: Tax season starts this month - Hermiston Herald

Nurse practitioner Kelly Patterson, APRN, recently joined Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiothoracic Surgery. She has more than 10 years of experience providing nursing care to patients in western Kentucky. A board-certified nurse practitioner, Patterson earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from Murray State University and a master's degree in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Union University, in Jackson, Tennessee.

Amy Futrell has joined FNB Bank as the market president for Murray-Calloway County. She brings over 30 years of banking experience having served in various roles including mortgage loan originator, vice president, special assets and vice president, retail sales. Futrell is a graduate of Murray State University with a bachelor's degree in business with an area in finance.

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Kentucky has announced the appointment of the Honorable Alan C. Stout as the Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge for the district effective. He succeeds Judge Thomas H. Fulton, who had served in that role since December 31, 2012. Chief Judge Stout has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge in the district since October 25, 2011. He will continue to hold court in Louisville and Paducah.

WPSD Local 6 has announced one promotion and one new employee on its staff.

Elizabeth Neelley was recently promoted to local sales manager. She has extensive experience serving the region as a local account executive for 14 years. Prior to joining WPSD, Neelley worked in the editorial and publicity department of Broadman and Holman Publishing in Nashville, the publishing division of Lifeway Corporation. A Paducah native, she is a graduate of Samford University with a BA in journalism and mass communications.

LouAnn Simpson joins WPSD as traffic manager. She has 38 years of experience in broadcasting, including positions in accounts receivable, national sales, and traffic management.

Zachary VanVactor has been promoted to member (partner) in the law firm, Stites & Harbison, PLLC. He is part of the firm's business litigation service group, Louisville and Jeffersonville, Indiana offices. VanVactor regularly works at both the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts around the country. His practice focuses on business litigation, class action and multidistrict litigation, financial services litigation, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, intellectual property litigation and professional liability defense. He is a native of Possum Trot in Marshall County. Prior to joining Stites & Harbison, he served for two years as a law clerk for the Honorable Thomas B. Russell, U.S. District Judge, in Paducah.

Flagship Communities, which operates 44 housing communities in four states including Kentucky, has acquired its second residential manufactured housing community in Paducah, Southwood Pointe. With the addition, Flagship now owns over 225 lots in the Paducah market. Southwood Pointe is located at 749 Bleich Road, Paducah.

Daniel Richardson, Eddyville, has moved his real estate license to Lake Homes Realty. With the brokerage, Richardson will specialize in lake homes and land on and around Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.

Dr. Pat Withrow has been named one of three new board members for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. He is director of outreach and physician advisor at Baptist Health Paducah. A retired cardiologist, he previously served as a vice president and chief medical officer of the hospital, as well as director of the Heart Center. Withrow's recent advocacy work to promote a cigarette tax increase and a tobacco-free schools law follows a long history of health promotion efforts in the commonwealth. His "Wizard of Health" presentations for elementary students focus on healthy eating, exercise and refraining from smoking. He has toured more than 10 counties in western Kentucky presenting the program "The Adolescent Brain and Substance Abuse" to middle and high school students.

Originally posted here:
People and Business | Local News - Paducah Sun

Becky Booker

Spring Lake Park-Blaine-Mounds View Fire Department Community Risk Reduction Fire and Life Safety Educator Becky Booker recently retired after serving 21 1/2 years with the department.

Before she retired late last year, Booker was given a golden axe to mark over 20 years.

Becky is fantastic, and she will be greatly missed by the Fire Department, SBM Fire Chief Charlie Smith said. When I worked with her, Becky was the most kind, conscientious employee who was deeply concerned for the welfare of the city whole.

In 1996 Booker moved from California to Blaine with her husband, Kenneth, and their two sons after Kenneth received a new job building military tanks.

I immediately fell in love with Minnesota, Booker said. I thought this would be a good place to raise boys.

With a background in nursing, Booker began searching for a job in the Twin Cities but didnt want to work in a hospital.

Booker saw the SBM Fire Department was searching for employees in community risk reduction and fire prevention.

Fire prevention I thought would be reading books to kids, so I thought I could do that for a while until I figure out what I want to do, she said. Little did I know when I got there it was the beginning stage for prevention and the world was our oyster for what we did to prevent fires, so you really had to dig inside you and be creative because these are things that had never been done before.

