Michael K Houser's Blog

The Los Angeles Fire Department offers Halloween safety tips.

Before Halloween

* Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Make sure that shoes fit well and that costumes are short enough to prevent tripping, entanglement or contact with flame.
* Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costumes and trick-or-treat bags for greater visibility.
* Secure emergency identification (name, address, phone number) discreetly within Halloween attire or on a bracelet.
* Because a mask can limit or block eyesight, consider non-toxic and hypoallergenic makeup or a decorative hat as a safe alternative.
* When shopping for costumes, wigs and accessories, purchase only those with a label indicating they are flame resistant.
* Think twice before using simulated knives, guns or swords. If such props must be used, be certain they do not appear authentic and are soft and flexible to prevent injury.
* Obtain flashlights with fresh batteries for all children and their escorts.
* Plan ahead to use only battery powered lanterns or chemical lightsticks in place of candles in decorations and costumes.
* This is also a great time to buy fresh batteries for your home Smoke Alarms.
* Teach children their home phone number and to how call 9-1-1 (or their local emergency number) if they have an emergency or become lost. Remind them that 9-1-1 can be dialed free from any phone.
* Review with your children the principle of “Stop-Drop-Roll”, should their clothes catch on fire.
* Openly discuss appropriate and inappropriate behavior at Halloween time.
* Consider purchasing individually packaged healthy food alternatives (or safe non-food treats) for those who visit your home.
* Take extra effort to eliminate tripping hazards on your porch and walkway. Check around your property for flower pots, low tree limbs, support wires or garden hoses that may prove hazardous to young children rushing from house to house.
* Learn or review CPR skills to aid someone who is choking or having a heart attack.
* Consider safe party guidelines when hosting an adult or office party.
Fun Alternatives

* Find a special event or start one in your own neighborhood.
* Community centers, shopping malls and houses of worship may have organized festivities.
* Share the fun by arranging a visit to a Retirement Home or Senior Center.
* Create an alliance with college fraternities, sororities or service clubs for children’s face painting or a carnival.

Before Nightfall On Halloween

* A good meal prior to parties and trick-or-treating will discourage youngsters from filling up on Halloween treats.
* Consider fire safety when decorating. Do not overload electrical outlets with holiday lighting or special effects, and do not block exit doors.
* While children can help with the fun of designing a Jack O’ Lantern, leave the carving to adults.
* Always keep Jack O’ Lanterns and hot electric lamps far away from drapes, decorations, flammable materials or areas where children and pets will be standing or walking.
* Plan and review with your children the route and behavior which is acceptable to you.
* Do not permit children to bicycle, roller-blade or skateboard.
* Agree on a specific time when revelers must return home.
* Along with flashlights for all, older children and escorts should wear a wristwatch and carry coins for non-emergency phone calls.
* Confine, segregate or otherwise prepare household pets for an evening of frightful sights and sounds. Be sure that all dogs and cats are wearing collars and proper identification tags. Consult your veterinarian for further advice.
* Remind all household drivers to remain cautious and drive slowly throughout the community.
* Adult party goers should establish and reward a designated driver.

When Trick-Or-Treating

* A Parent or responsible Adult should always accompany young children on their neighborhood rounds.

Remind Trick-or-Treaters:

* By using a flashlight, they can see and be seen by others.
* Stay in a group, walk slowly and communicate where you are going.
* Only trick-or-treat in well known neighborhoods at homes that have a porch light on.
* Remain on well-lit streets and always use the sidewalk.
* If no sidewalk is available, walk at the farthest edge of the roadway facing traffic.
* Never cut across yards or use alleys.
* Never enter a stranger’s home or car for a treat.
* Obey all traffic and pedestrian regulations.
* Always walk. Never run across a street.
* Only cross the street as a group in established crosswalks (as recognized by local custom).
* Remove any mask or item that will limit eyesight before crossing a street, driveway or alley.
* Don’t assume the right of way. Motorists may have trouble seeing Trick-or-Treaters. Just because one car stops, doesn’t mean others will.
* Never consume unwrapped food items or open beverages that may be offered.
* No treats are to be eaten until they are thoroughly checked by an Adult at home.
* Law Enforcement authorities should be notified immediately of any suspicious or unlawful activity.

