Contributors
Scott Goldfine, Editor-In-Chief
Scott joined the staff of SSI in October 1998. His one-time occupation as a cable-TV technician and lifelong love of electronics made his move into the security industry a natural progression. More...
Rodney Bosch, Managing Editor
Although Rodney’s name is quite familiar to those in the security industry, his previous experience has been in daily newspaper journalism. More...
Archives
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- December, 2008 (10)
- November, 2008 (7)
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- September, 2008 (2)
Post Categories
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General Interest
Fun stuff: Hobbies, sports, music, movies, art, books, video games, fishing, travel, family and whatever else security professionals enjoy besides work!
In the spirit of the Oscars this year, SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION has decided to give out its own feature film awards. Instead of trekking down to a remote theater on Hollywood Boulevard to search out the movies nominated for Best Foreign Language film, we wanted to bring the awards home.
We dug into our DVD library for the best video surveillance scenes Hollywood has to offer. After getting comfortable on our leather couch and firing up the flat-panel (HD, of course) television, we searched out the most memorable surveillance scenes in movies.
We’ve prepared a list, but we like a good... More...
I had the pleasure of conducting a roundtable interview with a small group of presidents and executive managers at the recent First Alert Professional Conference in San Diego. The bulk of that sit-down — chockablock with industry insight and business acumen — is featured in SSI’s February edition. But here I’d like to share with you the assemblage’s thoughts on the advantages their companies reap from aligning with a dealer program such as First Alert.
The participants included Mel Mahler, chairman of the board and CEO of Nashville, Tenn.-based ADS Security; Pat Egan, president of Lancaster, Pa.-based Select Security; Philip... More...
Away in a manger and protected by GPS, nativity scenes across the county are secured the best.
New York City-based BrickHouse Security has been in the giving spirit offering free GPS tracking and surveillance service to religious institutions looking to protect nativity scenes, Menorahs and decorations during the holiday season. So far, the company boasts 100-percent success in protecting the items.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manyhighways/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Pranksters and kids on Winter break commonly target nativity scenes each holiday season. However, the theft of these decorations can reach exorbitant amounts. On Dec. 14, life-sized baby Jesus, Mary and... More...
The significance of the California Alarm Association’s (CAA) positive impact on installing security contractors was on fine display during its winter convention in San Francisco.
Held Dec. 10-12 at the Hilton San Francisco near Union Square, alarm company operators from throughout the western region were joined by manufacturers and other service providers for an intensive three days of networking, educational sessions, vendor exhibits, and a poignant life achievement tribute dinner honoring George DeMarco.
With more than 300 registered attendees and 65 exhibitors, Matt Westphal, CAA president, proclaimed during the general session the association had attracted... More...
Are you still searching for that one unique Christmas present that is sure to impress your security industry colleague, or perhaps even a family member or friend? I recently ran across a little gadget known as the iWallet that should appeal to the security-minded. Not only is the iWallet a neat stocking stuffer, but it actively works to protect your credit cards and cash from thieves.
The product secures your cash and credit cards in a tamper-resistant hard case made of carbon fiber. Attached to the case is a biometric fingerprint reader to ensure only the owner’s fingers will be... More...
As 20-year anniversaries go, Honeywell’s First Alert Professional convention in sunny San Diego was one impressive get-together. Held Nov. 19-22, more than 700 attendees from among First Alert’s 340 or so independent dealer companies convened at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel for the... More...
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has just released an updated Web page that details more than 300 of its industry codes and standards. The information is cleanly laid out and easily accessible to visitors. This is a fantastic resource for anyone in the fire alarm industry.
The NFPA site lists code numbers and names, as well as detailed summaries of each item. Archived versions of the code are also available for download. The catch, however, is that you must have an NFPA member account to access the full documents. Or, if you choose, you can purchase the document.
Visit... More...
Long before I got into the security industry, sports played a central role in my life. In addition to spending nearly all my waking hours playing every imaginable sport as a youth, I also played baseball and football in high school. Later, I studied sports medicine in college (organic chemistry weeded me out) and toiled as a sports editor for several years. As I write this, we have officially begun one of my favorite times of year ... when the NFL's exhibition season gets under way! That means the ultimate team sport is just a few weeks from getting started, with all the excitement... More...
Just came across some extremely troubling news about the security vulnerabilities of cell phones.
Basically, these handheld electronic communication devices that we have embraced and allowed to infiltrate every walk of life around the globe pose some of the most serious security concerns imaginable. As you will see in a report below, mischievious or nefarious people can listen to your conversations, receive text message alerts when you are using your phone, view all incoming and outgoing phone numbers, and tap into your phone's GPS capability to track wherever you go. And the most stunning revelation of all, they can even listen to your conversations through the... More...
So here we are on the brink of another Super Bowl Sunday. I don’t really care who wins since my underachieving, self-destructive Dallas Cowboys have been as much of a spectator as I have been since the outset of the postseason tournament.
I suppose if I have to select someone to root for in this match-up, it would have to be the Arizona Cardinals — even though teams should represent cities rather than states — since they are the underdog (about +7 last time I checked). Plus it’s all about NFC solidarity, the fact the Pittsburgh Steelers have branded... More...
I came across an interesting survey in the December/January issue of Conde Nast Portfolio magazine, a new entry among business publications that I highly recommend, that I wanted to share with readers of Under Surveillance. The data reflects how businesspeople are feeling about the recession and increased pressures and stress in the workplace.
When asked if they feared losing their job, more than three-fourths (76 percent) of the survey’s respondents said there was a “small” to “good” chance of becoming unemployed. Should that take place, nearly as many (73 percent) believe finding a new position would be “somewhat” to “very” difficult.... More...
Music is a lifelong passion, some might say (particularly my wife) obsession, of mine. Anyone who has ever gotten to know me to any extent can vouch for this fact. In fact, if you are a long-time reader of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION you many have picked up on some of my frequent references to lyrics, song titles and the like. I almost continuously have tunes blaring out of my speakers while I’m in the office, in the car, or through headphones in bed, on airplanes, waiting rooms, etc.
My enthusiasm for aural pleasures runs the gamut from constantly... More...
In an effort to make this blog more fun and personal — and show there’s much more to security professionals than just DVRs, RMR and ROI — I have added this section to talk about all things not security, mostly pop culture, art, sports and entertainment. To get us started, I thought I would share some top 10 lists of my favorite films by category. Keep in mind that I studied film in college, worked in the entertainment industry and was a movie critic prior to getting into the electronic security industry in 1998. From the late 1970s through 2003,... More...
So the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has reported that the U.S. economy is in recession. Um, did we really need that declaration to validate what anyone with even the most passing fancy for economics or rudimentary knowledge of financial markets has long ago surmised — and likely somehow been personally affected by already? It’s like a weatherman reporting on gusty conditions as the roof is ripped off the studio. Seems to me this group is more about repression than recession. This “breaking news” conjures up the Saturday Night Live News Update segment routine called “Really?!” in... More...
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