Doing It Online… Home Security.

Fun, and not so fun. This last Friday our family vacation home in Lehigh Acres, FL was broken into. This became newsworthy because of my actions ~2000(road) miles away in Nova Scotia.

Around sunset, I logged into my remote power switch and decided to leave a window AC unit running a bit to help dehumidify the place. Hours later I noticed the backyard motion sensor light go off, but didn’t see anything in the still image and since it wasn’t unusual for animals too trigger the light, it was ignored. Turns out it was the Human Animal.

A few minutes later I lookup(Likely from email motion notification beep from front camera(less often)) to see a burglar in our living room! WTF rings in my head, seconds later I find the Lehigh Police number(That I requested when 911 is not available(911 is only good locally and never on skype)), logged into the remote power switch, turned on the loud Shop-Vac(Wish I had footage of that), and stereo, turned off the AC unit(didn’t want them staying comfortable), a second later their was no response from the house. I then dialed the police using my Skype(Terribly bloated, invasive software/interface but good price($65/yr “unlimited” CDn/US Calling + dialin #)) account at 11:18pm; I gave the site address and my real location and callback numbers immediately, and proceeded to give as best verbal information about the buglers as I could. She kept me on the line until a detective reported being on-site at which point the call ended with the understanding the detective would be calling me back.

Detective Daniel Bray, called me several times exchanging email and information updates, thankfully he was tech savvy and was able to check images emailed to him on-site positively identifying one of the suspects who were pulled over as they were driving away with headlights off(On: wouldn’t have helped them blend-in any, as traffic is very low). The detective was also able to email me photos taken from outside the suspects car of equipment I could easily identify as my stolen property, and later condition of house.

The suspects were charged, and I was later emailed documents which were signed and returned. I am waiting to see what happens. Apparently it is not uncommon for break-in suspects to get bail and never be seen again. They are also even known to return to the crime site before doing so… To get what they missed… I was advised to secure the location as soon as possible.

Hindsight: One or more of the criminals seems to have driven by earlier in the day, apparently casing the place. A living room light was on, curtains(non-see-through, only the light) closed, window AC unit running, grass mowed(Basically just how it is when I am there!)… They were reported to have entered through the bedroom window armed with a taser and tools. Had I been there, it could have ended very badly, as I would say they had to have considered the building potentially occupied.

I also probably shouldn’t have turned on the shop-vac/stereo, this likely would have given the police more time to catch them IN the building(Or even surprise them). Tho. perhaps the distraction had caused them to leave sooner, causing less loss/damage overall.

Other Thoughts:
If the adrenalin rush from seeing(remotely) buglers in our house had given me a heart attack(died), would that be an additional charge against them?

The Rovio didn’t do much good at all, except for a distraction. Perhaps if I noticed them earlier I could have logged into it and gotten an audio feed, or manually snapped additional pictures. Software on Rovio really needs to be updated for basic motion detection and ‘position lock’, so it doesn’t roam(to find base station) on power failure.

Update: 3 Days after the arrest at least one of the perpetrators was released, bail apparently. I was notified by an automated victim notification system.

Update: Other one was released on bail a couple days after the first, It has since been over a month and their first court appearance… To much freedom if you ask me for the so obviously guilty, and hiding the identity of a cohort. If they stay free, run, or get a slap on the wrist the legal system in my book is worthless; less-than actually as it protects the criminal from retribution.

Security Images bundled into a Video file: Burglary-June-2010

Canada Sucks: Another Irony for my digital memory.

I’ve loved lobster for 20 years or so, but after seeing seeing the way it’s regulated and the most recent disgrace of Halifax lobster making it into the markets… I plan never again to consume lobster from a grocery store or restaurant unless I know from which waters it was fished AND stored/processed.

100 Million liters of raw sewage a day was and is pouring into Halifax harbour. Lobsters are both fished from and processed in harbor water, and no-one in authority cares. Lobsters, for those who don’t know are bottom feeders and all the wonderful human biological waste, drain chemicals and toxic chemicals ignorant fools pour down the drain that should have been disposed of property wined up on their dinner plates.
Reference.

Of course if enough complain that would be changed, but it tells nothing of the many fish caught and processed down river of the many other polluted run offs around Nova Scotia, so it just seems a safe bet to cross it off my menu less I can be sure of where it was harvested. Unlike most other countries/states in the world, it is illegal in Canada to fish lobster/crays for your own consumption, so one more thing to #%$# with the common citizen.

