Cops are supposed to protect you in times or trouble. Cops can’t do everything and mistakes do happen as demonstrates by these images below, therefore, don’t leave it to police to protect your house by getting home security!

You know about people trying to be creative within their sound systems, but we several images of individuals being real creative trying with their audio devices. Which is your favorite?

Control Your Home From Anywhere!

Several events have taken place in the last 5 – 10 years that have enabled homeowners to be able to monitor and control their homes from anywhere in the world. They are:

1. Everyone has a Broadband Internet Connection
2. Everyone has a Cell Phone (or an internet connection at work)
3. Home Automation Technology Prices have Become Affordable to Everyone
4. Smart Phones have Made This Technology Available and EASY to Use

These events have converged in a way to bring Home Automation Remote Control to allow you to access your home and monitor or change:

1. The Lights in your home
2. Arm/Disarm Your Security System
3. Adjust Your Thermostats
4. View Your Security Cameras
5. Watch Your Home’s TVs
6. Lock and Unlock Your Doors

The technology also allow you to receive:

1. Emails
2. Texts
3. Voice Messages

Anytime a parameter in the home falls outside of set parameters, the system will notify you automatically! No need to keep checking in on the home, let it tell when:

1. The Security System is Armed or Disarmed
2. The Security Systems is in Alarm Mode
3. If a Door/Window/Restricted Area is Accessed
4. The Temperature goes Above or Below a Certain Value
5. If There is Motion on a Camera
6. If Someone Comes to the Front Door
7. If there is Flooding in the Home
8. If the Home Looses Power
9. When a Son or Daughter comes Home from School
10. And the List Goes On….

There are many manufacturers to choose from when deciding on a technology. Some are stand-alone technologies, while others are integrated technologies:

1. 2GIG / Alarm.com
2. Elan g!
3. Savant
4. Control4
5. HAI
6. AMX
7. Crestron
8. Lutron
9. Slingbox
10. eMonitor

Some of the systems require specific equipment, while others allow you to use almost any technology that is out there. Still some of the technologies require trained professionals, while others can be installed and configured by homeowners. But whatever technology you choose, you will find a wide a wide array of features and functions to help you monitor and control your home from anywhere in the world!

Are you looking for an epic home auto system? Do you want one that looks like this or will it be too loud for you?

With a real bad economy it only necessary that you look outside the box for new methods to protect your belongings. How about making your dog look more fierce than normal?

Follow these simple tips to help prevent a burglary to your home:

1. Keep all doors, windows, pet entrances and garage doors closed and securely fastened.  Doors should have deadbolt locks with at least 1” throw and reinforced Strike plate with 3” screws. All windows should have locks.

2. Secure sliding glass doors. Place a metal rod or piece of wood in the track and install vertical bolts.

3. Keep you car doors locked and windows rolled up. This prevents burglars from getting to the garage door opener or a spare set of keys (which should not be kept in the car anyway!)

4. When service or delivery people come to your door, ask for ID. If you’re still not sure, call the police first and report the stranger. Call the company to confirm.

5. Cut up cartons for TVs, computers, stereos, etc. Tie the pieces together so a burglar going through the garbage does not see any of your highly valuable household items.

6. Do not leave ladders or tools lying around outside. They can assist a possible intruder.

7. Install a wide-angle door viewer (peephole) in your front door so you can see who is at the door.

8. Organize a neighborhood watch program. Neighbors working together make one of the best crime-fighting teams around.

9. Make a home inventory list, complete with photos or video. Store this list in a safety deposit box.

10. Have a security plan in place and talk about it with your family and friends.

11. Write down the emergency telephone numbers of the local police and county sheriff’s office and the numbers of several nearby neighbors. Keep the numbers by your telephone(s).

12. Don’t put your name and residential address on your key ring. If you happen to lose it, a dishonest person could gain entry to your home.

13. Install and test a burglar alarm. Post signs in conspicuous locations that clearly indicate that the premises are protected by a burglar alarm.

Burglar-Proof Your Home

There are some very simple, common-sense things you can do to keep your house from being robbed. Follow these 21 simple steps to Cat-Burglar Proof your Home and you will be safer and happier. First some statistics:

• There are an estimated 2,329,950 annual burglaries nationwide, with an annual loss by victims of approximately $3.1 billion

• Homes without security systems are 2.7 times more likely to be targeted by a burglar

• A burglary takes place every 12 seconds and produces an average loss of $1,675 per event.

• This year, one in six homes will be burglarized. Burglars will spend no longer than 1 minute to break into a home.

• 60% of residential burglaries occur during the daylight hours

To prevent becoming a statistic, follow these 21 simple

steps to burglar-proof your home:

1. Have the primary door locks changed when you move in. You never know who has the keys

2. All exterior doors should have quality cylinder locks and deadbolts with 3inch screws – this goes for sliding doors too. Exterior door frames should also be reinforced so they can’t be kicked in. It’s best to have these doors made of solid wood or metal.

3. Make sure door and window hinges are on the inside of the house so as to prevent external access.

4. Don’t open the door for strangers; Always use your peep-hole. Ask for I.D. before you open the door, even if the person is driving a company truck or has a uniform on.

5. Don’t leave unattended doors and windows open or unlocked, especially when gone.

6. Don’t leave sliding glass doors open and unattended, even if they are on upper floors.

7. Install glass-break detectors on your windows. If anyone tries to force entry, an alarm will sound.

8. Use locks on garages and sheds, and keep them closed when not in use; keep any tools like ladders that could reach upper floors inside or locked up.

