This App Turns Finding Lost Items into a Game

Augmented reality games are becoming increasingly popular as evidenced by the success of the recent Pokemon Go. Imagine applying that concept to finding your keys, your remote, or anything else you tend to lose on a regular basis. Bluetooth item trackers are not a new invention. Both Tile and Protag’s Duet have proven to be effective and popular.

However, no one has ever thought to turn that tracking capability into a game. Pixie endeavours to change that, turning the concept of a Bluetooth item tracker into something that functions as a game that can be pretty fun to play. Pixie functions in the same way that products like Tile or Protag’s Duet do, but Pixie adds augmented reality to the mix. The game will show you the general location of whatever is attached to your Pixie clip. Finding your item then becomes a matter of playing a game of Hot and Cold.

A neat feature within Pixie is the product’s ability to communicate with multiple devices. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that despite Pixie’s claims, the product does not function exactly like GPS. What it actually does is work like any standard Bluetooth device. This means you will need to at least be within a range of around forty feet.

Pixie is already drawing a good deal of attention for this product. They are also expanding into some pretty interesting areas. For example, they are manufacturing an iPhone case in which the trackers are built right into the case. What’s even better is that these products are going to come with a battery life that will extend to an impressive twelve months.

You will have the ability to purchase a pack of two (including a phone case) for forty-nine dollars, as well as the opportunity to purchase a pack of four (which also includes a phone case) for ninety-nine dollars.

Source: http://www.actionlocksmiths.ca/blog/60-this-app-turns-finding-lost-items-into-a-game.html

August Home Allows use of Smart Locks for Doors Internationally

August Home is a company that is well-known for its internet-connected smart locks. This product already works with most of the door locks that you will generally come across within the United States and Canada. However, the company has yet to create a solution that can be used in conjunction with a style of lock that is known as the Mortise. This lock represents a smaller market share within the United States, but it is in fact a very popular type of lock overseas. This is particularly true in Europe.

Things are about to change. August Home has indicated that they plan to create a new smart lock that will have the ability to work with Mortise locks. August Home CEO Jason Johnson has indicated that they are already seeing their locks appear in countries beyond North America, which is currently the only place in which August Home manufactures and distributes its products. As their products continue to appear in countries around the world, August Home hopes to continue making moves that will eventually allow them to distribute and release products around the world.

In the meantime, August Home is working on a partnership with Logitech Pop, which will include creating a very simple, but profoundly effective button. The main purpose of this button will be to give people the ability to turn off TVs, lights, and even lock doors, with the simple push of a button.

In the end, August Home hopes to continue working on becoming a more open platform, as users look for ways to better protect their homes.

Source: http://www.actionlocksmiths.ca/blog/59-august-home-allows-use-of-smart-locks-for-doors-internationally.html

Atlas Recall Gives your Mac a Photographic Memory

This Seattle based startup company, Atlas Informatics, sees its mission as “if you’ve seen it, you can search for it.” Atlas Recall could become a highly important app (free, at the moment) for Mac users. This digital search software doesn’t just remember text summaries of or a link to a site you visited recently, but reproduces “what you viewed.”

Yes, when you search for a previously viewed site, Atlas Recall returns “visual thumbnails” of what you saw when you visited the site. How? This app indexes everything that you’ve looked at and snaps a picture of what you viewed previously. When you search for it, the app returns the image to you.

How Does It Sort Your Search Results?

Atlas Recall organizes the sites you visited today, last week, or last year with most recent first, divided by timeframe, and oldest last. This app will reproduce the content relevant to your search terms.  Atlas Recall doesn’t just reproduce web pages, as it includes emails, chats, documents, or anything else you viewed in the reasonable past.

It then sorts and lists (displays) them in order of when you looked at them. Atlas Recall is designed to capture these items from Safari and Chrome browsers with a Mac, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and PDFs including web pages.

How Does It Work?

Atlas Recall captures data from your Mac, encrypts it, and stores it in the cloud. Hence, you’ll need to be connected to the ‘Net to use this app. However, storing data in the cloud allows you to make digital searches encompassing multiple computers.

This complement to major search engines, like Google, will even display results in a panel “next door” to the main Google search results page. The app is not intended to render Google or other major search engines obsolete.

Rather it’s designed to support these primary search engines, reminding users that they may want to visit other web pages or documents they’ve previously seen.  Atlas Recall thoroughly has been tested in beta mode and has proven to work well.

Conclusion

Although Atlas Recall works, not surprisingly, it has some limitations. For now, it only works on Mac machines and iOS mobile devices. The iOS application only points to those items you’ve visited on your computer, not on your iPhone.