The irony for me is, it’s illegal to take a sh!t in a marine toilet and pump it into an isolated harbor, but it’s ok to pump millions of liters from a city and feed it to the people.

I scuba/free dive and can speak first hand to the voracious appetite of the fish in our waters, and mammal waste does not last very long at all. I would swim confident in water soiled hours before from a single(or dozen) marine toilets. Hundreds of boats, or millions in a city dumping massive amounts into a harbour is why the regulations came about. Polluting in such massive amount the local ecosystem can’t absorb it fast enough.

My two cents.

thechronicleherald.ca / Halifax Herald

The main source for printed news in Nova Scotia, Canada. Their news site is about as restrictive as they come; I must wonder who owns them, political/business interests? The site is extremely selective in even allowing comments on different articles with no apparent policy on when they do or don’t allow comments. If to many people disagree with a sympathy a reporter is trying to manipulate, they block comments even tho they were once allowed.

Things the Herald should change if they want an ounce of respect from the ‘thinking public’(granted it is a minority).
Allow comments on all articles ; if they must filter, filter only offensive language, and anything that would be ‘illegal’ Revealing names in pending court causes, young offenders etc.

Herald – Window of opportunity – Nova Scotia News – TheChronicleHerald.ca

Pyramid Parts Fork Seals, inferior?

Just a quick comment that the Pyramid brand fork seals I purchased for a Honda CB450SC failed(imo) far too easily in a hard braking situation. Both forks squirted oil and they have had a slow leak since. The seals were replaced about 2 months ago.

When you go through all the trouble of changing your fork seals, you want them to last. Similar braking using genuine Honda replacement seals on VT500 motorcycle did not have the negative results(stayed dry).

Canada Sucks, Car Imports.

A friend was browsing kijiji(Like craigslist but Canadians use this; “we” like the slower html and ads I guess?), and came across Honda ACTY ads for sale in Nova Scotia… 1993 Models for $8000. I found on wiki that the new models sell for $8000 USD NEW!, and after e-mailing the seller and researching it a bit. Canadian law doesn’t allow importing of these until they are 15+ years old. I don’t really blame the sellers of these cars as they are just taking advantage of the ignorant(as most business do to some level(Walmart sells many dollar store items for $4-18 each)), but if Canada didn’t have so many laws like this in place at least it would be possible for those smart enough to use google to not get ripped off AND be able to buy a NEW car for about the same cost(driving the used prices down where they should be, $1000).

Incidentally, many of the 15 year old Honda ACTY’s have 35,000-85,000km on them, and have 660cc engines, if the ‘general rule of thumb’ for motorcycle engines applies(I think it would), a 500cc motorcycle engine needs rebuilding(low compression) after about 60,000km, and a 1000cc engine @ 120,000.

So these small vehicles won’t last nearly as long as conventional cars/trucks, and will likely need rebuilding in the near future, wasting!!! even more money.

WordPress Exploited…

Wordpress seemed pretty simple, and it was popular, so when I wanted something quick and dirty to post information for reference, it seemed like it might have been the way to go… It was exploited and some viagra pushing script or kid got into it… Apparently passwords were taken and any new posts would contain pages worth of urls to try and generate fraud of some type…

I had scrapped the whole thing/site, but after figuring I really didn’t want to write my own custom blog software(too much like work), I am now attempting to restore with the latest version of wordpress in hopes the doors are closed. We will see…

The beginning of the end.

Well, maybe not the beginning, but the next step in the progression of oppression. There has been a few news articles over the last few weeks that I think it worth pointing out.

Lets start with new Airport security scanners that see right through clothing, I wonder what kinda cancer causing energy they will be found to use eventually. Ref. Ref. Ref.

H.R. 4279: Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008:
Intellectual Property Enforcement Division within the office of the Deputy Attorney General. Rep. John Conyers says the goal is to ‘prioritize intellectual property protection to the highest level of our government.’” Ref. Ref.

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which will allow Canadian/foreign border security enforce copyright laws without actually requiring a complaint from the copyright holder. This would be a license for the government fine/tax and steal when it involves the confiscation/destruction of actual property. In other words, don’t travel with copies of your music or movies on your computer or media player, even if you own a legal copy but don’t have original on you. Ref.

