14 Unusual Uses for Security Sensors
What else can you do with security sensors?
Everyone knows security sensors can trip the alarm system when someone opens the door, passes a PIR (motion sensor), breaks a window or performs some other act of trespassing.
But these low-cost little gems can also trigger a variety of other events that have little or nothing to do with security.
We asked our friendly custom electronics professionals (CE pros): What interesting things have you done with security sensors?
Here are some of the responses.
CE PRO FAVORITE1. Virtual bouncerWe love to entertain, so we included a bar when we finished our basement. The beer cooler is always stocked for guests, and we “protected” our teenagers by installing a micro-sensor on the cooler. The wireless micro-sensor is adhered to the door. This “zone” is always on, even if the alarm system is not in the armed position. The police department is not dispatched if the zone is breached, but we receive a call from our response center via telephone or email if the cooler is opened.
It keeps our good kids honest, and their friends’ parents know they are staying out of trouble while chillin’ in our rec room playing video games! – Chris Thompson, Webco, Ramsey, Minn.
CE PRO FAVORITE2. Securing the throneWell I can’t take credit for originating this one but I’ve used it many times. There are sensors that get affixed to a floor joist below a commode so that when it flexes from the added weight of the throne the trigger turns on the exhaust fan. Perhaps if you could add a methane detector you could extend the run time for the fan, or better yet, spray some smell-good upon departure. – David Garfinkle, Creative Home Systems, Springfield, N.J.
3. Garage lightsWhen you come home with packages from shopping, and your garage has steps leading up to the kitchen, I thought it natural to allow my motion sensor to turn on the garage wall sconces and overhead lights as soon as either a person at the top of the stairs opens the door or the vehicle or person enters the garage. When leaving from the kitchen, just opening the door to the garage trips the motion sensor to turn on the lights. So you don’t have to reach for a light switch as your hands are full with keys and a bag. There is a timer for this light, and a floor sensor to learn if the big garage door is closed so that it is OK to turn off the lights when motion has ceased. – Garfinkle
4. Motorized windowsMy first need for motorized kitchen windows occurred when a client was faced with a pair of side-hinged windows two feet beyond the sink. So I installed a mechanism for the window cranks and added an outdoor water sensor to override and close the windows in the event of rain. Skylights are triggered and usually come with their own water sensors. – Garfinkle
5. Sump saviorI’ve positioned a water bug sensor in the sump pit to cause lights to flash in the family room in the event of a leak. This saved a catastrophe. – Garfinkle
6. Pantry doorWe have a tree-hugger-hippie client whose husband would go to the kitchen pantry for little snacks and leave the pantry light on which totally annoyed her. The pantry door was rarely closed so a motion detector/control system and lighting control were used to create an “occupancy sensor” inside the pantry to turn the light on for five minutes and off again. This “green snacking solution” made for stealth snacking while sparing his spouse the annoyance of wasting energy and having to turn the light off after the snacker was long gone. – Steve Person, Media Calm, Atlanta
7. Eye on the kidsI had a client who was more interested in keeping her teenagers inside than keeping the bad guys out. We put sensors on all of the floor-level doors and windows and set the alarm in a verbal feedback mode. The alarm panels announce “basement door”, “basement window” or “garage door” whenever the doors or windows are opened. – Person
8. You’ve got mailWhen the great room PIR goes off and we’ve just arrived home and there’s a new message on the HomeLogic [home automation] box, the system annunciates [in my voice] that there’s new voice mail. – Tom Ardolf, Cybermation, Waite Park, Minn.
9. You’ve got companyIf the house is in “Vacation” mode and someone comes down our driveway, the vehicle/driveway sensor calls my cell so I can see who’s there. If it’s in “Away” mode, then it just emails me, as I’m more than likely just at the office, and I can just maximize my Homelogic screen interface. – Ardolf
10. Extra fire protectionIf smoke/heat detectors go off, all types of events are initiated — basic things like turning off the HVAC system, and more advanced activities like calling, emailing and flashing the lights. – Ardolf
11. Hello, cleaning ladyWhen the security system is disarmed by the cleaning lady’s security code – she only comes on Wednesdays – the system waits until she enters the house (judging by the door sensor), she is greeted by my voice and whole-house music … until she leaves the house. – Ardolf
CE PRO FAVORITE12. Go away, deerI don’t get unwanted visitors in my back yard, so I tied my security system into the paging output of my Niles distributed audio/video system. When the outdoor motion sensors are tripped, the alarm system’s contact closure activates the Niles system, and a 12-second recorded message blasts through two zones (four rock speakers) at 50 percent volume. The message? My dogs barking. – Shawn Kelly Stermer, Niles Audio
13. Alert the neighborsIf an alarm triggers, then all outside lights start flashing to alert neighbors. – Kelly Driscoll, Audio Design Innovations, Stillwater, Minn.
