Inexpensive Monitoring

Here is a novel but crude way of setting up a simple DIY CCTV system at home using Skype. You will of course require a webcam.

Note: This system will not record your video feed. This system requires a separate computer logged into account 2 to operate.

1) Open two new accounts.
2) On account 1 add new user two as your ONLY contact
3) Re-log in as account 1 and set as follows:

1. Go to tools–>options–>advanced–>(tick) automatically answer Incoming calls
2. Go to Tools–>options–>Video–>(tick) start video automatically and Only People in My contacts
3. Save. Leave this account online

4) Log in as account 2 from another PC.

5) Call account 1, this will now answer and start video running, any one else calling this account, will not get activated or see your private web cam.

Corbeam - Commercial Version Of Mebeam

Having been a long time member of the core testing group for the Mebeam project, I am happy to announce the upcoming release of the commercial version

Aptly named Corbeam.

To refresh your memories, Mebeam is an initiative started by a super-talented Australian programmer, to provide multi-video conferencing facilities over the internet, Free, without an application download. Using Flash technology, it has seen a meteoric rise in use recently to in excess of X million users.

I recently used Mebeam to create a multi-video and audio hook-up, enabling family members, who were unable to attend, to participate in a family gathering. The session lasted, uninterrupted and of incredible clarity for in excess of 2 hours.

Other longer sessions have been held too.

Corbeam will be the culmination of 5 long years of intensive coding and testing.

From the website...

CorBeam

CorBeam is set to take the corporate world by storm. It provides all the sophistication of a top level video conferencing set up with NO infrastructure investment whatsoever. CorBeam is a fully hosted, totally secure video conference and video recording system that provides cost effective communication worldwide or within the organization for greatly improved business efficiency.

Improved communication has long been near the top of the wish list for senior executives around the world.

Integrating CorBeam into your corporate communications strategy will provide many advantages to your organisation.

Video Multi chat
Worldwide video conferencing facility, that allows up to 32 individuals to log in to a room and chat. The only requirement is a webcam and the room password.

Video recording
Users can record video of themselves for use as CVs, broadcast training and other information or for anything your imagination can dream up. The video can be cleaned up and edited using the online editing tool kit allowing cut, paste, crop and other functions.

Video archiving
Recorded videos can then be archived for retrieval at a later date.

Session recording and distribution
One of the key benefits of CorBeam is the ability to record an entire session. Using this feature, all participants in the video conference are recorded into a single multi-stream recording. This session can be saved, archived and or delivered via email. It can even be split up for selective distribution.

Email and SMS invitation system
CorBeam Conferences take place in secure, private chat rooms set up especially for the occasion and deleted up completion of the conference. Participants are invited to attend the conference via email and SMS invite. CorBeam contains its own address book facility. It also integrates with Outlook as well as IM communities such as MEEBO and JABBA.

Buy a room
The billing mechanism is very straight forward. Register as a customer, complete a simple credit card transaction and create your secure room. This very simple system is ideal for individuals, SMBs and roaming employees who wish to keep in contact. Larger organisations or anyone wanting ongoing facilities can simply create an account with CorBeam attached to a credit card. You simply allocate passwords to the individuals who need access to the account. Comprehensive traffic and usage reporting allows you to keep tabs on your costs and hierarchical access allows different users access to more or less facilities within your CorBeam admin area.

CorBeam will be launching soon! Check back in the near future for further details.

Medeco M3 lock vulnerability

Is it irresponsible to post the following video clip? I believe not. I believe it is irresponsible to not make the marketplace aware of the vulnerabilities of America's leading Security key manufacturing company.

The following video is independantly produced and subtitled in Spanish.
These cylinders are commonly found on Banks, Police Departments, Government buildings, Hospitals, Schools etc all across the country.

Do you use them? Would you want to still use them after seeing this information (which is freely available on the world wide web?

Foreclosures Keep Locksmiths Busy - NPR News

All Things Considered, April 16, 2008 · The mortgage crisis has been great business for locksmiths. Banks need to get the locks changed quickly because people who've just been evicted often take out their anger — or their appliances.

Click on the picture to listen to the article.
It is an unfortunate side effect of the mortgage crisis, but banks and other lenders are forced into these actions as a consequence.
Master Key Systems America, a family owned business, serving residents and businesses in the greater St Louis region with unrivalled services and products. Our specially equipped service vehicles are staffed by competent and qualified technicians, who can quickly and economically perform your required tasks, happily and efficiently. For an obligation free estimate, call us on (314)266-1533.

