Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

There was an air of inevitability about it. Following Home Depots comments last week that itd noticed some suspicious behavior regarding customer data, the home improvement retailer on Monday confirmed that its computer systems have suffered a significant credit card breach.

In comments that will alarm many who have shopped withthe Atlanta-based firm, online security specialistBrian Krebs suggested the breach could be many times larger than the one whichsaw data from 40 million credit cards stolen from Target last year.

Its not clear if the same hackers are behind the attacks, as the malware used was slightly different in each case. Both versions are thought to be variants of the malicious BlackPOS software developed by a 17-year-old Russian man, who reportedly sold his creation to cybercriminals.

The software works to collect data from in-store point-of-sale systems when a credit or debit card is swiped through the reader.

In a release issued by Home Depot on Monday, the company said anyone who used a payment card at one of its brick-and-mortar stores from April onwards is likely to be affected by the breach.

Related: Target CEO resigns following massive data breach

In addition, Home Depot said its continuing investigation suggests that online shoppers are not affected, and no PIN numbers have been taken.The company didnt reveal how many customers have been affected, saying its still working to assess the precise scale of the breach.

Home Depot CEO Frank Blake apologized to customers for the frustration and anxiety the incident was causing, adding, Its important to emphasize that no customers will be responsible for fraudulent charges to their accounts.

Like UPS, which last month confirmed it had also been hit by similarmalware, Home Depot says itsoffering affected customers free identity protection services, including credit monitoring.

Customers who who think they may be victims ofthe Home Depot hack should visit here for more information or call 1-800-HOMEDEPOT (800-466-3337) at the earliest opportunity.

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Cybercrime: Home Depot confirms security breach, could be bigger than Targets

AT&T Inc. (T) signed up Telefonica SA (TEF) as the first carrier to license its Digital Life home-security service, helping the U.S. phone company expand outside the slowing landline and wireless businesses.

Telefonica, the Madrid-based phone company with operations across Spain, the U.K. and Germany, will offer limited trials of the connected home service in Europe, according to an announcement today at the CTIA wireless industry conference in Las Vegas. AT&Ts Digital Life system allows homeowners to control wireless thermostats, surveillance cameras, motion sensors and other appliances through a mobile app.

Looking for growth beyond sales of wireless services to phone and tablet customers, AT&T has targeted areas including home monitoring and Internet-connected cars as potential $1 billion revenue opportunities. The Dallas-based company has been trying to push into the smart-home market since introducing Digital Life more than two years ago, and Telefonica marks the first licensing deal since AT&T said in February 2013 that more than 30 companies worldwide had asked about the product.

Theres been interest on all continents, Glenn Lurie, who was promoted last month to head AT&Ts mobile division, said in an interview. Telefonicas digital team is very innovative, and we are very honored they chose us. It bodes well as other carriers do the same due diligence.

Telefonica is one of a number of overseas carriers that have approached AT&T about licensing the Digital Life technology, Lurie said.

AT&T started selling its home-monitoring service in 15 U.S. cities in April 2013 and is now in 82 cities. AT&T offers the service starting at $39.99 for basic alarm security, plus $149.99 for installation. AT&T hasnt disclosed how many subscribers it has for the service.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Moritz in New York at smoritz6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sarah Rabil at srabil@bloomberg.net Crayton Harrison

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AT&T Signs Up Telefonica to Test Home-Security Service in Europe

The way things act in this universe we inhabit, when anything except water is heated it swells up and shrinks when cooled. This constant movement results in lots of problems. When metal is bent, for example, after a number of flexings fatigue results in breakage. Wings can fall of airplanes, studs snap and wheels come off trucks. Both can be deadly.

Water swells when heated, shrinks when cooled, but a few degrees below freezing ice swells again. This is lucky in that if ice didn't float, in time the lakes and seas would be solid ice. It's not so lucky when ice is inside pipes, in crevices between bricks and pavement for example. It has power to split the strongest materials. This is why we are forever having to detour in summer while bridges, culverts and pavement are being replaced.

The gully washers we've been experiencing lately have been flooding basements through holes that metal fatigue, ice-split shingles and concrete walls have left.

Shingles are destroyed both by ice and by the buckling between nails or staples when the sun heats them. This opens mouth-like spaces which lets wind push rainwater up over the top edge of shingles. Depending on the slope and shapes of under-roof construction, water can find its way to places to drip that ruin ceilings leaving no hint of where the leak may be found. Often it falls right onto your bed.