14. Kids home safeOne customer wanted to know when his kids got home everyday so we setup the system to send him an email when the front door opens or when the alarm was armed or disarmed. – Driscoll
14 Strange and Unusual Hotels You’ll Want to Go Out of Your Way to Visit
Featherbed Railroad Caboose Bed and Breakfast, Upper Lake, California
Featherbed Railroad
The Featherbed Railroad sits on the shore of Clear Lake in Northern California. Guests stay in one of nine vintage cabooses overlooking a private boat launch and pier. Each caboose is decorated with a different theme, such as the Orient Express, Casablanca or the Wild Wild West. The rooms are each furnished with a queen size bed and second story cupola; most also have a Jacuzzi tub. Breakfast is served in the nearby 100-year old Main Station. There are a number of outdoor activities, as well as wineries and museums nearby. For those with an interest (or an aversion) to the paranormal, you should know there have also been reports of a ghost sighting in one caboose.
The Grand Canyon Caverns Suite, Peach Springs, Arizona
Grand Canyon Caverns Suite
The Grand Canyon Cavern’s Underground Cave Suite calls itself “The largest, deepest, darkest, oldest, quietest motel room in the world.” This suite is truly for the adventurous. It is the largest dry cave in America, 220 feet below ground. Water is hand carried to the suite by staff and a staff member is available at the top level of the elevator to assist you during your stay. A single room built into the cavern, the suite is furnished with two double beds, a pull out queen sofa, table and chairs, a bathroom, a library of books and magazines dating back to the late 1800s, a working record player with records, and several lights. Check in and out is typically at the close and start of the times of the daily-guided tours. (The room is open, so there is little to no privacy during tour hours.) Aside from a number of cavern tours, there is also a private theater in the caverns and many above-ground outdoor activities as well. Here are the under-the-radar hotels you need to know about.
Kennedy School, Portland, Oregon
Kathleen Nyberg
The Kennedy School in Northeast Portland opened as an elementary school in 1915 and has since been turned into a hotel with 57 guestrooms, (some of which still have the original chalkboards and cloakrooms). Also on site are restaurants and bars in the former cafeteria, boiler room, and classrooms (one cleverly called the Detention Bar), a movie theater, pool, and gift shop. In what used to be the little girls’ room, the Concordia Brewery is decorated with both the artwork of school girls and others that feature the history of brewing. Portland of course has an abundance of cultural and outdoor activities to choose from.
Iran resolution splits Jewish members of 'gang of nine' Democrats
Max Rose, Elissa Slotkin and Elaine Luria are the Jewish third of the “Gang of Nine,” moderate Democrats in the House with national security backgrounds from swing districts.
It’s a tight group, as described by Politico last year: The nine Democrats sought offices close to one another, exchange frequent texts and hang out over Chinese food.
In September, after changing their minds about supporting impeachment, giving Speaker Nancy Pelosi the votes she needed to push ahead with the inquiry, the five women in the gang adopted another sobriquet: the “badass caucus.”
All nine members were eventually on board with impeachment, despite threats by Trump and other Republicans to use their votes to target them next year in districts that were Trump-friendly in 2016.
But now there’s a sign of division among the Jewish members of the gang over a big national security issue: Iran.
Slotkin, a Navy veteran from Michigan, led the charge this week on pushing a resolution that would limit Trump’s power to wage war with Iran. Luria and Rose were among just eight Democrats who voted against the measure, which passed 224-194, mostly along party lines. (Along with the eight dissenters on the Democratic side, three Republicans voted for Slotkin’s bill.)
Rose says Slotkin’s resolution “plays politics” with war.