StrikeMaster II - New Installation

Last week, I received a job through the Service Magic contracting service to contact a customer to repair his door frame. I recommended him to visit this website and view the Strikemaster II product. He called me back the very next day to order an installation.

This customer suffered a break in where the exact purpose of the strikemaster was designed for. The door, being of solid construction and very good quality, the lock being of reasonable security and aesthetics, did their job properly, but the Jamb (where the door closes into) was made form light grade pine that was 1" x 2" in size. It broke with a small kick from a burglar and almost completely shattered the door frame.

The customer had inquired as to how much to get the whole frame replaced, elsewhere, before contacting Service Magic. My solution was the most economical and most aesthetically pleasing, negating the need to replace all the carpentry. The client saved 100's of dollars on the job as a result.

In many customers homes, their actual front doors (or back doors) may be constructed using metal casings (on the door itself), but the actual jamb (where the door closes into) is usually made from wood. Whilst the door may be reasonably strong enough to withstand an attempted forced entry, the jamb is usually not. Enter Strikemaster II.


Locks210.com is pleased to make this product now available to residents and businesses in St Louis.

StrikeMaster II offers a unique and innovative solution to prevent burglars from entering your home, StrikeMaster II strikes-back instantly. Its patented strike plates make the door casing virtually unbreakable.

The easiest way for a criminal to get into your house is just too kick-in your door! The FBI says every 12 seconds a home is invaded by going right through the front or back door. Open your front door and look at the dead bolt plate. There is one inch of soft wood protecting the safety of your home - your door casings can not protect you from a thief kicking your door

How much does a StrikeMaster II cost? $109.95 plus shipping/handling and installation.

A former police officer was recently quoted. "I am a retired Chief of Police with more than 30 years in law enforcement and security and have investigated 1000's of residential burglaries and domestic assaults that were due to the crashing or kicking in of the doors at the home. .... I am proud to announce that I have seen an amazing new product called the StrikeMaster II. This is inexpensive and stronger than any would-be homicidal maniac, I promise... the security market has finally produced a product that is better than locks and alarms. I highly recommend this product on all your outside doors at your home." - Donald Purnell CLL, CFE, Director of Security, Sentry Watch, Inc.

There are numerous testimonials to the quality of this product. One in particular is:
"On the 16th of May, 2005, our home in Chicago was broken into by thieves who shouldered/kicked their way in, through 3 separate doors, one entry and two apartments. A considerable amount of valuables and memorabilia were stolen, including identity theft. Upon observing the 'ease' of entry by these thieves, we set about investigating door protection measures on the internet.
After observing a very graphic video on the 'Safe Home International' site, we ordered the StrikeMaster II for overnight delivery, with the caveat that we would do a 'real-life' test after installation. My installer naturally had his doubts, as I asked him to kick and shoulder the door, after the product was installed. He asked me who would pay for the door frame repair 'in case it didn't work as advertised,'I said I would be responsible, since the safety of our family and property was of utmost concern. I weigh in at 240 lbs and I 'shouldered/kicked' the door three times, without it's failing. My installer, who closely approximates the LARGE individual in the graphic video, had at the door next. He shouldered it twice and kicked it last, his size 11 shoe imprint is still on the back door, although the wall seemed to 'bow in,' the door did not budge. My installer came away convinced, and I came away satisfied, that I made my Family and my Home that much more secure.
The cost/benefit ratio as well is definitely in favor of the StrikeMaster II in comparison with other devices currently on the market. To say that we are more than pleased with the results we obtained from the product, as well as it's support, would be an accurate assessment. -APA Chicago"

Article in US News about Locksmithing as a career.

Locksmith/Security System Technician: Executive Summary

By Marty Nemko

Posted December 19, 2007

Key to job satisfaction is how often you help someone in distress. Locksmithing scores near the top. One of life's most vulnerable feelings is returning home to find your home broken into; a locksmith can make you safer. One of life's more frustrating experiences is being locked out of your car; a locksmith lets you in.