For several months every heavy rain has tripped the ground fault breaker that protects people from being electrocuted in the gazebo or by the fish pond and security light in the back yard. When the water started flooding into the outdoor cellarway and down to the floor of the cold room, it offered a clue to locate the weak spot in the electrical circuit. Son Mike who has the most experience in things electrical advised looking in the box of the receptacle that's on the wall just above the concrete slab surrounding the trap door. He was right. The box was half full of soggy porridge-like gasket material. The dissolved gasket let water at the receptacle, rusting screws, etc.

I called on son David, he with the most experience in gasketry and caulking, to fix the problem. Gentle rain had no effect on the repair, but the next gully washer killed the circuit.

Examining the situation from inside the cellarway, we saw that the seasonal heating and cooling had broken the mortar and silicone all along the junction of the concrete top and the brick walls. Furthermore, the vent for the gas fireplace exits up through the concrete top tight to the brick wall. I had used black-coated ten test as a cushion for expansion of the metal housing. Over the years it had done the same as the gasketry in the electrical box, rotted to mush.

David used his air compressor to clean the decayed vegetation, chips of mortar and sundry debris before filling voids with hydraulic cement and replacing rotten ten test with modern backer material. I was watching him inject silicone over this material when a movement caught my eye.

It was an earthworm no thicker than a bit of string and just over an inch long throwing itself like a miniature sidewinder across the hot concrete. It must have been snug in a crevice filled with damp humus until the blast of compressed air ruined its home. If it had a voice it would have been expressing outrage like Robert Burns' wee mouse, and probably screaming as the sun and hot concrete reduced it to a bit of leather.

It was headed across the desert instead of toward the near edge where it would fall into the shade of ferns. Knowing my blunt fingers would kill it if I tried to pick it up, I nudged it toward safety. It coiled instantly into a writhing knot. That let me get it to the cliff with a couple of feather-light sweeps. It vanished among the fronds, still able, I hoped, to recover from its desiccation.

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Drama in the back yard

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Roofers New London CT / KAC. Construction Tel. (860)733-1003 - Video

Albuquerque has sod laid out and some paving work finished at a new landing spot for Balloon Fiesta pilots -- the city hopes to have the park finished by Oct. 4.

On the north side of Vista Del Norte Park -- off Osuna Road -- theres a patch of dirt where grass needs to go. However, its one of the last open spaces south of Balloon Fiesta Park.

A city spokesman said there are about 6 acres of sod that should be available in time for balloonists. The city has spent months preparing the land, hauling in dirt back in June.

The city admits its behind schedule with laying sod, and cites monsoon rains for the delay.

Were optimistic were going to meet that deadline of being ready for Balloon Fiesta, city spokesman Keith Reed said.

The dirt to the east of the park will remain intact, as the city doesnt have the money to develop it. In addition to the sod, crews need to finish installing sprinklers.

The project will cost about $1.3 million. The city needs $1.6 million to complete the projects second phase.

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City hopes to finish landing strip for Balloon Fiesta

Q: I was reading something the other day about a springs and casino near Albany at one time. It was a resort of some sort. Where was it and what happened to it?

A: The sparkling clear cool water it stays 68 degrees year round, compared to 88 degrees at Warm Springs a couple of hours to the north still flows at Radium Springs, which was a hot spot for generations.

The springs just outside Albany were known by Native Americans as an excellent hunting and fishing ground hundreds of years before the Europeans arrived. The water was discovered to contain small amounts of radium in the late 19th century, which led to its current name. A casino overlooking the springs and a golf course were completed by the 1920s, providing a stop for folks traveling to spend the winter in Florida.

The casino couldnt beat the Depression and closed in the 1930s, but the locals continued to spend their summers there, swimming and socializing, and Radium Springs remains a cherished place in the memories of many who grew up in Albany. The casino building was damaged by storms and floods, including the terrible flood in 1994, and its ruins were demolished in 2003.

Visitors can stroll the grounds at Radium Springs, considered one of Georgias seven natural wonders, and enjoy its gardens and gazebos.

For more information, call the Albany Convention & Visitors Bureau at 866-750-0840 or email at info@visitalbanyga.com.

Q: Is former NBA star Walt Frazier from Atlanta? I remember hearing that from someone.

A: Frazier led the New York Knicks to two NBA titles in the 1970s, years after he learned to play basketball in Atlanta. He also played baseball and football, but basketball took Frazier from Howard High School in Old Fourth Ward to Southern Illinois University and then to the NBA, where Clyde his nickname was a seven-time all-star and set New York City style with a hip wardrobe.

Frazier was selected to the NBAs 50th Anniversary Team in 1996 and is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

If youre new in town or have questions about this special place we call home, ask us! E-mail Andy Johnston at q&a@ajc.com or call 404-222-2002.