Booker was hired, along with four other community risk reduction employees, by former SBM Fire Chief Nyle Zikmund.

We were the extremely fortunate recipient of her incredible passion, work ethic and limitless energy, Zikmund said.

Booker said Zikmund was very supportive of trying new things in community risk eduction.

We grew up trying new things, and thats very unique in the Fire Department, she said. Leadership has always been open to trying new ideas for serving the customer.

Since starting with the department, Booker has served as a fire and life safety educator, a registered nurse, a firefighter 1 and an arson investigator.

I loved being out in the community and serving people right where the issue was, Booker said. Im one of the luckiest people in the world. Every day is different. Every assignment is unique, and its pretty much set your own journey here.

SBM firefighters canvass an area in Spring Lake Park Nov. 26 after a deadly fire killed two brothers. The canvassing program, which checks smoke alarms, was created by Community Risk Reduction Fire and Life Safety Educator Becky Booker, who recently retired.

Booker was involved with multiple community risk reduction campaigns at the department.

Its incredible the amount of knowledge she has, said Community Risk Reduction Coordinator Lt. Jeff Lundquist. All the programs that she started and that have flourished under her is unbelievable. She has made the department what it is today.

In 1998 the SBM Fire Department was responding to a very dangerous fire. After the fire had been extinguished, Zikmund told Booker and other firefighters to go door to door and check residents fire alarms.

SBM Firefighter Kelly Pennoyer checks to make sure a smoke alarm is functioning Nov. 26 in Spring Lake Park as shes canvassing. The canvassing program was developed by Community Risk Reduction Fire and Life Safety Educator Becky Booker, who recently retired.

This inspired Booker to develop the departments canvassing campaign.

Smoke alarms are the number one thing that will prevent you from dying in a fire, because when youre asleep you do not smell, and the smoke alarm is going to wake you up, she said. Across America this is a problem, so we thought we should bring the solution straight to peoples doors by doing this.

Now, once a month, firefighters canvass one block, offering to check residents smoke alarms and installing new 10-year lithium battery detectors donated by the American Red Cross.

In the beginning people didnt like canvassing, Booker said. I was the only one who really saw the value in it because no one wanted to knock on someones door and interfere with their privacy. I didnt look at it that way. I was bringing prevention to their home, and they were really responsive to it.

The SBM Fire Department also immediately canvasses on blocks where fires occur.

We take that opportunity to make sure people are being taken care of, Boooker said. We know people are feeling vulnerable after a fire, so we do the canvassing so they can feel better about their fire safety.

On Nov. 16 the SBM Fire Department responded to a Spring Lake Park garage and house fire that killed bothers Richard Nelson, 56, and Rodney Nelson, 53.

When I think of the two deaths we recently had, that just makes us want to dig in and work harder, because my mantra is, Good enough is never good enough, Booker said. You always have to work harder to prevent the next death.

During canvassing, firefighters also encourage residents to sign up for the departments home safety survey, where a community risk reduction firefighter comes later to make sure a residence has the proper safety measures in place. The firefighters check everything from fire extinguishers to outlets to carbon monoxide detectors.

The home safety survey was developed by Booker. She said after the surveys were implemented, an agency reviewed calls and found incidents in Spring Lake Park, Blaine and Mounds View dropped by 28% over 11 years while Anoka Countys increased by 48% in the same time period.

Wanting to improve the home safety surveys further, Booker visited fire departments on the East Coast, in Canada and in England on her own dime to examine their practices.

Booker said she especially wanted to visit England in 2010 because it has the lowest fire deaths in the world.

The secret I found out in England is theyre all doing home surveys and its required by law, unlike in the United States, she said.

Through the home safety surveys, Booker said she discovered refugees and immigrants in the communities were being left behind in home safety.

I realized that we need to adapt what were doing as firefighters to meet the unique needs of our new refugee and immigrant community, she said.

Booker then joined the Anoka County Immigrant Refugee Committee, where she worked with the immigrant population on topics of public safety.

Booker recently brought a New American Academy to Blaine that teaches immigrants and refugees about public safety and other services available in Anoka County.

Booker also developed religious and cultural training at the SBM Fire Department.

I realized it wasnt enough to try and help immigrants and refugees, we needed to try and understand them, she said.

During her time at the SBM Fire Department, Booker has written nearly a dozen manuals on community risk reduction, from cultural competency to fire safety for manufactured homes.

