Here are some cyber security tips you should know when working remotely.

One of the key preventative measures for the spread of COVID-19 is social distancing. Luckily, in this increasingly connected world we can continue our professional and private lives virtually. However, with huge increases in the number of people working remotely, it is vital that we also take care of our cyber "hygiene".

Awareness and preparedness are both vital - you'll want to be sure you have the following basics: 

• Secure wifi connection. Most wifi systems at home these days are correctly secured, but some older installations might not be. With an insecure connection, people in the near vicinity can snoop your traffic.
• Fully updated antivirus system in place.
• Up to date security software. Security tools such as privacy tools, add-ons for browsers etc need to be up to date. Patch levels should be regularly checked.
• Remember to back up periodically. All important files should be backed up regularly. In a worst case scenario, staff could fall foul of ransomware for instance. Then all is lost without a backup.
• Lock your screen if you work in a shared space. (You really should be avoiding co-working or shared spaces at this moment - social distancing is extremely important to slow down the spread of the virus).
• Make sure you are using a secure, encrypted connection to your work environment.

Things employers should do: 

• Provide initial and then regular feedback to staff on how to react in case of problems. Who to call, hours of service, emergency procedures and how they evolve.
• Give suitable priority to the support of remote access solutions. Employers should provide at least authentication and secure session capabilities (essentially encryption).
• Ensure adequate support in case of problems.
• Define a clear procedure to follow in case of a security breach.
• Consider restricting access to sensitive systems where it makes sense.

If you have any questions about these tips or need to setup remote login to your office, give us a call at 781-816-9437.

The battle of the dating apps...Tinder sues Bumble!

Match Group, the company that holds a large portfolio of dating services, such as Tinder, Match.com, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish, to name a few, and was in talks last year to purchase the dating service Bumble. Match is still looking to acquire the service, but it’s going about it in an unconventional way: by suing it for patent infringement.

On Friday, Match filed a lawsuit that accuses Bumble of infringing on a pair of patents held by Tinder: one called “Matching Process System and Method,” in which users swipe cards and mutually select one another, as well as “Display Screen or Portion Thereof With a Graphical User Interface of a Mobile Device,” which it describes as an “ornamental aspect” of Tinder’s App. The lawsuit also points to similarities between each companies’ apps, and Bumble’s descriptions of “swiping” run afoul of Tinder’s registered trademarks.

In a statement to The Verge, a Match spokesperson said that the company has “invested significant resources and creative expertise in the development” in its products, and was working to enforce its property rights.

Last November, TechCrunch reported that Bumble had turned down the $450 million offer, but that talks were still ongoing, which could leverage for Match to encourage Bumble to join its portfolio: accept the buyout, and the lawsuit goes away.

Sure, Alec Baldwin and Missy Elliott can ask Alexa to have a dance party. But soon you may be able to tell Alexa to start your car.

By now you have seen the commercial below, which shows Amazon's Echo basic features. But did you know that more advanced features are coming soon? Ford announced Wednesday at CES 2017 that its newer vehicles will work alongside Amazon's popular Echo smart speaker and its voice assistant Alexa.

The move will allow select Ford owners to make voice requests via the Echo such as "Alexa, ask MyFord Mobile to start my car," provided they're within earshot of the smart home device.
Other capabilities include the ability to turn off the car, lock or unlock the doors and check a vehicle's battery power level. The technology could also be useful for those who want to loan a car to a friend without handing over a key. A car owner could ask its Echo to unlock and start the car, even if its miles away.

The partnership will come this month to three existing electric Fords - the Fusion Electric, Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi - as a free upgrade to its built-in Sync 3 tech platform. Ford will roll it out the upgrade to more vehicles later in the year.

Eventually, Ford drivers will be able to make Alexa requests from directly within the car. For example, a driver could ask the technology to play an audio book or turn off their smart lights at home.

In addition to an Amazon Echo, eligible Ford owners will have to pair an Android device to Amazon's Alexa app. Meanwhile, iOS users are required to connect to the car with a physical cord. Drivers can tap the existing voice recognition button on their steering wheel to speak to Alexa.

By embracing voice commands, Ford intends to make it easier for drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. The effort comes as motor vehicle fatalities spiked in 2015. Experts believe distracted driving is a key contributing factor.

Like BMW? How about transformers? If so, this is the car for you!

Antimon is a BMW 3-series car that transforms into a robot in 30 seconds. It's the work of 12 engineers and 4 technicians from Turkey, who spent 11 months putting their creation together.

"We want to show our power all over the world. We think if we do something like this it'll get great exposure all over the world." -Turgat Alpagot, sales and marketing director for Letrons

Alpagot says he's already received bids for Antimon at this week's Big Boys Toys exhibition in the UAE capital. The highest bidder can take Antimon home at the end of the exhibition on Saturday.

The car isn't licensed for the road, and you can't drive it. But it can be moved by remote control at speeds up to 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) per hour. In its standing position, the robot can move its arms, fingers and head.

Letrons hopes Antimon will be the first in a series of 12 transformers. The rest are in the research and development stage.

Alpagot says the company has received interests from theme parks and shows looking to rent Antimon.

What's next? The creators are seeking funding from private investors to develop smaller transformers that are more affordable and can be driven on the road.

Above: Antimon - the BMW transformer made by Letrons

Forget old school alarm systems! This drone security system is sure to protect your valuables!

A new startup wants to turn drones into guardian angels for our homes.

Sunflower Labs - with headquarters in Silicon Valley and Zurich, Switzerland - announced a new security system on Thursday that detects possible threats and investigates them with a drone.