Further, you must install the app, which will not record your visits prior to downloading the Atlas Recall software. To enhance your security, you can erase items from your Mac photographic memory, such as signing in to your bank account.

Regardless of these limitations, Atlas Recall is a worthwhile addition to your recall arsenal, particularly while it’s still free.

Source: http://www.actionlocksmiths.ca/blog/58-atlas-recall-gives-your-mac-a-photographic-memory.html

Thieves Get Stuck on Locksmith's Doors

Since thieves were unable to break the locks established by the business Lock and Key Solutions, they chose to go for the window instead. They were successful, but Maritsa Gouws, a Miss South Africa 2016 contestant, says that she is nonetheless grateful that her family is safe. This would be in spite of the fact that thieves successfully broke into the family company.

While there is no question that the locks clearly did their job, this story points strongly to the importance of comprehensive security solutions. This would mean taking steps to ensure that when a home or place of business is protected, that protection is provided on every possible level. There are several fascinating elements to this story that are worth keeping in mind.

Thieves Rob Locksmith Company

Found at the corner of Peter Kerchhoff Street and Boom Street, Lock and Key Solutions had recently gone through some renovations. New carpets were fitted to establishment that Friday, just prior to the robbery in question. After the robbery, Gouws indicated that she had left 2 laptops in her office, in addition to an external hard drive, when she left the office that Friday. Upon returning to the office on Saturday, she found the office to be in a state of disarray. A number of items had been lifted from the scene, as well.

Commenting on the matter further, Gouws mentioned that because the thieves took items that were set aside in (seemingly) secured locations, it would seem as though the thieves knew exactly where to go for the merchandise they wanted. From the items that were stolen from the business, Gouws mentioned that a variety of special, sensitive material were on the devices that were stolen. This would include information about the family business, information about the family itself, personal photographs, and much more. While Gouws indicated that the business is safe, which includes any and all sensitive information about their clients, the real problem involves the personal photographs and other items that were on the devices in question. Gouws made it clear that replacing all of these things would prove to be very difficult indeed.

Gouws also said that she wasn’t terribly worried about any potential threat to her family or place of business. The company is already in the process of restoring all of the information the company needs. What worries her the most involves the personal photos and other items. As mentioned before, replacing any of those things is going to prove to be extremely challenging.

While the incident did leave her shaken up, Gouws did suggest that the events have left her with the desire to be more “vigilant.” There are always things one can do to reasonably increase security with their home or business.

Source: http://www.actionlocksmiths.ca/blog/57-thieves-get-stuck-on-locksmith-s-doors.html

Ideas from Mike Holmes – How to Make your Home Secure and Healthy in Winter

 How do you cope with short days and long nights characterized by a massive drop in temperatures? Winter is here and there is no way to avoid the chill. Preparations can, however, help to ensure you are warm, dry and safe

Suggestions

The chimney should be inspected by an expert annually. This area tends to accumulate creosote as well as soot. There will also be cracks and birds’ nests to contend with. The risk of fire is a real one in the event a combusting log starts a chimney fire.

Poisonous fumes like carbon monoxide can find their way inside your house via blockages or cracks. The best option is to have the chimney checked not only on the inside but on the outside. Bricks become broken and the mortar can crumble leading to costly repairs.

Fireplaces

Regarding fireplaces, the damper can take up lots of your space. If it does not close, open or seal, then you will be limited in terms of space. If you are not using it, always ensure that it is closed to prevent the warm air from escaping. The re-usable dampers, for instance, can let out air when they are supposed to be air tight. Watch out for any warping that may occur. A better alternative would be the use of chimney plugs that are not only re-usable but can also be inflated and seal the flue.

To make the seal in the fireplace invisible, use a decorative screen. You should do this when you intend to close it when off for the season.

Fire Cracks

A wood stockpile can make for a warm night, so make sure you stock some. Power breakouts can ruin your nights, so make sure you have some spare wood with you, and go for the fast-burning kind if you want to see less pollution such as smoke. It creates a viable source of radiant heat. The gas fireplace can be used instead but make sure to have it inspected to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

Dealing with the Gutter

Get rid of the garbage that gets in the way in winter. There are leaves and all manner of trash that can enter the eaves trough. Watch out for melting snow causing water back up in the roof and shingles.

Finally, have the furnace inspected to save on costs and energy.

Source Url :- http://www.actionlocksmiths.ca/blog/56-ideas-from-mike-holmes-how-to-make-your-home-secure-and-healthy-in-winter.html