Lastly, is a warning for anyone traveling with a computer to the USA, to know that all personal data can be copied/examined, including personal legal/business documents, deleted Internet history, email and more. Data collected has successfully been used in prosecution already, and I’d be almost willing to bet that when an international business person is searched, copies of any potentially useful economic information will be saved. Ref.

Our freedoms are constantly under attack, and even when we stop one offensive, 5 more follow it below radar. Ultimately getting the undesired laws installed. When have you ever known laws to be relaxed without revolution/riot?

Population Control – It’s a good thing.

North American population would not be expanding if it were not for immigrants. With the human population expanding out of control world wide, won’t one of the best resources in the future be a low population? This would allow for greater exports of virtually anything else, while securing a healthy and wealthy domestic population?

It seems to me feeding the starving is a big mistake, and should NOT be done without at least a trade off of sterility. To most this may sound terrible, but think about it, by feeding the starving(who are often uneducated, and poor) they continue to reproduce only creating additional mouths to feed and additional drain on the region. When you do feed a starving person, you are saving their life, a life that would be ended anyway from natural causes. I suggest it be an open trade, “we will save your life, provided you agree to sterilization and education”(& That they agree to help their countrymen).

We then would help secure a workforce obligated to learn, and teach their native population to look after themselves(Sustainable farming, water management, education).

One theory as to why first world countries choose to not have as many kids as others is education; Knowing what and how to prevent children, the effects of kids on personal finances, and separation of church and state.

Thinking of having kids? Ref. Ref.

realitybid.com ; The suckers bid.

It seems to me realitybid.com was thought up by a group of brokerages who were starting to get wise to the ever growing real estate available on ebay, and wanted to try and slow the trend. An ebay alternative would be a wonderful thing, but not through realitybid.com, their sales/listings are totally in the sellers favor with $1500 “transaction fee” charged to the winner(That’s $1500 less you have to spend than with a conventional offer).

Even if you are the winning bidder, there is no obligation for the seller to actually close the deal, and if you find fault and not purchase, it’s a $350 charge to your credit card.

“RealtyBid.com’s sellers reserve the right to accept or reject any bid on this website regardless of how that offer is made, whether or not it exceeds the reserve price and whether or not it is the highest bid offered.”

There’s no clear way to contact sellers for questions before bidding, few details, and one last nail in the coffin, the site forces Flash for functionality.

realitybid.com review… 1 of 5 stars; It does have a few listings

Adobe/Macromedia Flash – Doomed(We are)

Flash is one of those technologies that the novice web developers seem to love, because it’s easy and well ‘flashy’. Unfortunately the reality is, by using Flash you are supporting software that will ultimately restrict/control your web experience. Boycott flash, don’t install it, and send e-mails/feedback/guestbook entries to any site using it(Asking them for a flash alternative).

Reasons to boycott Adobe Flash: (In no particular order)
DRM(It’s a BAD THING ppl); Will restrict access, and force commercials on you.
Closed Specification: DMCA(Lets not get into that, yet)
Search engines can’t easily index content.
Difficult for people requiring accessibility features.

Why Flash Sucks

One more reason DELL Sucks(In this case, for Canadians)

Dell Canada marks up the same hardware a silly amount, essentially ripping off Canadian public. Then of course Dell Corporate, won’t allow you to order directly except from the Dell in your country.

Example:
2 Identical systems priced, dell.ca vs dell.com.
Vostro 1500 – Dell Canada Summery ; $1229 Cdn
Vostro 1500 – Dell USA Summery ; $699 USD = $737.49 Cdn(At time of this post)

Additional charge for being Canadian customer: $491.51 ; It’s often much worse for other Countries “DELL”.

In addition to the inflated base price for Canadians, standard features on the DELL USA such as Geforce vs Intel Video(+$100 for Canadians), 120gb HD vs 80gb(+$40), Duo vs Celeron(+$100) were additional costs for Canadians.

Dell was having a typical USA Only discount at the time, without the discount: $265. Rarely will you find equiv. sale in Canada, and IF there is, it’s still hundreds more expensive than Dell USA discounts

Useless meteorologists…

Plants were doing well, been taking them inside when weather reports suggested it was going to be below 4C or frost warning… Night before last there was no frost warning but people woke to frost on their windshields… Being June 2nd at the time, and no warning, I expected everything was ’safe’ but… Everything was outside, so will be interesting to see what if anything/everything dies.