9. A dog can be very effective in scaring away burglars. Even a small dog like a Terrier is helpful because it will make lots of noise.

10. Make sure to have your driveway, porches, yard, and garage well lit at all times. Have all dark areas lit for improved safety. Motion detecting or heat sensing lights provide safety and save energy.

11. Landscape for visibility, not privacy. There is a thin line between safety and privacy. From a security point of view, it’s better not to have obvious hiding places like overgrown shrubs that could hide burglars from the street or the house.

12. Have an emergency plan. Put together a what-to-do list if an attempted burglary happens, and be sure to involve the whole family.

13. Be sure to have an insurance plan that covers any and all losses due to theft.

14. Keep a home inventory up to date. In a worst case scenario, you can offer proof to the insurance company and get back what is rightfully yours.

15. Don’t hand out house keys at will, and know where all your house keys are at all times. Don’t leave any keys outside in secret hiding places. Remember, thieves know all the tricks.

16. Don’t leave valuables unnecessarily on display throughout the house, especially on the ground floor or close to the windows.

17. Buy a safe for valuables that can be easily stored, jewelry and small antiques.

18. Be careful with your trash; Don’t leave boxes out front that show you just purchased a new 50” LCD TV. Crush the boxes, and keep them in bags.

19. Be wary of what personal info you throw away. Many thieves aren’t opposed to digging in your trash to get some info that will make it easier to steal your identity. It’s best to shred all personal information.

20. This is our favorite! Have a security or burglar alarm installed, and keep the door chimes on, even when home.

21. Last but not least, always be alert to your surroundings, become familiar with your neighbor-hood and neighbors. Don’t be paranoid, but keep a look out for suspicious and strange behavior.

Use This Checklist Prior to Going on

Vacation

Vacations provide burglars with plenty of time to enter your home, remove large items and leisurely search for hidden valuables. Don’t let this happen to you!

If you’re planning on taking a vacation, take the following precautions to protect your home while you are away:

•  Ask Police to check your home and patrol your neighborhood more closely while you’re away

• Stop mail and newspaper deliveries, or have a trusted neighbor collect them while you are away so that they do not accumulate.

• Secure all doors, windows, pet entrances and garage doors

• Transfer all valuables to a safety deposit box

• Place timers on indoor lamps to illuminate your home at night, and set timers to turn on radios and televisions randomly during the day and early evening

• Place timers on outdoor lights so they turn on at dusk and turn off at dawn

• Check that no bulbs are burned out on your indoor lamps, outdoor lighting fixtures or low voltage lighting system.

• Arrange to have your landscaping continue, or your driveways and walkways shoveled. A snow covered driveway without tire tracks or an overgrown yard is an immediate indicator to burglars that nobody is home.

• Keep some shades and blinds up and curtains open to maintain a normal appearance.

• Have a trusted friend, neighbor or family member check your home, inside and out, each day.

• Remove messages from your telephone answering machine daily so that the “beep” is always short. And don’t indicate on our message (or Facebook page) that you are on vacation.

• Park a car half-way down your driveway to create the illusion that somebody is home as well as inhibit a burglar to use your driveway as a way to better access your property.

• Hide garbage cans in the garage or apartment.

• Put garage door openers inside the home and unplug the garage door motor so thieves can’t enter or exit your home through the garage.

HAVE FUN ON VACATION!

Apple and Automation

Apple and has not only revolutionized the way people talk on their phones, read books and use computers, but they are having a major impact on on the home automation world as well. Their unique and classy designs combined with the their extremely stable platforms and OS as well as their use of Apps have opened up the Mac and Apple to the world of automation.

Apple’s Contribution to Home Automation

1)  The iPhone / iPad

The iPhone and the iPad have taken the home automation industry by storm and put it on it’s ear. That is because the most important device in any home automation system is arguably the Control Interface used operate the system – basically – it’s the remote. No matter how clunky or slick the hardware and installation is, the user interacts with the interface (remote, touchscreen, on-wall keypad, etc) – and as such, that is their view of the system. If the interface is smooth, slick and functional – their satisfaction with the system is positive, if not, it’s negative.

Most home automation manufacturers have control interfaces to interact with their systems. They are typically very expensive and require lots of slick programming to get them to work. And several of them don’t even work that well. The iPhone and iPad changed all that in the blink of an eye. The came out with a reliable platform with high resolution graphics and smooth operation. Many of the manufacturers came out with apps that work on the the iPhone/iPad and heavily advertized the fact in hopes of selling more systems. Now everyone has a “tablet” – consumer and manufacturer.

2)  Apps

Apple’s second contribution to the home automation world is the App store. They created a platform and an operating system designed to let anyone with an idea create an application for the world to use. Home Automation Manufacturers and developers quickly coded Apps that worked seamlessly with their systems “out of the box”.  They were standardized and everyone knew how to use them. If there were glitches, they were fixed at the manufacturer’s level – and EVERYONE benefited. Before Apple entered the game, many of the home automation systems were controlled by one integrated “application”. They would control the Lights, HVAC, Audio/Video, Security, etc. With Apps, the lighting manufacturer has an app, the HVAC manufacturer has an app, the security manufacturer has an app – and so on. So now the user has to jump between apps to control the different parts of their home. But that does not seem to be an issue. Apps have been “flying off the shelf”.

3)  Savant Systems LLC

This company has built a platform based on Apple’s infrastructure. It is tightly integrated with Apple’s Software and hardware Platform. It requires very little programming, is easily configured and has feature-rich functionality. So if you want a system that is Apple-centric from end to end, Savant is your choice!