Filed under: Internet, Security
Independent broadband-friendly home alarm systems
As more and more folks abandon traditional phone lines in favor of exclusively using cell phones and broadband VoIP services, home alarm system technology is getting dragged out of the dark ages. Historically, in order to alert the alarm monitoring service of an intrusion, an alarm system would place a modem call over a phone line. But since VoIP services and cell phones don't properly support modem calls, the alarm makers have had to adapt.Some new alarm system vendors now provide IP-based monitoring, so intrusion signals (and in some cases, two-way voice communication) can be transmitted to the security company using the Internet instead of a phone line. NextAlarm.com offers such a solution: a wireless control panel with keychain remote that sits on your home network. Also included are a pair of wireless magnetic door contact sensors and a wireless infrared motion detector. NextAlarm allows its users to install this stuff themselves--and since it's all wireless, you won't need to worry about slinging wires through your attic. The whole system will set you back less than three-hundred bucks, assuming you don't need extra sensors. NextAlarm provides monitoring service, too.
One of NextAlarm's competitors is ProtectAmerica.com, who offers a very similar broadband-capable alarm solution. Completely wireless, ProtectAmerica offers additional sensors for glass breakage, flooding, and low-temperatures. Handy for keeping an eye on that damp basement if you live in the recently water-soaked midwest. ProtectAmerica touts their two-way voice monitoring (through the control panel device) and broadband-compatibility as advantages over a traditional security player like ADT.
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
