What is automatic renewal?

The contract will renew unless the customer tells the business before the cancellation deadline.

Who uses them?

Home-security monitoring, magazine subscriptions, satellite radio, computer security software, office equipment leases, lawn maintenance and apartment rentals. Some cell phone contracts will automatically extend the contract length if a customer upgrades service.

How do I cancel?

Look in the contract for the deadline. Typically, the customer must send notice by certified mail one to three months before the end of the term. To avoid missing the deadline, mark your calendar right away when you first sign the contract.

Why do businesses use automatic renewals?

It’s easier to keep customers on board. Customers don’t have to go through the paperwork hassle of extending the contract, and they’re less likely to shop around with competing companies.

What if I’m moving soon?

Look closely at the contract to see whether you must pay a cancellation fee or be on the hook for the entire term of the contract renewal. If the renewal term will be for a year and you think you’ll be moving in three months, try to negotiate a shorter renewal term. Make sure you get it in writing.

Source: Florida Times-Union Jacksonville.com

1. An automated surveillance monitor of non-humans

Patented: June 29, 2004

The gist of this invention is to detect non-human activities to determine whether an alarm situation exists and it’s not just a cat or a bird tampering with your sensors. It includes an animal noise sensor and an animal noise analyzer to check with non-human animal noises.

2. “Baton”

Patented: December 18, 1997

This baton is special due to its appearance. But you use it like any other baton.

3. Gas Visual Notification Device

Patented: June 4, 2002

This device is mainly used for signaling distress. The compressed gas within the device is made up of a quantity of aerosol, and non-toxic micro-dispersion colored particles to add color to the compressed gas. When activated, the gas is released to serve as a visual notification that you are in duress.

4. An Alarm Device That Notifies You Have Experienced Fear

Patented: October 3, 1995

It’s basically a computer system wherein the system compares the monitored psychological data to that of the stored stress profile data. When it determines a pattern that signifies fear, it activates the alarm.

5. Mobile Detection System That’s Like a Robot

Patented: February 18, 1993

It detects any abnormal condition in your home, like a fire of an intruder. The robot then sends signals to a monitor, and the monitor alerts the authorities.

6. “The Instant Savior”

Patented: January 11, 1977

This is a personal security device in the form of a flashlight! It informs a person by remote control who is outside the door of his or her house. It gives a picture and determines whether the person outside is male, female, or child.

7. Protective Bed With Shield

Patented: February 6, 2004

It’s bullet-proof and impact-resistant! It has quick access doors to provide entry to the interior sleeping area, and has a ventilation system and a rebreather that scrubs carbon dioxide from the air within the unit.

8. Cell phone and Gun In One

Patented: August 14, 2004

It basically a sort of cell phone or electronic device with an added tubular wall with a central bore to function as the barrel of a firearm. Electronic elements allow the bullet to be discharged.

9. Spit and Bite Protection

Patented: April 4, 2002

This device is comprised of a collar that protects and stabilizes the neck. It helps prevent neck injuries and head-butting. It also has a face shield that is attached to the collar, and helps prevent spitting and biting. The shield can be released from the collar.

10. Missile-Proof Vest

Patented: February 9, 2001

It’s a ballistic resistant body covering that protects the torso, groin, and neck from ballistic missiles. The torso and groin portions are made of ballistic resistant material.

Source: AlarmSystemReviews.com

1. One Hyde Park

One Hyde Park is surely the home to the world’s most expensive homes, which are specifically the four penthouses built in 2010 London development. Each one is listed at $165 million. and one of them is an apartment of Qatar foreign minister Shiekh Hamah. The top-flight units are said to have systems designed by former SAS officers. Security measures also include bulletproof glass windows, panic rooms, and iris recognition scanners. The building also has a full-time security personnel and license plate recognition parking lot.

2. Hala Ranch

Secretary-General of Saudi National Security Prince Bandar bin Sultan’s high-security home in Colorado is valued at $135 million. It is reported that Hala Ranch has a sightline to NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), has a garage filled with armored SUVs, a full time security personnel, and cameras which cover all 95 acres of the property.