Dare one look at it more closely, it’s June! and still there is a risk of frost.. That leaves 3.5-4 months of growing time, with still less than ideal weather… The rest of that time we have messy through to terrible conditions… Any Australian ladies out there love Canada(or want to help me out(literally)) and want to ‘trade citizenship’ with the only legal method(marriage?).

Used Batteries?!?

We typically buy packages of 50-100 double A’s for $9.99, often Rayovac @ Canadian Tire, but were always paying through the nose for AAA batteries. We were strolling through the dollar store picking up some odds and ends and noticed 6 AAAs for a dollar(60 for $10) and figured ‘nice’. Rather than buy 20 packages, I picked up 5 and figured we would test them out… Oops, I should have read the back, but seriously who the #$%& expects to be buying repackaged USED alkaline batteries? 20-60% of the batteries in each package were useless, needle didn’t move on the amp meter…

Taking Orders for FlipStart

After being overdue for at least a year, the FlipStart brought to you in part by Paul Allen(co-founder of Microsoft) is taking orders. Unfortunately the system is 50% heavier(1.5lb vs 1lb) and has a lower screen resolution(1024×600 vs 1024×768) than was promised. It still remains one of the lightest and smallest x86 clam shelled handhelds you can find, at only twice the price that it should be(based on similar OQO and Sony UX models).

Hopefully this will get the ball rolling for smaller more portable clam shell Windows XP+ computers.

Flipstart, OQO, Sony UX.

News you can trust?

After watching a news report(On Global News) on how a couple their 70’s living in rural Nova Scotia was charged(and found guilty (8 months suspended)) for firing a shot in the air to scare off 16 teenagers from approaching their home(despite repeated verbal warnings). I wanted to find the story for reference(and maybe learn more). I started by checking Globals web sites, and while most of the headlines were there, this story wasn’t; So I emailed Global to get what information I could. Their Reply:

Hi Jason – thank you for your email. We don’t post our news stories
from our newscast on our website. Also, due to legal reasons, we are
unable to release our script of the story.

Regards,

Debbie Grady
Marketing & Production Co-ordinator
Global Maritimes

Now it seems to me if a station is going to Broadcast the story to potentially millions, it should be made available for reference. What would you bet that if a site started recording/repeating Globals reports, that the site would soon be sued for copyright violations.

Quality cookware

Because of the links of Aluminum to Alzheimer’s, I’ve been trying to filter out my everyday use of the metal.

In the last several years we have been replacing all of our aluminum/teflon cookware with stainless/glass. Just to push home the point, I’ve even tried to avoid buying tri-ply and aluminum based cookware. Manufactures know full well that copper is a much better heat conductor with a higher melting point, but because aluminum is so cheap, marketing goes to work and they sell it as the ‘best’… Note: If your pan boils dry the aluminum can melt and hurt the unaware when they pickup the pot to move it off the stove burner(My mothers elderly aunt was seriously burned this way).

I’m writing this post to vent mainly about:
This 2006/2007 holiday season we bought a larger 12 Liter Arcosteel “Stainless Steel Stock Pot with dome lid” (HWI Anglo Canadian Housewares) from Canadian Tire; and a Stainless Steel roasting pan from Superstore… BOTH of these pots on a single use have started to rust, the rivets appear to be made with aluminum and have an apparent white corrosion which could surely rub off into food placed inside the pans.

Compared to the MSR Stainless Steel pot set bought 6+ years ago, used almost daily, and not a trace of rust, I would suggest Canadian Tire and superstore do a LOT more quality controlled purchasing.

Is it just me?

It seems as soon as I turn on the news, I hear more about Bushs plans for the rest of the world and the domestic ‘temporary’ laws put through to help support the never ending war on terror; I was however happy to hear about his PR attempt at sending manned space flights to the moon(and base), and mars. At least until I heard about the NASA cuts of important Earth Science satellites/projects.
I wonder, did the Big Oil/Manufacturing puppeteers know this would be the result(or arrange it)? Remove data of environmental change/damage, and it’s that much easier to argue it’s not a problem…

More…

Trade freedom for security; you’ll end up with neither.

Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 Attacks.
Dick Cheney, Bush Family; People with more greed than common sense or respect for others.
You are a slave.
Electronic voting machines are completely, and totally untrustworthy without a simultaneous printout signifying selection(Still 1/1000th the paper required vs paper only system).
Criminals generally don’t inform authorities when they have a firearm.