Booker has also attended the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, 17 times and has taught classes there. She has also consulted for the United States Fire Administration, which is the lead federal agency for fire data collection, public fire education, fire research and fire service training.

Becky changed the fire safety industry, Zikmund said. That doesnt happen. She brought an awareness of fire prevention, now called community risk reduction, that revolutionized it here in the United States.

Booker recently decided to retire due to health issues.

Im not leaving because I want to, she said. Im leaving because my body says its time to. I also want the department to get fresh ideas with someone new.

In retirement, Booker will teach public safety classes to English as a Second Language students in Ramsey and Anoka County. She will also work to help the Anoka County homeless population with a local nonprofit.

In addition, Booker will serve the department as a private consultant for the International Carbon Monoxide Project, which is a follow-up to the departments International CO Conference that was held in September 2018.

The project will develop solutions to combat carbon monoxide poisonings.

Booker said joining the SBM Fire Department proved one of her most life-changing experiences and shell miss her colleagues.

I love my job, she said. I work with the most amazing people. I love these firefighters so much. They have such humility, and they have such big hearts. They serve every single day, and they dont think about themselves.

Booker said she will also miss working with the residents of Spring Lake Park, Blaine and Mounds View.

I love our customers, she said. Ive had the unique opportunity to really see our cities from peoples homes on outward, and that just makes me love my job even more because we serve wonderful people.

More:
SBM fire safety pioneer retires after nearly 22 years with department - ECM Publishers

Since his landslide election victory in December, Boris Johnson and his returning party have doubled down on their commitments of inward investment to boost industry, infrastructure and transport, repaying their newly found voters in the North. Prior to the election, housing minister Esther McVey announced the governments ambition to create a Construction Corridor in the North of England to speed up the delivery of zero-carbon homes and build a 40bn-a-year industry that would create 80,000 new jobs.

The governments initiative kicked off by investing 30m into our factory. The money will boost our factorys production capacity to deliver 2,000 high-quality, sustainable homes a year increasing to 5,000 within the next five years.

As well as demonstrating Homes Englands ongoing commitment to modern methods, the deal will be significant in the industrys efforts to tackle the UKs housing crisis.

With housing affordability at an all-time low and over one million families currently sitting on council waiting lists, there has never been a more important time for an innovative solution to housebuilding. As part of the Conservatives election campaign, the party pledged to deliver one million homes over the next five years.

However, although things are looking up for housing delivery, with the latest government figures revealing that the number of new homes created in England hit its highest level in 30 years between 2018 and 2019, the industry is still 60,000 shy of the official 300,000 homes a year target.

Public sector investment will be crucial in ensuring housing supply keeps pace with demand. Just like the automotive or aerospace industries, offsite manufacturing demands high, upfront investment to acquire the specialist technology needed to manufacture at scale. This is in contrast to traditional construction, where housebuilders are often able to release funding at different stages of the build cycle.

Public sector investment also has the potential to speed up the delivery of energy-efficient housing. High energy prices have placed a worrying proportion of the British population in fuel poverty, with the most recent government figures estimating that there were 2.53m fuel-poor households in England in 2017, roughly 11% of the total number of households.

Without the kind of inward investment we received from Homes England, Britain will not be able to achieve the capacity needed to tackle the housing crisis.

Investing heavily upfront in capital intensive manufacturing capability will not only improve the UKs capabilities to deliver much-needed housing but also will help address growing skills shortages in construction. This is important because, without a workforce, homes wont get built.

Following the 2008 recession, the construction industry, worth over 90bn annually to the UK economy, shed 140,000 jobs. Now there is a new challenge on the horizon.

The industry is faced with a rapidly ageing workforce with the rate of retirement set to increase. Almost a quarter (22%) of the workforce are over 50, with 15% in their 60s. To make things worse, the industry is also losing out to competing sectors where work is seen as more stable and pay is more competitive.

Were working to mitigate risks posed by these shortages. Thanks to Homes Englands funding, weve been able to heavily invest in the ilke Academy: our onsite training facility where were training up the next generation of housebuilders to manufacture homes in a factory in a bid to ease the construction skills crisis.

Welcoming people from all walks of life, including military veterans, ex-offenders, school leavers and women all groups currently under-represented in the construction and manufacturing industries. The ilke Academy is allowing us to teach new recruits and existing staff a range of vital new skills including engineering, manufacturing and design.

