Hasta La Gadget!

Skateboards, bicycles, even scooters — all valid ways to get around, but none quite as eye-catching as the RocketSkates, a Kickstarter effort that has hit its funding goal and promises to shuttle you around town using nothing but your feet. The ACTON R RocketSkates are basically small Segways for your feet, fitting over your shoes with electric motors and relatively … Continue reading

Those in the US eagerly awaiting the LG G3 will soon have their patience rewarded. Joining the train of carrier announcements, Verizon has chimed in to say that LG’s flagship will be descending on the masses this summer. And yes, according to the carrier, the smartphone will be compatible with its fancy XLTE service. There is, of course, reason to … Continue reading

Back in 2013, Sony unveiled the PlayStation 4. In some ways it was a surprise as no one had really expected Sony to make an announcement that early. Even more odd was the fact that for a long time, no one really knew what the PlayStation 4 console had looked like. There were some who speculated that Sony could still be working on the design and as it turns out, they were right.

Speaking to IGN, Sony’s Andrew House revealed, “This is one where I think honestly we were a little caught off guard and wrong-footed. If you look back at our history of previous reveals, we generally always went with explaining what the concept would be, articulating what package the overall consumer experience was going to be and then later revealing the hardware. So this felt very natural and normal to us.”

He also went on to state that because the original design of the PlayStation 4 was still not what he had expected, which is why he had to send the designers back to the drawing board. This process was dragged out even further when the choices were narrowed down to five, and then two, after which House had asked for mockups to be made. He then kept the two mockups in his office for a week, asking Sony employees to pick one, which ultimately resulted in the design we know and possibly love today.

He later says, “My benchmark at the end of the day was knowing I was going to get up there at E3 and have to do this. What would I be proudest holding?”

Sony Reveals Why They Took So Long To Reveal The PS4′s Design

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Summer is here. There will be barbecues. Sand will find its way into the strangest places. Your family, extended family, kids’ friends and friends of friends–even complete strangers–will sail in and out of your home. But that’s OK, because you’ve fraud-proofed your house…right?

Identity theft is a truly democratic crime: Anyone can do it, anyone can become a victim; and sadly, it’s almost inevitable that everyone will be a victim. That said, there are ways to delay your day of reckoning–like making your house as fraud-proof as possible.

While it’s good to be aware of the potential for foul play–and bearing in mind the ways you can “get got” are not only endless, but in too many cases beyond your control–you can still lower your risk by getting your ducks in a row and keeping any item or document that exposes your personal identifying information (PII) out of harm’s way.

Bad Housekeeping

One of the many identifiers used by government and business alike to confirm that you’re you is a utility bill. Way too many people leave those babies, along with bank and brokerage statements, credit card bills, tax documents, medical explanation of benefits reports and insurance notices sitting on kitchen counters and desks or in unlocked drawers or unsecured file cabinets – bad idea.

But for the moment, let’s look beyond the possibility that someone in your life grabs a couple of utility bills and runs to the nearest mobile phone store in an attempt to purchase a smartphone “on you.” The bigger question is how much information do you have lying around? And what happens if you’re out, and your kid lets the cable guy into your home, then blithely returns to Grand Theft Auto (or the glowing Bermuda-triangle of app-based time-loss), leaving a potentially imperfect stranger to roam and grab whatever they need to perpetrate a fraud against you?

While most households aren’t built on a mountain of cash and manage to get by without the help of a butler, cook, nanny, tutor or housekeeper, most houses do have gas and electricity meters, and they aren’t always outside. Appliances break down from time to time (or, if your luck is as good as mine, monthly). You get deliveries. You have go-to babysitters. Maybe you hire someone to help keep the house clean. Some have friends who might tag along–total strangers. But none of these folks can elevate your risk of identity theft, unless you have bad PII hygiene.

The question you need reflect upon is this – Once a thief is in your house, what can they grab? If you take proper precautions with respect to securing your data, they will be limited to items already covered by renters’ or homeowners’ insurance–televisions, computers–things that can be replaced. That which cannot be replaced, like special jewelry and other items with sentimental value, should be stored in a safe deposit box or a safe–or at the very least kept well hidden.

A Fraud-Proofing Strategy

Make no mistake, fraud-proofing your house is as important, if not geometrically more important, than protecting your valuables. Your sensitive personal information is infinitely more valuable than an engagement ring to a thief who knows what to do with it.

Here’s a checklist of some of the information you need to protect:

• Birth certificates, passports and other primary identification documents
• Social Security cards
• Financial statements
• Utility bills
• Insurance policies
• Tax returns

Whether you use a safe or a safe deposit box, (or for convenient access, scan them into a password-protected, encrypted thumb drive, and then put them into a safe or safe deposit box) you need to secure anything and everything containing your PII so that it can’t be used against you.

And while you’re in the process of securing sensitive documents and valuables, take a moment to call your insurance agent. Ask if your policies protect you in the event of an identity theft and if that coverage includes access to a full service identity theft resolution organization. If it isn’t a perk, add it. The cost of this type of endorsement is relatively small for the peace of mind that can come with it — which is priceless.

