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Theres currentlyno shortage of smart security devices for your home, due tothe ascendancy of the smart home market as a whole, coupled with a hardware renaissance driven bythe rise of crowdfunding. Theseconsumer home security devices usually consist simply of an Internet-connected camera of sorts, combined with motion detection and a supporting cloud service and smartphone app to ping you when a potential intruder is detected. Debuting on IndieGoGo today, however, is Cocoon, which adds infrasound into the mix.

By listening to infrasonic sound waves sound below 20Hz, which is undetectable to the human ear combined with machine learning, the device claims to be able to monitor an entire home, including detecting intruders through closed doors and in rooms in the home other than the one where the Cocoon is situated. Should the technology stand up, this potentially solves the shortcomings of most camera/motion detection-based smart home security systems, which are either limited to a single room or require the setting up of zones using multiple devices.

We believe that traditional home security doesnt work. Most people in the UK/U.S. dont have a home alarm system because its expensive and complicated. Those that do, find that they forget to set their alarm or are worried about false alarms disturbing their neighbours or receiving call-out charges from the police, Dan Conlon, co-founder of Cocoon, tells TechCrunch.

We believe that there is a smarter, more accessible way to deliver home security. Our SUBSOUND technology allows a user to protect a typical home with a single, simple device whilst machine learning algorithms learn what is normal for your home to reduce false alarms. Smartphone alerts deliver actionable information to you enabling you to take meaningful action. Were putting people at the heart of home security.

In addition to its infrasonic sound sensor, the Cocoon device packs a traditional motion sensor, microphone and HD camera with night vision and wide angle lens. The idea is that, should unusual activity be detected, youre pinged on your smartphone and can stream live audio and video to check out the scene for yourselves. The accompanying Cocoon smartphone app will use geofencing to enable Cocoon to know if any household members are home so as to eliminate false positives. The device also claims to be pet friendly so that a dog or cat wont set the thing off a loud alarm can optionally be emitted to help disturb an intruder.

On the issue of whether or not a single Cocoon can really listen to and protect an entire house a claim we should treat with a little scepticism, since this is pre-funded and pre-launch the UK startup had this to say:

When any wave fits through a gap it will spread out a bit. The greater the wavelength, the more it will spread out. Because the ripples or waves of air pressure changes Cocoon monitors are of very low frequency they spread out a lot allowing them to travel a long way around a building, even though the tiniest of gaps.

Cocoon is packed full of high quality sensors that it uses to detect these ripples which it converts into digital signals. Each action is different and creates it own digital signature, like a fingerprint, that Cocoon uses to build profiles and determine whether activity is normal.

The company says it has several working prototypes already being beta tested in the wild, and that its raising on IndieGoGo to gauge consumer demand and fund a first production run. However, the Cocoon device wont ship to early backers until Q4 next year. Yes, you could wait an entire year or more before getting your hands on the unproven device. Thats one of the perils of crowdfunding, perhaps at its extreme in this case. Or maybe, unlike more naive hardware startups, the Cocoon team are actually being realistic though the smart home security space could look a lot different in a years time.

To that end, Cocoons British founders have a very respectable track record, including a number of successful exits. Conlon most recently founded cloud storage service Humyo, which sold for $18 million to Trend Micro in 2010. Prior to that he started web host Donhost while still in high school and sold it for $11 million in 2005. Meanwhile, Sanjay Parekh was previously CEO of Webexpenses, which sold in 2012, and Cocoons other co-founders, Colin Richardson, Nick Gregory and John Berthels, have held various roles at Humyo and Trend Micro.

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Cocoon Is A Smart Home Security Device That Uses Infrasonic Sound To Detect An Intruder

The Internet-connected home is arriving faster than you think -- offering conveniences but also new security perils with every smart device you bring inside. Here's how to protect yourself.

Internet-connected home devices like the Nest thermostat promise a new world of convenience -- and new security risks, too. James Martin/CNET

There's a good chance you'll soon have to worry about your house getting hacked.