Promoting skills such as these will be vital in breaking down outdated misconceptions of the industry by demonstrating that housebuilding can also be the kind of tech-savvy business the younger generation is increasingly drawn towards.

By manufacturing offsite, were able to engineer our homes to ensure they are airtight. Compared to a new build home built conventionally, homes manufactured offsite are 20% more energy-efficient, increasing to 50% when compared to the average UK home.

With our homes costing as little as 1 a day to run, British households could make huge long-term savings on their heating bills, saving on average over 700 a year.

As we look ahead to the new decade, its quite evident that offsite manufacturing will have an enormous part to play in delivering the high-quality, sustainable homes that British families are yearning for and the future is looking bright.

The latest figures from the ONS revealed that a housebuilding boom towards the end of 2019 helped the UK construction industry grow at its fastest pace in a year. But, if we are to reverse the fortunes of housebuilding, which has long been plagued with issues surrounding quality and the industrys inability to deliver, modern methods must sit at the heart of the solution.

Dave Sheridan

Executive chairman

ilke Homes

Tel: +44 (0)1904 924 100

ilketeam@ilkehomes.co.uk

http://www.ilkehomes.co.uk

Twitter:ilkehomes

LinkedIn: ilkehomes

Continued here:
Public sector investment key to redefining the housebuilding industry - Planning, BIM & Construction Today

Drywall screw guns have made home renovations easier than before. This efficient and useful tool is a favorite for professional crafters and handymen. The best drywall screw gun has a similar design to power drills but was made for effectively driving screws into drywall.

The essential parts of a drywall screw gun include:

A prominent part of any handheld tool is the handle. It is shaped like a gun and thick enough for a hand to hold it for periods with little discomfort. The back section is covered with a rubber-like material to reduce the risk of slipping, which prevents accidents.

The trigger or clutch releases the screws or powers the bit to drive the screws into the wall. The tighter you squeeze, the faster it spins.

Screw guns drive screws into the drywall and can also take them out. The forward/reverse feature allows you to do just that.

The optional belt clip allows the screw gun user to fasten the tool to their belt for easy access or to rest.

This depth adjustment feature is what makes screw wall guns superior to manual screwdrivers. It gauges the depth to prevent the screws from driving in too deep and form the tearing the wallpaper.

A drill bit that has a Phillips head that matches the shape of the screw heads. It is removable and allows you to change the drill bit as needed.

Drill bit housing secures the drill bit firmly in place.

Some models are battery-powered; they are wireless and portable, always ready to use. While others need an electrical outlet to work, which can be cumbersome to use, each part of a drywall screw gun works together for consistent and accurate work. With the correct preset depth options, users need minimal effort to screw their installations in place.

Nails versus Screws

Some craftsmen use nails to secure their drywall to the wall-frame, but screws are the better option since they push the drywall against the flush against the framing. Screws last longer than nails with 350% longer hold than nails.

When compared to nails, screws are better able to fasten drywall against metal framing. Modern screw guns are easy to use and create little noise when powered. It is still advised that persons wear protective eyeglasses and ear guards when using power tools, to preserve their eyesight and hearing.

Here are 5 benefits of drywall screw gun:

1.It allows for easier and quicker installation of the interior drywall. The gun does all the driving for you and moves faster when compared to handheld screwdrivers. It maximizes time and effort, making it a favorite among professionals and DIYers alike.

2.The screw gun design removes the need to twist your wrist to secure or remove screws in the wall. The mechanical design is powered by electricity or a battery to move the rotating drill head and rotating head that does the driving for you. This lessens the chances of wrist damage or arm fatigue from the repetitive action of driving the screws into or out of the wall.

3.Easily adjusts the depth each screw needs to drive through drywall for accurate and consistent results. Professionals agree that the best depth leaves a slight dimple in the wall for a smooth and natural finish.

4.Automatic screw guns can store the screws needed for each installation. This feature removes the need to reattach screws as users move along the length or width of the drywall installation.

5.The drywall screw gun is durable and long-lasting. This tool is an investment in your collection that only requires minimal repairs and replacements.

Also, you may need to buy a router table if you are looking to complete other woodworking tasks as a contractor.

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5 Benefits of a Drywall Screw Gun - The African Exponent