We called a local company to install a basic security system, and then to supplement the security we had several security cameras added. We should have done this from the very beginning since we noticed that some of the construction material that was used to fix the place up was missing. Anyway, I am a retired computer engineer. At my old company I was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of PC motherboards. ( I don’t want to mention which company it was) Getting back to my original point, I hired the security company to come and install the cameras as well as the digital video recorder, which was basically a VCR replacement.

The DVR was basically a PC with the BNC connections on the back and the software that is loaded on a Windows Vista operating system controlled the recording and video archiving. I think I paid the company about $2300 for this DVR.About a year later I experienced a problem with the DVR, so I called the local company. They said since the DVR was out of warranty, they would charge at least $800 to fix it. So I thought that with my electronics experience, I would have a look to see if it would be something that I could fix myself.

Upon closer inspection of the inside of the computer, I discovered a dvr card that was labeled to be a Geovision GV-800, 16 PCI dvr card. After contacting the manufacturer I soon realized that the DVR Card that I had in the system was not a real, genuine Geovision dvr card, but was yet, a copy or clone.With this being said, I was basically out of luck with the manufacturer in having the item repaired! I toiled with this problem to no end. The local security company that sold me the system would now not come out to service it. I also discovered that this counterfeit Geovision DVR Card was selling for $58 on ebay.

Long story short, I found a company in Baton Rouge that was selling the genuine Geovision dvr cards and installed one myself. The new replacement was really cheap. Not only did I get the real thing, but I also saved myself a ton of money in the process.If you just spend a little effort, do a little leg work and keep asking questions, you can have the same kind of luck as I did.

We can make a distinction, one individual at a time. The first step towards Graffiti removal is identifying where there’s a dilemma. The step following that is to start to clean it up. A brush and a bucket of water will assist to get the job started. Make a party out of it, organize a group of people to work together and see what might be done. See if local businesses are willing to donate food to volunteers who are doing the cleaning. After all, if the graffiti is cleaned up it’ll help the businesses to look much better.

Depending on the amount of equipment installed, fees can range form $30 to more than a hundred. It all depends on how big and how many sensors where installed. The main idea behind monitored burglar alarms is that if you are not home and the alarm is activated, the company is responsible for contacting authorities to try to make sure that everything is ok in your house. And if in fact there is a burglar in your house, that he meets face to face with local authorities and if possible, that he is captured by the police. You should never think twice about installing a burglar alarm in your home especially given the fact that al lot of people wait until their houses are burglarized before even considering to install a security alarm. Considering the current crime rate, the time to install a burglar alarm is now or at least the sooner the better.

While the people of New York City responded predominantly with goodwill and a heroic attitude to the World Trade Center attacks, it is important to keep in mind that the basic structure of the city – the services, facilities, and general day-to-day functions – were still intact. The disaster that has befallen the gulf states is an entirely different kind of animal. The entire city of New Orleans has been utterly devastated. Many peripheral communities and cities have been essentially washed away. There is no source of free-flowing fresh water, food sources have been severely depleted, virtually no energy infrastructure remains, although line crews from neighboring states are working feverishly to get power restored to critical facilities like the water supply system. Tens of thousands of people have lost their possessions, their homes, their jobs, and their entire way of life. As some of the survivors have put it, they are literally “adrift”.

While many people do have a positive, strong mental and psychological orientation, allowing them to forge ahead and find a way to carry on within the boundaries of law and moral principles, many others do not.

Poverty-stricken communities already have a tendency to have higher crime rates under normal conditions, due to obvious environmental factors. Many people in this environment often become dependant on the “welfare-state”, deriving some of their income, access to services, and food allowances from government-sponsored systems. In a “civilization-destroyed” scenario, these systems cease to function. In times like this, people who ordinarily would not resort to outright theft or robbery do so, and the more violently criminal-minded become even more ruthless and barbaric.

A disaster on the scale as that of the gulf states, where the ability of the government (local, state, or federal) to control affairs is seriously diminished, creates a ripe opportunity for the desperate and the criminal to exploit the misfortunes of others. And they’re doing it. Armed gangs roaming the demolished landscape, reports of rape inside the overwhelmed astrodome, boundless pillaging of every storefront or home left standing; these are the stark images that tell us just how fragile our domestic peace really is.

America is truly a great nation, populated by many great people. But there is bad among us, too, waiting for the opportunity to seize upon the misfortunes of others, whether for profit or just for plain pathological gratification.

For more information on what you can do to be better prepared to protect yourself and the ones you love, visit http://www.1stdefenseproducts.com .

Jonathan Merritt has over 20 years of experience in the security industry, and has written numerous articles on personal, family and home security. His company site, http://www.1stdefenseproducts.com, provides links to government and community security information, as well as access to his newsletter 1st Defense Network.