Everything from door locks and ovens to thermostats and refrigerators are being connected to the Internet to make them "smart," giving you the ability to control or reset these household stalwarts through an app on your smartphone or tablet. You can turn on the heater so you don't have to enter a cold house, unlock the front door for kids or guests who have arrived early, or peruse video from cameras in your living room to see what the cat is doing.

Companies big and small are investing heavily in what's loosely referred to as the Internet of Things, a catch-all term for the technology that makes all the parts of this connected new world work. In fact, researcher IDC expects the market for Internet-connected devices to top $7 trillion within the next six years.

But for every technology step forward, there's nearly always a step back. With the Internet of Things, the very act of giving previously "dumb" appliances intelligence opens the door to new security risks.

Why should you be on guard? Consider that, as a whole, Fortune 500 companies spend about $80 billion a year on Internet security. Yet hackers breach many of these companies' networks.

Devices and networks for the home must be secured against intruders just like those used by a business.

But for many Internet of Things makers, these considerations are often afterthoughts. A case in point: Security researcher Paul Vixie found the quality assurance budget at General Motors was about $50 per car, but a paltry $5 per unit for a cable modem that enables Internet connectivity.

Security snafus wrought by smart-home devices made headlines earlier this year. One firm claimed it found an Internet-connected refrigerator transformed into a spambot, surreptitiously sending out junk email without the owner's knowledge. More ominous and unnerving: Someone tapped into a baby monitor's security camera to verbally harass an infant.

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Lock your doors: Protecting your Internet-connected home

Ive never been all that interested in home surveillance. At my house Ive slept well for years with an old-fashioned burglar alarm and a deadbolt, and despite my love of all things electronic, spy cams have always seems a bit too Scarface for my humble abode.

That is, until someone tried to break in. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and nothing was stolenmy low-tech solution worked well and scared the would-be intruders awaybut as I watched the cops fruitlessly dust for prints on my busted door and unscrewed porch light, I suddenly saw the benefit of a cloud camera. If I could have accessed my video feed from the night of the incident, I might have been able to see who was trying to get in and give the cops a solid lead.

So after a few sleepless nights, I decided to do some research. Even if I never used it as a crime-fighting tool, I figured an extra level of security would at least give me back some of the peace of mind I had lost.

Home security has become something of a cottage industry in our app-connected, always-on world, and the landscape is teeming with cameras that all promise to keep a close eye on your family. Even some baby monitors can do double-duty as a security cam once the little ones grow up, so narrowing the list is a monumental task. But for my purposes, I at least knew where to start.

Dropcam Pro is pretty much the gold standard, but it's starting to get some stiff competition.

You dont need to be a security expert to know the name Dropcam. The original Wi-Fi video recorder was the first to make surveillance simple, and there arent many bad things to say about it. Our own review praised its video quality and image enhancement features, and you can feel its quality as soon as you take it out of the box. Setup is an absolute breeze, and I was literally up and running in seconds, watching crisp, reliable video feeds with wide angles and vivid colors, and enjoying seamless, lag-free streams. In short, its a remarkable little camera.

Since most people probably dont want to obsessively monitor every alert that comes in, the real benefit of the Dropcam model is automatic cloud storage. It can get a little priceyto store a weeks worth of video costs $99 a year, and 30 days of footage will set you back $299but its an indispensable part of the process. Otherwise, youd just have a high-tech burglar deterrent, not a real tool for tracking down crooks.

Quite frankly, I could have stopped my search right here and adequately filled my needs, but since this was about the safety and security of my family, and I wanted to make sure I was buying the very best. So I pitted the $199 Dropcam Pro up against three of its closest competitors: Simplicam, HomeMonitor HD and Belkin NetCam HD.