The bill, backed by Pelosi, was triggered by what Democrats and a few Republicans have said was Trump’s failure to adequately notify Congress of the assassination last week of a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, or to explain the action afterward. Iran hit at two U.S. bases in Iraq in the aftermath, and while tensions seem to be dying down now, they could flare again.
A companion bill is under consideration in the Senate.
A third Jewish Democrat among the eight dissenters is Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, who co-chairs the Problem Solver’s Caucus, a grouping of 45 or so Democrats and Republicans who seek bipartisan solutions. Luria, Slotkin and Rose are also members of the caucus. Gottheimer, elected in 2016, does not have a national security background, but he is similarly moderate.
All four face similar pressures: They are in districts that Trump won in 2016. In the cases of Rose, Slotkin and Luria, their districts are heavy with veterans who might look closely at anything that seems like criticism of a military action.
Rose and Slotkin each cited their national security background in explaining their opposing votes; Luria did not.
“As a former Shia militia CIA analyst who has served multiple times in Iraq, I have lived Iran’s destabilizing activity in Iraq up close and personal,” Slotkin said. “But [Soleimani’s] behavior does not mean that the administration can disregard the Constitution by engaging in a wider war, without consulting first with Congress.”
“I know all too well the real costs of war and sending troops into harm’s way is the most consequential decision I could make,” Rose said.
Rose, Gottheimer and Luria all argued that Slotkin’s resolution was inadequate and preferred to revisit the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force, which was originally meant to allow then-President George W. Bush to wage war in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda, the group that carried out the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 of that year.
Bush, Obama and now Trump have used the AUMF to wage war in the region, and lawmakers from both parties have said the presidents have been promiscuous in how they used it, arguing that it should be revised or replaced.
Each of the dissenters addressed Slotkin’s resolution differently. Luria was the most circumspect, simply saying that she preferred revisiting the AUMF. Gottheimer offered a trenchant critique of the resolution itself, arguing that it mirrors existing law (which in itself is hardly unusual in Congress) and that it sends a mixed signal to Iran.
Rose’s statement made the same arguments, but he got somewhat personal, saying he refused to “play politics with questions of war and peace.” He also praised Trump.
Maybe Slotkin and Rose can work this through over dim sum.
var cont = `Sign up for The Jerusalem Post Premium Plus for just $5Upgrade your reading experience with an ad-free environment and exclusive content14 Unusual Uses for Security Sensors
What else can you do with security sensors?
Everyone knows security sensors can trip the alarm system when someone opens the door, passes a PIR (motion sensor), breaks a window or performs some other act of trespassing.
But these low-cost little gems can also trigger a variety of other events that have little or nothing to do with security.
We asked our friendly custom electronics professionals (CE pros): What interesting things have you done with security sensors?
Here are some of the responses.
CE PRO FAVORITE1. Virtual bouncerWe love to entertain, so we included a bar when we finished our basement. The beer cooler is always stocked for guests, and we “protected” our teenagers by installing a micro-sensor on the cooler. The wireless micro-sensor is adhered to the door. This “zone” is always on, even if the alarm system is not in the armed position. The police department is not dispatched if the zone is breached, but we receive a call from our response center via telephone or email if the cooler is opened.
It keeps our good kids honest, and their friends’ parents know they are staying out of trouble while chillin’ in our rec room playing video games! – Chris Thompson, Webco, Ramsey, Minn.
CE PRO FAVORITE2. Securing the throneWell I can’t take credit for originating this one but I’ve used it many times. There are sensors that get affixed to a floor joist below a commode so that when it flexes from the added weight of the throne the trigger turns on the exhaust fan. Perhaps if you could add a methane detector you could extend the run time for the fan, or better yet, spray some smell-good upon departure. – David Garfinkle, Creative Home Systems, Springfield, N.J.