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Feng Shui Compass Reading Fundamentals
If you want to work with a traditional Feng Shui consultant long distance, it is essential to provide them with an accurate compass reading. As well, if you are studying Feng Shui on your own,...

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Kan Feng Shui | A2 Movements | Singapore Parkour Free Running
Just a random video featuring Yasha ( - Feng - Wind) Chi Ying ( - Shui - Water) doing some movements in a spaces in the city Feng Shui is Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing...

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Bhavishyavani September 8, 2014
Watch BHAVISHYAVANI with Acharya Indu Prakash, who tells your daily horoscope, numerological fortune, alphabetical fortune and gives tips on vaastu shastra and feng-shui along with astrological...

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Austin, TX (PRWEB) September 09, 2014

Its often called superstition, but Western businesses are starting to see a rising influence of Asian principles like the practice of feng shui become commonplace. The feng shui of a residence or business can often make or break the deal for Asian clientele. The conservatives might balk, but world-savvy businesses might find that incorporating the ancient art of feng shui makes good financial sense.

Theres no doubt about Chinas financial clout in todays economy and that their influence is expected to rise. As we move into a more global economy, there is an increasing need to rise to meet the unique design and conceptual challenges posed by Asian design traditions. Chinese firms are making starts on large commercial and residential developments, and a recent article in the Wall Street Journal points out the rise in Chinese home builders. These firms are not only building, they're including feng shui principles, like avoiding having a sink and stove opposite one another, a very common arrangement in Western kitchens but considered taboo in feng shui. These new developments are going up on both East and West Coasts and are designed for Chinese consumers in America.

Travel has also noticed the rising Chinese tourism, with more than a 53% growth in Chinese travel from 2009 to 2010. Hotels like Fairmont and Hilton are adding congee, a rice porridge, to morning buffets, and businesses are increasingly adding Mandarin-speaking staff. Thats because when the Chinese vacation, they come looking to spend. According to the US Commerce department, Chinese visitors average $7,100 per visit, more than doubling that of other overseas visitors who average about $3,240. An estimated 1.8 million Chinese tourists visited the US in 2013, and that number is expected to grow to 2.1 million in 2014. According to a new report, the number of Chinese visitors coming to the United States will more than triple by 2020.

Business has learned that accommodating Asian aesthetics is also financially smart. The Las Vegas MGM Grand was originally designed to have patrons enter an open lions mouth, but changed the entrance when visitors complained it was bad luck to enter the mouth of a vicious animal. The new entrance, redesigned in 1998, and now features a stately lion in repose at the front of the casino, is considered to be more auspicious and luckier for gambling. This redesign significantly changed MGMs bottom line in gambling dollars.

More than just making sense, feng shui makes money. In Asia, businesses rarely begin construction on new projects without consulting a feng shui master. The feng shui master looks at the surroundings, calculates the degree of an entrance or reads the symbolism of the concepts incorporated in the buildings design. Another sign of the Chinese influence? The issuance of EB-5 visas to foreigners that enables them to invest $500,000 as a way of gaining a temporary visa. In all, over 6,800 were issued to Chinese nationals, widely overtaking all other countries. The next closest country was South Korea with 364 visas issued.

What is clear is that taking feng shui principles and guidelines into account makes good business sense, and why its a good idea that businesses look for ways to incorporate feng shui principles like those practiced in Asia. Creating an appealing environment that makes both businesses and consumers comfortable will give businesses that extra edge in competing for Asian and Chinese dollars, but shouldnt overlook feng shuis appeal to Westerners too. To help would-be feng shui consultants understand these principles, Feng Shui expert, Kathryn Weber, and publisher of the Red Lotus Letter feng shui e-zine, will be offering a Feng Shui Master Consultant certification course in traditional Chinese feng shui this November 12-16, 2014 at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada.

Participants will learn important principles and guidelines of traditional Chinese feng shui versus the Westernized feng shui that is more aimed at following esoteric practices and has a highly spiritual quality about it that appeals more to Westerners. Traditional Chinese feng shui looks at time and uses ancient formulas and a specialized compass called a luo pan. All attendees will be exposed and trained in the fundamentals of feng shui as it applies to various types of residences and businesses.

Learning how to interpret feng shui principles will create appealing environments more suited for Asian clientele. Weber explains that she frequently speaks to businesses and architects looking for feng shui consultants who are classically trained and who can bridge the gap between East and West, and who take a Chinese approach to feng shui. Plus, according to Weber, consultants trained in this method can command higher fees for this knowledge and skill and are highly marketable as business advisers.

Aspiring feng shui consultants will want to know

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Feng Shui Expert Kathryn Weber Says American Businesses that Use Feng Shui Stand to Gain More Money by Appealing to ...