High End Security

Source: Forbes - High-Security, High End Homes

D-Link shows us how to set up an Internet surveillance system, especially when using D-Link products. Internet surveillance systems are getting more and more popular concerning home and business security.

Risks Incorporated is a progressive, European-owned and managed company that has proven itself many times on international operations. They supply private - corporate investigations, executive protection - bodyguard services, specialist security services, PSD close protection courses, kidnapping prevention and bodyguard training, worldwide. Their clients range from entrepreneurs to corporate law firms and from trainee bodyguards to specialist tactical police units.

If one can afford it, the best option for a person who wants the ultimate security measures is to hire a security agency and get security guards to personally secure your home and protect you wherever you go.

Summer is ending… but break-ins and burglary crimes can still happen. As parents prepare to send their children to school and take off for work themselves, a lot of homes are left empty and unguarded.

Home security and protection is often overlooked at these times. No one is left at home and the house is left vulnerable and ripe for burglary. Ventura County Contractors Association (VCCA) offers home security and safety tips for the public. Their list of licensed contractors, at www.vccainc.com, can also help in upgrading the features of your home to help deter burglaries and break-ins.

VCCA’s 6 Home Security and Safety Tips:

1. Check Your Locks

Door and window locks in most homes today might keep out someone who just rattles the knob, but they won’t stop a determined or professional burglar. In more than 40 percent of residential burglaries, thieves came in an unlocked door or window.

Every exterior door should have a dead-bolt lock with a one-inch throw. If you have a key-in-the-knob lock, install an auxiliary lock - a vertical bolt, cylinder dead-bolt, or horizontal-bolt model. And if you just moved into a new house or apartment, re-key the locks. You never know who may still have old keys. Do not hide your keys in mailboxes, planters, or under doormats. Give a duplicate key to a trusted neighbor instead.

Secure sliding glass doors with commercially available locks, with a rigid wooden dowel in the track or with a nail inserted through a hole drilled in the sliding door frame and projecting into the fixed frame. Lock double-hung windows with window key locks or by sliding a bolt or nail through a hole drilled at a downward angle in each top corner or the inside sash and part way through the outside sash. Consider grilles for basement or street-level windows if you live in a high-crime area.

2. Check Your Doors

Locks lose their effectiveness if they are installed in flimsy or weak doors. Make sure outside doors are solid, at least 1 3/4 inch metal or hard wood. Doors should fit tightly in their frames and hinges should be on the inside. Double check the door between your house and the garage since that is a common entry spot for thieves.

Install a peephole or wide-angle viewer in all entry doors so you can see who is outside without opening the door. A short chain between the doors and the jamb is not a good substitute because it can be broken easily.

3. Look at Your Home from the Outside

To discourage burglars from selecting your home, make sure that any shrubbery around doors and windows is pruned so they will not hide anyone tampering with the entry points. Cut back tree limbs that could help a thief climb into second story windows.

Keep your yard well-maintained and store ladders and tools inside your garage or basement when you’re not using them. All entrances and porches should be well lit.

4. Consider an Alarm System

The simplest in-house alarm system sets up a small electrical circuit across door locks and from window to frame. When this current is interrupted by someone opening the door or window, the alarm sounds. More sophisticated systems include sensing devices that set off a siren when an intruder disturbs a field of continually moving sound or radar waves. Advanced alarm system can be monitored by a central station which alerts the police if a thief breaks in. These systems can include smoke/fire alarms and “help” or “panic” buttons to signal a medical or other emergency as well.

5. Have a Family Plan

Remember that your goal is to avoid any confrontations with a burglar since there is a good chance he or she is armed. If you find a door ajar, a screen slit, or a window broken when you come home — do not go inside. Call the police from a neighbor’s house.

6. Prepare When You Leave Town

Notify a trusted neighbor that has a view of your house of your vacation schedule and ask him or her to pick up your mail, deliveries and newspapers. Put lights and a radio on timers to create the illusion that someone is home. Leave shades, blinds, and curtains in normal positions and arrange to have your lawn and garden maintained if you will be gone a long time.