If you heed this advice, you’re helping to better protect yourself from the ravages of identity theft — minimizing your risk of exposure and managing the damage. But there is a middle step you need to take.

Where to Go From Here

You must adopt a culture of monitoring, like reviewing your bank and credit accounts on a daily basis, checking your credit reports for free at least once a year at AnnualCreditReport.com, coming to sites like Credit.com for a free overview of your credit, as well as two free scores which are updated monthly, signing up for free transactional monitoring programs offered by financial institutions and credit card issuers, as well as more sophisticated forms of credit and fraud monitoring which you can purchase from credit reporting agencies and third-party resellers.

Identity theft is, indeed, the third certainty in life, but if you practice the three “M’s” (minimize your risk of exposure, monitor and manage the damage), you will be doing your part to delay, properly detect and then diminish the impact of a life-disrupting crime.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel dramatically escalated its aerial assault in Gaza Thursday hitting hundreds of Hamas targets, as Palestinians reported 16 people killed in strikes that hit a home and a beachside cafe and Israel’s missile defense system once again intercepted rockets fired by militants at the country’s heartland.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said Israel struck more than 320 Hamas targets overnight, focusing on underground tunnel networks and rocket launching sites. That brought the total number of targets hit to 750 in three days of the massive offensive that has killed at least 80 Palestinians. Lerner said Israel has already mobilized 20,000 reservists for a possible ground operation into Gaza, but for the time being Israel remained focused on maximizing its air campaign. A ground invasion could lead to heavy civilian casualties on the Palestinian side while putting Israeli ground forces in danger.

Neither side is showing any sign of halting their heaviest fighting since an eight-day battle in late 2012. Israel says that Hamas must cease rocket fire from Gaza for Israel to consider a truce. Militants have fired hundreds of rockets, striking across the length of Israel and disrupting life across the country. No one has been seriously harmed as the “Iron Dome” defense system has intercepted at least 70 of the projectiles destined for major population centers.

“The ground option needs to be the last option and only if it is absolutely necessary. It is a carefully designed plan of action,” Lerner said.

The Israeli security Cabinet was meeting to discuss its next moves.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said the operation was going according to plan, with Israel targeting various Hamas interests.

“The military’s successes so far have been very significant,” he said. “We will continue until they understand that this escalation is not beneficial to them and that we will not tolerate rocket fire toward our towns and citizens.”

Palestinian medical officials said a strike early Thursday struck a home in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing eight members of the Al Haj family. Tractors cleared away large piles of debris from the demolished building as one man laid atop a mattress and blankets that remained.

Earlier, at least eight others were killed when a strike hit a Gaza beach cafe where they were watching a World Cup semifinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands, said Mahmoud Sawali, who said he lost at least two of his brothers in the attack.

“We only ask of help from God. Here I have two brothers who are martyrs, and I’m looking for the third,” he said.

The Israeli military said it was investigating both incidents. It also said it struck a car in Gaza carrying three Islamic Jihad militants involved in firing rockets. The militant group confirmed that its men were killed in the strike. Hamas officials said that the Palestinian side of its border crossing with Israel had also been destroyed in Israeli airstrikes.

The Health Ministry in Gaza has reported 81 deaths thus far, saying about half were women and children though the exact breakdown remains unclear.

Israel accuses militants of deliberately endangering civilians by using homes and other civilian buildings for cover. The military has also directly targeted the offices and homes of known militants that it says are used as command centers. The military typically contacts the families first to ask civilians to evacuate before striking its targets.

Yigal Palmor, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Hamas is firing rockets from “within houses and streets and neighborhoods which are populated with civilians … exposing these civilians to retaliation and to backfire.”

After an overnight lull, militants resumed their barrage toward central and southern Israel. Remnants of a long-range rocket fired from Gaza landed in a gas station in south Tel Aviv after being shot down by Israel’s “Iron Dome” defense system.

The longer range of the rockets fired from Gaza has disrupted life across southern and central Israel, where people have been forced to remain close to home, and kindergartens and summer camps have closed. Israeli television has been a constant news loop with updates from both sides of the border and even radio music stations were interrupting songs with news of every siren informing of incoming rockets.

“We heard the siren and we immediately entered the home shelter,” said Avraham Nachum, from the southern Israeli town of Netivot. “One of the boys was in the shower. He didn’t manage to step outside of the shower on time.”

Besides firing toward Israel’s two largest cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Hamas also launched a rocket that reached the town of Zichron Yaakov, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Gaza.

Initially, Israel said that “quiet would be met with quiet” but as the rocket fire has reached deeper into Israel officials have taken a tougher stand saying the rocket threat against Israel must be lifted.

“The state of Israel is ready for every scenario in order to protect its citizens,” said President Shimon Peres. “The Hamas is killing the citizens of Gaza by placing them where rockets are being fired.”