After Trick-Or-Treating

* Wait until children are home to sort and check treats. Though tampering is rare, a responsible Adult should closely examine all treats and throw away any spoiled, unwrapped or suspicious items.
* Try to apportion treats for the days following Halloween.
* Although sharing is encouraged, make sure items that can cause choking (such as hard candies), are given only to those of an appropriate age.

During the California gold rush R. U. Darby, a gold prospector, helped his uncle mine a vein of gold that his relative had discovered. It appeared at first that they had a prosperous find. Yet the vein soon disappeared, and Darby and his uncle searched frantically for the spot where it continued. Finally, they concluded their prospects were hopeless and sold their equipment to a junk dealer for a couple of hundred bucks.

The junk dealer consulted an engineer, who looked at the mine and did a little calculating. The engineer advised that the project failed because Darby and his Uncle were not familiar with “fault lines” in the earth’s core. The junk dealer quickly discovered the vein of gold just three feet from where Darby and his uncle had stopped digging and went on to make millions from the ore.

This story (which is illustrated in the classic Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill) points out how important battles in life are often won by persistence. It reminds us that we can give up on a goal too easily and are sometimes much closer to hitting our mark than we realize.

Recently Greg Reid and Sharon Lechter released a book named “Three Feet From Gold” and held a seminar in Anaheim last weekend at The Grove. The event was fantastic and feature several speakers who had overcame similar events as R.U Darby in their life.

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More fires occur during the winter months than any other time, and steps taken during October can help keep you safe at home. October 4-10 marks National Fire Prevention Week with the theme, “Stay Fire Smart, Don’t Get Burned.”

A home fire is reported every 81 seconds in the United States, and roughly eight persons die in a home fire every day, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Most home fires originate in the kitchen. After cooking and smoking, heating sources and electrical equipment were among the most common causes as well.

PECO offers the following fire safety tips to ensure that you and your family can stay safe:

• Have your home heater cleaned and inspected to ensure safe, efficient operation at least every other year, and keep the area around the heater clean at all times. An inspection by a qualified contractor can ensure the heater vent or flue is not blocked, a common problem leading to carbon monoxide poisoning and fires.
• Make sure there is sufficient space between heating equipment, such as free-standing space heaters — and combustibles like furniture and drapes. Never leave an operating portable heater unattended, especially when there are children and pets nearby, or when you are sleeping. When home fires result in fatalities, the NFPA reports portable and space heaters often are involved.
• Take time to inspect conditions around your home. Look for any loose or frayed cords on all electrical appliances. Avoid running extension cords across doorways or under carpets.
• Avoid overloading electrical outlets. Use only one appliance for each receptacle when possible. Avoid the use of devices that allow the connection of multiple appliances into a single receptacle.
• Have plastic covers on all unused electrical outlets in homes with small children.
• Place lamps on level surfaces, away from things that can burn and use bulbs that match the lamp’s recommended wattage.

A small percent of all home fires are caused by candles, most being used in the bedroom. Seventy-percent of households use candles. Lit candles should never be left unattended, and candles should always be kept out of the reach of children and pets. Make sure candles are on a firm base so they will not tip over, and avoid placing candles near curtains, furniture and other flammable materials.

In addition to fire prevention, fire experts want all homes to be equipped with smoke alarms or detectors, fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors, and home sprinkler systems when possible. Families should check smoke detector batteries once a month, replace the batteries once a year, and occasionally dust the inside of the unit to prevent false alarms. Fire officials say smoke alarms — properly installed and maintained — play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries.

• Having a working smoke alarm cuts the chances of dying in a fire in half.
• A 2008 survey found that nearly all U.S. households had at least one smoke alarm, yet no smoke alarms were present or none operated in two out of five of reported home fires between 2003 and 2006.
• No smoke alarms were present in 40 percent of the home fire deaths.
• Almost two-thirds of reported home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
• In more than half of the reported home fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, batteries were missing or disconnected.
• Families need to plan fire escape routes in case of an emergency and practice the routes with all members of your household — especially children.

Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on Oct. 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on Oct. 9, 1871.

LA Fitness has redefined the word “Hot” in its health club located at Vally View and Chapman in the city of Garden Grove.   Don’t worry about sweating, soon as you get past the front door it will feel like you walked into a sauna.   Bring your portable fan and a water bottle to keep from dehydrating.