Much like the iPhone, Dropcams svelte, teardrop look has inspired a generation of similarly designed cameras. HomeMonitor ($200) is different. Housed in a small white square, it looks something like a sawed-off walkie-talkie, right down to the small antennae protruding out of the top. Setup wasnt complicated, but not as simple as Dropcams. Along the way I was required to plug in a supplied Ethernet cable (a necessary step for either wired or wireless connections) and manually enter the cameras 12-digit ID number, which seemed more annoying after zipping through Dropcams near-automatic process.

HomeMonitor comes with an optional stand, not shown here.

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HomeMonitor, Simplicam, and Netcam HD: Can any of them beat Dropcam?

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The Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Department finds itself in the uncomfortable position of sounding like the ill-tempered neighbor down the block who shakes his fist and yells, Hey you kids, stay off of my lawn!

Of course, the kids theyre yelling at are adults, and theyre not just stepping on the lawn, theyre playing tackle football and tearing up the newly laid sod.

In September, just more than six acres of sod was put down at Vista del Norte Park on Osuna, west of Jefferson NE. The roots need to be established before team sports can be played on it, sometime in spring, said Alex Kiska, the recreation division manager for the city parks department.

Were not telling people to stay off the grass. Its fine to walk on it, have a picnic there, throw a Frisbee, fly a kite or walk your dog on a leash across it. We just need to give the grass an opportunity to establish itself and extend its root system before we have rough activities on it.

To be clear, the stakes are higher than some kid chasing an errant ball across a neighbors lawn. The cost for the sod and labor to install it was just under $100,000, and that doesnt count the cost of land preparation and the irrigation system, said David Flores, planning and design division manager for city parks.

For the past three weeks, a rogue football league has taken it upon themselves to use that field for their games, and theyve been tearing up the turf with their cleats, Kiska said.

Weve asked them not to use the field, weve placed signs there saying no league play until spring and weve told them we have plenty of other parks in town that they can use if they register, Kiska said. We can find a park for them.

Nevertheless, the Parks and Recreation Department has continued to get reports of intermittent football games there, most recently last Sunday.

One football team that has used the park has been identified as part of the Wolf Pack league. Sam Boughter, a coach with one of the teams, acknowledged that he was contacted by city Parks and Rec officials and told that the sod hadnt been established and we couldnt use it for games yet.

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Foul called on football players at ABQ park

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Akari #39;s NXLED signs partnership deal with Star Cinema in support for the movie, #39;Feng Shui #39;, an official entry to the MMFF 2014 starring Kris Aquino, who hap...

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Feng Shui by Raymond Lo at Enics Partner Day 2014
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Bhavishyavani | November 2, 2014
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Bhavishyavani | November 2, 2014 - Video

Sa kanyang Instagram post last Saturday, kung saan makikitang kasama ni Kris para magbantay sa kanya sina Josh at Bimby, ay makikitang kasama rin ni Krisy si Bambbi Fuentes. Marami ang nasorpresa sa muling pagsasama ng dalawa, dahil sa mahabang panahon na kinalakihan na rin ng maraming Kapamilya viewers, si Bambbi ang regular make up artist ni Krissy.

Isa si Bambbi sa mga mag-aayos kay Krisy sa napaka-hectic na November schedule niya for Feng Shui, Kris TV, The Buzz and Aquino & Abunda Tonight hindi pa kasali sa schedule na pinost niya ang mga endorsement shoots.

Naka-usap ko si Bambbi at nakakatuwa kasi medyo natense daw siya sa muli niyang pagme-make up kay Krisy.

Siyempre excited though I know maninibago ako at first because napahinga from her face, but after a while, parang last week lang kami huling nagkita... relaxed na agad lalo na kanina, bonding na ulit, ang sabi sa akin ni Bambbi.

Sa showbiz talaga, walang relasyong tuluyang natutuldukan no? Anumang klaseng relasyon yan, bastat naging tunay ang pagkakaibigan o pagmamahalan, ilang taon mang magkawalay, masaya pa rin lagi ang reunion. Parang ABS-CBN at sina Jolina Magdangal at Marvin Agustin lang di ba?

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Kris Aquino at long time make-up artist Bambbi Fuentes, reunited!