3. Garage lightsWhen you come home with packages from shopping, and your garage has steps leading up to the kitchen, I thought it natural to allow my motion sensor to turn on the garage wall sconces and overhead lights as soon as either a person at the top of the stairs opens the door or the vehicle or person enters the garage. When leaving from the kitchen, just opening the door to the garage trips the motion sensor to turn on the lights. So you don’t have to reach for a light switch as your hands are full with keys and a bag. There is a timer for this light, and a floor sensor to learn if the big garage door is closed so that it is OK to turn off the lights when motion has ceased. – Garfinkle
4. Motorized windowsMy first need for motorized kitchen windows occurred when a client was faced with a pair of side-hinged windows two feet beyond the sink. So I installed a mechanism for the window cranks and added an outdoor water sensor to override and close the windows in the event of rain. Skylights are triggered and usually come with their own water sensors. – Garfinkle
5. Sump saviorI’ve positioned a water bug sensor in the sump pit to cause lights to flash in the family room in the event of a leak. This saved a catastrophe. – Garfinkle
6. Pantry doorWe have a tree-hugger-hippie client whose husband would go to the kitchen pantry for little snacks and leave the pantry light on which totally annoyed her. The pantry door was rarely closed so a motion detector/control system and lighting control were used to create an “occupancy sensor” inside the pantry to turn the light on for five minutes and off again. This “green snacking solution” made for stealth snacking while sparing his spouse the annoyance of wasting energy and having to turn the light off after the snacker was long gone. – Steve Person, Media Calm, Atlanta
7. Eye on the kidsI had a client who was more interested in keeping her teenagers inside than keeping the bad guys out. We put sensors on all of the floor-level doors and windows and set the alarm in a verbal feedback mode. The alarm panels announce “basement door”, “basement window” or “garage door” whenever the doors or windows are opened. – Person
8. You’ve got mailWhen the great room PIR goes off and we’ve just arrived home and there’s a new message on the HomeLogic [home automation] box, the system annunciates [in my voice] that there’s new voice mail. – Tom Ardolf, Cybermation, Waite Park, Minn.
9. You’ve got companyIf the house is in “Vacation” mode and someone comes down our driveway, the vehicle/driveway sensor calls my cell so I can see who’s there. If it’s in “Away” mode, then it just emails me, as I’m more than likely just at the office, and I can just maximize my Homelogic screen interface. – Ardolf
10. Extra fire protectionIf smoke/heat detectors go off, all types of events are initiated — basic things like turning off the HVAC system, and more advanced activities like calling, emailing and flashing the lights. – Ardolf
11. Hello, cleaning ladyWhen the security system is disarmed by the cleaning lady’s security code – she only comes on Wednesdays – the system waits until she enters the house (judging by the door sensor), she is greeted by my voice and whole-house music … until she leaves the house. – Ardolf
CE PRO FAVORITE12. Go away, deerI don’t get unwanted visitors in my back yard, so I tied my security system into the paging output of my Niles distributed audio/video system. When the outdoor motion sensors are tripped, the alarm system’s contact closure activates the Niles system, and a 12-second recorded message blasts through two zones (four rock speakers) at 50 percent volume. The message? My dogs barking. – Shawn Kelly Stermer, Niles Audio
13. Alert the neighborsIf an alarm triggers, then all outside lights start flashing to alert neighbors. – Kelly Driscoll, Audio Design Innovations, Stillwater, Minn.
14. Kids home safeOne customer wanted to know when his kids got home everyday so we setup the system to send him an email when the front door opens or when the alarm was armed or disarmed. – Driscoll
14 Strange and Unusual Hotels You’ll Want to Go Out of Your Way to Visit
Featherbed Railroad Caboose Bed and Breakfast, Upper Lake, California
Featherbed Railroad
The Featherbed Railroad sits on the shore of Clear Lake in Northern California. Guests stay in one of nine vintage cabooses overlooking a private boat launch and pier. Each caboose is decorated with a different theme, such as the Orient Express, Casablanca or the Wild Wild West. The rooms are each furnished with a queen size bed and second story cupola; most also have a Jacuzzi tub. Breakfast is served in the nearby 100-year old Main Station. There are a number of outdoor activities, as well as wineries and museums nearby. For those with an interest (or an aversion) to the paranormal, you should know there have also been reports of a ghost sighting in one caboose.
The Grand Canyon Caverns Suite, Peach Springs, Arizona
Grand Canyon Caverns Suite
The Grand Canyon Cavern’s Underground Cave Suite calls itself “The largest, deepest, darkest, oldest, quietest motel room in the world.” This suite is truly for the adventurous. It is the largest dry cave in America, 220 feet below ground. Water is hand carried to the suite by staff and a staff member is available at the top level of the elevator to assist you during your stay. A single room built into the cavern, the suite is furnished with two double beds, a pull out queen sofa, table and chairs, a bathroom, a library of books and magazines dating back to the late 1800s, a working record player with records, and several lights. Check in and out is typically at the close and start of the times of the daily-guided tours. (The room is open, so there is little to no privacy during tour hours.) Aside from a number of cavern tours, there is also a private theater in the caverns and many above-ground outdoor activities as well. Here are the under-the-radar hotels you need to know about.