Related News

• Locksmith/Security System Technician: A Day in the Life
• Best Careers 2008
• Video: Overrated Careers
• Discuss Best Careers

And today's locksmiths go well beyond locks and keys. Your car door may no longer have an entry key but a transponder. In your home or business, security techs install electronic and biometric (thumbprint or iris) entry and fire alarm systems, complete with closed-circuit TV networked to a central monitoring facility.

And despite the field's growing complexity, training is quick. You do, however, need a knack for working with gadgets and electronics. Basic carpentry, electrical, and welding skills help, too. Perhaps most important, you must be able to resist temptation—after all, you do know how to pick locks. If you have those attributes, locksmithing is a worthy career choice. Along with police officers and FBI agents, yours is the noble goal of foiling the baddie—but with much less risk to life and limb.

Median Pay

National: $44,000. More pay data by metropolitan area

(Data provided by PayScale.com)

Training

Most locksmiths learn on the job, supervised by a master locksmith. That's supplemented by short online or in-person courses offered by locksmith associations or manufacturers.

Other Resources

• FAQs about locksmithing
• The National Locksmith
• Locksmithing by Bill Phillips

(source...)

Sensor Technology as a replacement for Invasive CCTV technology

Tracking people's every move using buildings packed with motion sensors is more effective than CCTV, and less invasive to privacy, say researchers who tried the technique on their own colleagues.

"We want to have a god's eye view of the entire space," says Yuri Ivanov of the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL), who led the project with colleague Christopher Wren.

That may sound like the desire of George Orwell's fictional "Big Brother" in 1984. But the MERL system should actually preserve people's privacy better than CCTV and make buildings safer and more secure, says Ivanov.

All-seeing eyes

As digital video cameras get cheaper and smaller, CCTV systems are becoming more common. But as well as raising privacy concerns, Ivanov and Wren say, the footage is difficult to search through or interpret quickly.

As an alternative, the two researchers used arrays of small, cheap motion detectors to watch over people instead, with their officemates as guinea pigs. They fitted their 3000 square metre office building with an array of 215 simple detectors placed along the hallways at 2-metre intervals.

The detectors collect much less information than the cameras. "It's not going to catch you picking your nose. You can only tell that some person went by," Wren explains, "maybe this is better than living under thousands of cameras."

But the motion-detector system still collects a lot of information. To find unusual or interesting patterns in the data, the researchers developed software to display movements of people around the building on a map in real time. People show up as a bright spot trailing a tail of lights that slowly fade away (see video, right).

Another view summarises data from sensors across a period of time, for example a week, month or year, in a way that makes it possible to see patterns or anomalies at a glance.

Identity parade

The system also includes a handful of cameras, at selected spots in the building. Footage of passers by can be used to identify people, who can then be tracked around the building using the motion sensor data.

Users can select a certain path on the map – for example from the office drinks machine to the front door – to call up motion and video data from the path at a particular time and reveal who used the route. "A target audience for this was security," says Ivanov, "but that's not the only use."

Data collected during a fire evacuation drill revealed that almost everyone in the building left through one exit; the two other doors nearby went largely unused. Understanding how people use spaces like this could help improve safety, they argue.

Longer-term patterns, like how late people stay at work or where they tend to congregate, have other uses. "It has large implications for energy savings," Ivanov adds, saying that heating or air-conditioning use could be informed by the data.

Marauder's map

"I've not seen this approach before in journals or at conferences," says Marimuthu Palaniswami at the University of Melbourne in Australia. "But I have seen it in fiction, for example the Marauder's map in Harry Potter."

The technique appears simple and usable, he says. "They have produced a system that could be implemented with little difficulty and would be very useful for security monitoring."

Daniel Keim of the University of Konstanz in Germany agrees that usability is a big advantage. Most techniques for analysing data from sensor networks depend on automatically detecting certain behaviours specified ahead of time, making spotting unexpected features difficult, he says.

(source...)

Master Key Systems America Joins Creve Coeur Olivette Chamber of Commerce

Master Key Systems America LLC announces today of our acceptance into the membership of the Creve Coeur Olivette Chamber of Commerce. We look upon this opportunity to expand our involvement in the community and hope to meet and make new friends and business acquaintances.

We have been invited to a chamber meeting and activity where we will be officially welcomed and given a plaque to commemorate this occasion. We will be invited to give a 60 second spiel about our operation and will also get to meet many of the existing members represented in the chamber.