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According to the Vanished Children's Alliance, a child is missing or abducted every 40 seconds.
A car is stolen every 24 seconds in the United States, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
What can you do to prevent these crimes from happening to you and your family?
Video surveillance is one option you may not have considered.
Video surveillance usually brings to mind retail stores and malls. But many people are finding hidden cameras useful in their homes and their personal lives.
Today, people use cameras to watch their front doors, back doors, yard, children's room or car.
Why?
Many video cameras have saved children from household help, such as cleaning people and baby sitters, who exhibited irrational or harmful behavior. Cameras can also indicate if someone enters a home or room without invitation. And, nothing can prove who stole a vehicle better than video evidence.
You can record environments with equipment designed in such a way that only the person using it is able to tell that it's a camera. CCS International (OTC BB: SITG) makes sophisticated video surveillance systems for home and personal use that monitor, record and broadcast real-life conditions to ensure peace of mind.
Here are a few examples:
* Hand Held Clock Video Cam: Housed in a palm-size clock, this device views live events through its hidden pinhole camera. It will transmit video imagery for up to 24 hours or use a DVR for long-term recording. A camera system concealed within a functioning alarm clock radio is also available.
* Briefcase Camera Portable Recording System: It looks like an ordinary briefcase, but its pinhole lens provides high-resolution recordings with clear quality.
* Body Worn Spy Cam: This video surveillance camera can be worn or alternatively placed in a concealed area. It is connected to a microtransmitter that sends a video signal to a video receiver. This included receiver can be connected to a VCR, DVR or video monitor.
Other available CCS systems are housed in a gym bag, a pair of sunglasses and even a man's tie.
Electric razors are a wonderful invention, but can be quite costly. It is important to know how to keep you razor in good condition so it will last a long time and will save you the expense of purchasing a new one.
The right type of razor battery and the right type of charger can help to maintain an electric razor and save money in the long run.
There are several familiar brands that make some great electric razors. Braun, Remington, and Norelco all have very good electric razors.
Norelco’s new razors have a jet clean and charge system, an all in one set up that helps maintain the quality of the razor. Remington razors have titanium, self-sharpening blades that help maintain the best performance.
The Braun razors also boast a cleaning system, and a special design that captures more hair than ever.
Razors typically use an Nickel Metal Hydride or NiMH battery. NiMH is a newer technology in portable appliance batteries that holds twice the capacity of its traditional counterpart.
NiMH batteries do not suffer from the memory effect. They are also more environmentally friendly because they do not contain heavy metals. The batteries are usually not that expensive, around $10 to $20, which is much better than purchasing a new razor for $100 or more.
Since the NiMH batteries do not suffer from the memory effect, charging is not as much of an issue. With most razors, you simply just place it on the charger after use and do not think about it again.
Protect your investment, take care of your razor, and buy the best razor batteries. It will help your razor maintain performance for years to come.
I think today wherever there's a human being, there's a pair of speakers. Perhaps you can't imagine your living without your home theater system. In the bedroom, you still want to listen to your favorite Cd's. The shortest car ride is unbearable without a decent stereo and a pair of speakers. Newly, this goes for boat rides, too. The more recent WiFi speakers allows you to have speakers in the garden, in the garage or wherever you have things to do.
But loudspeaker manufacturers don't settle for this, when it comes to outdoor use. They want speakers that black out and melt into the environment. They want 100% weatherproof. They want naturalistic design. And the answer to all their wishes has materialized itself into the planter and rock speakers.
The biggest rocks in this field are Stereostone, Rockustics and SpeakerCraft. When it comes to rocking and rolling stones they can make all your wishes come true. Just try them by sending over a piece of rock from your garden. They'll send back the design of a prototype speaker that looks exactly like your rock.
How to recognize a rock speaker
If you are in a friend's garden, music is all around but you don't know where it comes from, be sure that the speakers are hiding in the form of some rocks or flower pots. These speakers are especially designed as outdoor speakers, which means that they are 100% weatherproof. They are completely sealed, using insulating materials that are made to hold up in extreme weather conditions.
In aspect, both Rockustics and Stereostone speakers got inspired from mother nature. They have that grainy look, irregular shape of natural rocks, heavy appearance heavy, but are entirely made of light, synthetic, materials. Most buying guides recommend looking for speakers that are made of good weatherproof materials like: coated aluminum, stainless steel, polypropylene.
Do rock speakers really rock?
They sure do! What we like most about these speakers is how you can use them to impress your kids. Flower pots that sing and rocks that tell stories, this is as close as technology can get to a fairy tale.
If you have doubts about their performance level, don't. Of course, they can't compete by far with the audio quality of a high performing audio system or to the home theater experience. But they sound pretty well. Rock speakers and planters are meant to please the ear while they don't bug the eye. The major advantage is they come close to you, and you don't have to play them that loud. This way you won't keep the neighbors up at night just because you are giving a back yard party.
The major drawback? Though they are designed mostly for outdoor use, they're all wired. But this inconvenient can be solved through a few placement tricks.
Placement tips
Unless you plan to use your rock speakers as wasp nests or rain gauges, you should use a few tricks when mounting them:
Choose a drier place to place them.
Don't point the port upward.
Place the speaker near the place you are to sit more often; In open air, there's less reflection and speakers may sound weaker.
Measure the area you want the speakers to cover, preferable before you buy them. A pair usually covers 200 to 400 sq. ft.
Usually, 16- or 18-gauge wire is good; for runs over 80 feet, choose 14-gauge wire.
No matter the brand, use direct-burial cable to connect the speakers, because it resists the underground moisture and oxidation.
Planter and rock speaker manufacturers
Planter and rock speakers definitely can bring a dose of exoticism in your backyard. Here are some brands worth your consideration:
Rockustics
These are the guys that make your garden rock. Their garden series includes both rock and planter speakers. The Rocky III speaker looks like a stone on the back but like a Flintstones tool on the front. The sound quality and the bass response are good, even when compared with normal speakers. If you are willing to give away a larger sum, in order to enjoy a real bass experience, also buy one of the subwoofer models. Their base can be buried in the ground and a smaller part remains visible.
All Rockustics products have a lifetime warranty (their lifetime, not yours). All the speakers are designed for outdoor use. As previously mentioned, Rockustics can create custom colored-speakers, available by special request.
Stereostone
A Stereostone unit is a complete speaker on its own. Stereostone also offers models of aboveground subwoofers. The Gibraltar Rock is probably the most impressive rock speaker from Stereostone, both in size and performance. With an 8-inch woofer, its bass is quite pleasing. It can be of use in your personal garden, but also in theme parks or other public spaces.
SpeakerCraft
It's probably even more difficult to tell which ones are rocks and which ones are speakers if you go for the Rox speakers from SpeakerCraft. The grille texture that hides the speaker is so fine that you almost don't notice the difference. To build the speaker enclosure, the company developed a special blend of weatherproof resins. No matter how astonishing this stone similarity is, you may want to look for a little diversity in the garden patio. Webster the Frog is waiting for you. It is not a real frog, but a speaker in disguise from Bahama Sounds, a SpeakerCraft division located in Riverside, California.