Kennedy School, Portland, Oregon
Kathleen Nyberg
The Kennedy School in Northeast Portland opened as an elementary school in 1915 and has since been turned into a hotel with 57 guestrooms, (some of which still have the original chalkboards and cloakrooms). Also on site are restaurants and bars in the former cafeteria, boiler room, and classrooms (one cleverly called the Detention Bar), a movie theater, pool, and gift shop. In what used to be the little girls’ room, the Concordia Brewery is decorated with both the artwork of school girls and others that feature the history of brewing. Portland of course has an abundance of cultural and outdoor activities to choose from.
Iran resolution splits Jewish members of 'gang of nine' Democrats
Max Rose, Elissa Slotkin and Elaine Luria are the Jewish third of the “Gang of Nine,” moderate Democrats in the House with national security backgrounds from swing districts.
It’s a tight group, as described by Politico last year: The nine Democrats sought offices close to one another, exchange frequent texts and hang out over Chinese food.
In September, after changing their minds about supporting impeachment, giving Speaker Nancy Pelosi the votes she needed to push ahead with the inquiry, the five women in the gang adopted another sobriquet: the “badass caucus.”
All nine members were eventually on board with impeachment, despite threats by Trump and other Republicans to use their votes to target them next year in districts that were Trump-friendly in 2016.
But now there’s a sign of division among the Jewish members of the gang over a big national security issue: Iran.
Slotkin, a Navy veteran from Michigan, led the charge this week on pushing a resolution that would limit Trump’s power to wage war with Iran. Luria and Rose were among just eight Democrats who voted against the measure, which passed 224-194, mostly along party lines. (Along with the eight dissenters on the Democratic side, three Republicans voted for Slotkin’s bill.)
Rose says Slotkin’s resolution “plays politics” with war.
The bill, backed by Pelosi, was triggered by what Democrats and a few Republicans have said was Trump’s failure to adequately notify Congress of the assassination last week of a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, or to explain the action afterward. Iran hit at two U.S. bases in Iraq in the aftermath, and while tensions seem to be dying down now, they could flare again.
A companion bill is under consideration in the Senate.
A third Jewish Democrat among the eight dissenters is Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, who co-chairs the Problem Solver’s Caucus, a grouping of 45 or so Democrats and Republicans who seek bipartisan solutions. Luria, Slotkin and Rose are also members of the caucus. Gottheimer, elected in 2016, does not have a national security background, but he is similarly moderate.
All four face similar pressures: They are in districts that Trump won in 2016. In the cases of Rose, Slotkin and Luria, their districts are heavy with veterans who might look closely at anything that seems like criticism of a military action.
Rose and Slotkin each cited their national security background in explaining their opposing votes; Luria did not.
“As a former Shia militia CIA analyst who has served multiple times in Iraq, I have lived Iran’s destabilizing activity in Iraq up close and personal,” Slotkin said. “But [Soleimani’s] behavior does not mean that the administration can disregard the Constitution by engaging in a wider war, without consulting first with Congress.”
“I know all too well the real costs of war and sending troops into harm’s way is the most consequential decision I could make,” Rose said.
Rose, Gottheimer and Luria all argued that Slotkin’s resolution was inadequate and preferred to revisit the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force, which was originally meant to allow then-President George W. Bush to wage war in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda, the group that carried out the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 of that year.
Bush, Obama and now Trump have used the AUMF to wage war in the region, and lawmakers from both parties have said the presidents have been promiscuous in how they used it, arguing that it should be revised or replaced.
Each of the dissenters addressed Slotkin’s resolution differently. Luria was the most circumspect, simply saying that she preferred revisiting the AUMF. Gottheimer offered a trenchant critique of the resolution itself, arguing that it mirrors existing law (which in itself is hardly unusual in Congress) and that it sends a mixed signal to Iran.
Rose’s statement made the same arguments, but he got somewhat personal, saying he refused to “play politics with questions of war and peace.” He also praised Trump.
Maybe Slotkin and Rose can work this through over dim sum.
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