Hey LA Fitness if your going to cut back on the A/C   how about cutting back my membership fees?

Technology developed by the US military which ensures excellent color sensitivity and high resolution in both day and night applications. This incredible state of the art technology transform light sensitive security applications using a unique Digital Slow Shutter feature (camera jargon), which increases the length of time the shutter remains open, collecting additional ambient light, thus illuminating typically dark environments.

What does this all mean? It’s like putting on a pair of those military night vision goggles on your cameras, which enable you to see with or without light.

Michael K. Houser

BY MARTIN WILLIAMS
THOUSANDS of people across Wales are sacrificing home security by not activating burglar alarms.
A staggering 81% of people in Wales surveyed by Swinton Insurance revealed they do not set house alarms because they leave their pets indoors.
This was followed by them worrying about young children setting them off during the night (21%) and forgetfulness accounting for 7%.
Failing to activate an alarm which is declared in your home insurance policy could invalidate your insurance and prevent you from be reimbursed.
Steve Chelton, insurer development manager at Swinton, said: “Burglar alarms are an excellent way to secure your home.
“But our research has shown a worrying trend of home owners not switching them on because of their pets.

Retailers worldwide might earn trillions of dollars cumulatively, but they also lose billions each year to “inventory shrinkage” – the official term for stolen goods, or shoplifting – as well as other types of losses, such as mis-scanning, under-charging, and false accusations of falls or injuries. Security cameras and public view monitors (PVMs) have become an important component of retailers’ overall security. But traditional cameras can’t “see” well what’s happening when lighting conditions aren’t optimal, including dark parking lots, with or without overhead lights; through glass doors or windows, especially with bright sunlight shining through; facing straight outdoors, as most PVMs are oriented; under fluorescent lights; or any time there’s a mix of bright light and shadows.

Common security camera problems for retailers include:

* Lack of detail, including facial features of shoppers and employees
* Inconsistent clarity in bright or low light, or high-contrast lighting situations, such as entries, checkout areas, parking lots, store aisles, and warehouses and loading docks
* Degraded or no image when there’s strong glare
* Color inaccuracies in varying lighting conditions
* Low-quality DVR recordings

* Significant loss of information in strong back-light

* Both indoor and outdoor detail clearly visible

Pixim’s Digital Pixel System® ultra-wide dynamic range technology, a true breakthrough in imaging technology, delivers unprecedented image quality in all lighting conditions. Cameras powered by Pixim’s specialized image processing chipsets can significantly enhance retail security through the following capabilities:

* Widest dynamic range: Captures highlight and shadow detail – including back-lit faces – in the same scene.
* Highest total resolution: Makes it easy to distinguish image features and details, even in highly variable lighting conditions.
* Superior color rendering: Accurately displays color even in difficult lighting such as backlight, high-contrast scenes, glare, and fluorescent lighting.
* No “camera blindness”: Eliminates the vertical smear, pixel blooming, and other image artifacts commonly encountered in high-contrast scenes.
* High image compression: Improves image quality with smaller file size – allowing DVRs to record with higher frame rate or higher resolution, or both, while maintaining the same total recording time.

More About Pixim and DVRs

Pixim, compared with CCD technology, enables the higher compression of images taken by security cameras, which leads to advantages for DVRs:

* Allows the use of higher-resolution settings on the DVR without sacrificing the overall recording time (i.e., # days on a DVR).
* Enables more frames per second to be written on the DVR without sacrificing overall recording time (i.e., # days on a DVR) or resolution.
* Permits the connection of more cameras to each DVR, without sacrificing resolution or frame rate.
* Provides recordings with higher image quality, for more accurate identification of people and events and more compelling evidence.
* Makes it easier to comply with FBI and other regulations that require storage of 10 to 30 days’ worth of video – without sacrificing resolution, lowering the frame rate, or reducing the number of cameras connected to each DVR.
* Optimizes the investment in expensive DVRs.

Security cameras based on Pixim technology enable retailers to capture details of people and activities, even in variable and challenging lighting conditions, whether in parking lots, store aisles, checkout areas, or loading docks. They also help retailers optimize their security investment by improving DVR image and compression performance. The superior color and resolution produced by Pixim-Powered cameras can help retailers identify shoplifters or employee thieves and potentially recover or prevent a portion of the inventory shrinkage they suffer each year.