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Posts with tag security

Keyless Deadbolt Uses Fingerprint Scanning

If you've ever fumbled with your keys on a dark night or with your hands full of packages (just like those poor women on Lifetime TV who don't quite get safely inside), you need this.

SmartScan from Kwikset offers the first biometric, keyless technology in a deadbolt designed to fit the décor and standard installation on your residential door. This commercial-grade technology uses biometrics to scan your unique fingerprint, down to the subdermal layer, to unlock your deadbolt without a key.

Fingerprints are read, once users "enroll" in the unit, by just swiping a finger under the sensor. If you're having work done in your home, you can change the normal 24/7 family setting to a temporary access setting that sets days of the week for contractors. Control even more with restricted access that sets time and days of the week, good for regular visitors, such as babysitters or housekeepers. Up to 50 users can be entered, and the administrator can easily enroll or delete users.

This standalone system does not require external wiring and installs like a conventional deadbolt with just a Phillips screwdriver. There's extra security with ANSI Grade 1 security features and back-up key usage. No prices on the Kwikset site, but on Home Depot it's $199.

As seen on The Oprah Winfrey Show. And we know how much Oprah loves her luxury items.

Bulletproof Clothing Maker Hits Trouble in Mexico

Colombian designer Miguel Caballero doesn't just design clothing, he creates clothing that can stop a bullet. Caballero, who has been called the Armani of bulletproof clothing, recently had his store in Mexico City closed down. Caballero's store had been selling bulletproof vests without a permit. The regulations are designed to keep the bulletproof clothing from criminals. Caballaero creates a line of high-end casual and formal jackets for both men and women but they also sell best that did not comply with a federal law requiring government approval for those sales.

Wine Exec Surrenders Pricey Vintages to Airport Rules

If you've traveled over the past year you have probably seen someone having to surrender a bottle of shampoo or some other liquid due to the rules about carrying liquids on planes. But pity poor Neil Grant, southern region general manager with Foster's Australia, who recently had to surrender bottles of a 1980 and an '82 Penfold's Grange, treasures worth a couple of thousand dollars. Grant was going to conferences in Scotland and Ireland and pulled the precious vintages from his personal cellar. At the final security check he ran into a woman who informed him the bottles would be destroyed because he could not take them on board. He argued that people from Emirates airlines were willing to find his checked baggage and put the wine in there but she refused. He also offered to open them and share them with everyone around. Finally, rather than just throw them whole into the trash, he smashed them. The best part of the article for me is that Grant was man enough to admit he was close to tears. To quote an old song, you would cry too, if it happened to you.

Döttling Bel-Air Safe


The other day when I covered the estate of basketball player Cuttino Mobley, I mentioned briefly that he had been robbed of $500,000 of watches, jewelry and cash in a robbery that seems to be part of a sophisticated series of home invasions plaguing Beverly Hills and surrounding areas in Los Angeles. Mobley might be well served by getting his hands on the beauty shown at right, the Bel-Air safe from Döttling,a company I first covered last year for the posh and secure safes. The Bel-Air is custom made for the individual users and has the look of a luggage trunk. It can be customized with shelves, racks, lockable drawers, jewelry compartments, mini bars, watch collector cabinets or watch winders, gun cabinets, humidors or just about anything you can think of and uses patented armor plating containing vulcanized hard sinter ceramic stones with a hardness grade of 9 (out of 10). The safes meet all insurance requirements.

Cobra Hired To Guard Jeweled Sandals


In today's age of motion and touch sensors and every other kind of high-tech gadget we've got for security of precious goods, Harrods in London recently took a unique step to protect a pair of very expensive shoes: they hired a poisonous cobra to stand (sit? slither?) guard.

Obviously this was a publicity stunt, not a real security effort, but I say good for them. That's pretty clever, and for all intents and purposes it worked. The cobra has since returned to its owner and the shoes are, I'm sure, under a more traditional lock and key type security system.

Curious what kind of shoes warranted such a show? A pair of red sandals by Rene Caovilla that are encrusted with rubies, sapphires, and diamonds and valued at about $120,000.

Porsche Ambulance: Luxury Bus to the Rescue

There may not be a whole lot of room inside, but how many ambulances have you seen that can off-road with the best of them and accelerate from 0-60 in 6.4 seconds? This Porsche Cayenne S has been outfitted with all of the best lifesaving equipment, including an EKG machine and difibrillator, and has paint to match its function. It's the sixth of its kind in Germany, also joining Cayennes outfitted for firefighters, security officers and other safety professionals.

[Source: Cars.com]

Going Out of the Way for Privacy


In years past only the biggest celebrities received special accommodations at hotels and resorts when it came to maintaining privacy and anonymity, but in today's world of ever-increasing celebrity news popularity, fiercely competitive worldwide businesses, and even terrorism, many travel locations have made going to great lengths to protect privacy a part of their regular routine.

It's not unusual for certain travel destinations to provide rooms in separate wings with space enough for security personnel, private entries, and aliases for check in and billing. Some have even been known to specially request no-fly zones when particular guests are present.

Doettling Safes


Doettling safes are so beautiful that they may make your belongings seem shoddy by comparison. The safes are all proofed by an expert and each one is designed to be totally unique and customized to the wishes of the client. Their latest designs include watch safes which feature automatic winders and drawers to keep your tourbillons in top form. Prices start from around $55,000. After the jump, take a look at another one of their projects, a gun cabinet sold to a Russian gun collector for a cool $160,000.

Continue reading Doettling Safes

Flying In The Fast Lane

Would you pay to get through airport security faster? The plan to offer a security pass that will let you go through a faster security lane is picking up steam. The Registered Traveler program would require travelers to pay a fee, pass a government background check and submit ten fingerprints. It is expected that as many as 20 airports will have the program in place by 2007. A yearly pass through the Clear registered traveler service sells for  $79.95. They currently operate the program out of the Orlando International Airport.

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