The drone streams video to your smartphone, so you can see and decide if your home is at risk or not.

Sunflower Labs, which is now accepting participant applications, will start beta tests in mid-2017. The startup sees itself as a complement to traditional alarms.

Here's how it works: The Sunflower Home Awareness System relies on the drone and a handful of in-ground smart lights to watch over your house. It detects motion, vibration and sound. By analyzing this data, the system can distinguish between a human, a car and animals. To do so, it uses artificial intelligence to identify the disturbance and determine if it's potentially dangerous. For example, trusted visitors such as mail delivery persons will be recognized by how they approach the home and how long they stand at the front door.

When a person approaches and lingers outside the back door, Sunflower Labs will send a push notification to your smartphone and ask if you'd like to investigate.

If you say yes, the drone will lift off from its perch - on a balcony, deck or patio - and fly to where the suspicious person is located. The drone hovers 30 feet above the visitor until you tell it to return to its nest. The app includes an option for a home owner to notify local police.

False alarms are a common problem for home alarm systems. CEO Alex Pachikov expects sending the drone to investigate before calling the police will solve this issue. The system also has the benefit of keeping an eye on all of your property. Most alarm systems are set up to guard only the entries and exits to a home.

The propellers automatically shut off if they hit anything and are designed to be quiet due to its broad size.

The drone currently weighs almost two pounds, but the company wants to get it down to half a pound before it ships. It also features two cameras and only collects footage of a home owner's property to protect neighbors' privacy.

The price to use the system is unclear as of now, but the lights are expected to cost $159 each. Meanwhile, the drone can be rented for a fee, comparable to what traditional alarm systems cost.

Hungry? Look up in the sky - there could be a pizza over your head right now!

You can call it pie in the sky, but pizza delivery is now a real thing -- at least in the Land Down Under.

Domino's Pizza Enterprises said Wednesday it had completed what it called the world's first delivery of a pizza to a customer in New Zealand. Under the watch of a team of drone experts, the unmanned aerial vehicle used GPS navigation to autonomously deliver Peri-Peri Chicken and Chicken and Cranberry pizzas to a backyard in Whangaparaoa, about 20 miles north of Auckland.

Drones have grown in popularity among big retailers such as Amazon and Walmart, which are continually looking for new ways to get a jump on the competition and attract customers. The small, commercial aerial drones could avoid the delays of terrestrial deliveries by flying above traffic and avoiding circuitous roadways.

"They can avoid traffic congestion and traffic lights, and safely reduce the delivery time and distance by traveling directly to customers' homes," Domino's Group CEO Don Meij said in a statement. "This is the future."

Domino's plans to use the information gathered from these flights to expand the service to Australia, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Germany.

A folding iPhone could be in your future...Apple has been granted a patent on a design for a bendable phone.

Some have dissed the iPhone 7 for being too similar to the 6S. But a new patent shows that Apple may have an interesting direction for a future iPhone.

The US Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Apple on Tuesday for a bendable or foldable iPhone, according to Patently Apple, which was first to report the news. It looks as though such a design has been on Apple's mind for a while. The company applied in 2014 for the patent titled "Electronic devices with carbon nanotube printed circuits," according to the USPTO.

Although a folding iPhone sounds like it could be fun, there's not telling when or if this idea will come to fruition. Samsung, for instance, in April of this year was granted a patent for contact lens augmented-reality displays, but that technology seems awhile away.

This illustration, according to Apple's patent filing, shows a "device that bends along a flexible portion such as a flexible seam associated with a hinge."

What to do with a wet iPhone 7.

Apple's newest smartphones, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, are water resistant - which means they're designed to withstand a bit of wetness but aren't meant for underwater use. They can handle being submerged under a meter of water for up to 30 minutes, but it's not officially recommended.

However, if you do get the smartphone wet by "accident," or can't resist a tiny splash test, Apple has some new advice on exactly what to do to minimize the chance of damage. Best of all, no rice is involved!

First, don't get it wet on purpose. Apple's warranty still doesn't cover water damage, and there's always a chance the phone could take in liquid. Yes, Apple will know if water was the cause of death. Buried inside the phone is a liquid contact indicator - a small sticker that changes colors if it comes into contact with water.

If it does get damp, unplug any cables and do not attempt to charge it or plug anything into the Lightning connector for at least five hours. You want the phone to be completely dry before introducing electricity. Refrain from opening the SIM tray as well, since that can give water a way into the inner workings of your iPhone.

To dry the device, wipe off the outside with a soft cloth. Stand it up and gently tap it on your hand to shake out any water that's pooled inside the Lightning port. Do not try and dry the port by probing it with a wadded up bit of paper or a Q-tip.

Next, leave it out someplace with good airflow. Don't try and speed up the process with a hair dryer. Placing it in rice won't make the process go faster, and the grain can actually damage the port. A cool fan pointed at the Lightning port is ok, but beyond that it's just a matter of patience.

The device is rated iP67, so it's built to keep out both dust and water. The 6 refers to its level of dust protection and means the phone is totally protected from dust. The 7 is how waterproof it is, out of a possible rating of 8. Be especially careful around salt water, which is more corrosive and can cause much more damage than freshwater.

Samsung smart TVs to start putting ads on top of things people are watching.

Samsung is quietly adding ads onto its smart TVs to try and boost revenues – even after people have bought the sets.The company has already added new “tile ads” to the menus in its premium Internet connected televisions. The move will even affect existing smart TVs since they can be updated with a software update over the Internet.

The ads sit on the TVs’ home screen, alongside the normal apps like YouTube or Netflix, and link out to external content. As such they are likely to prove unpopular among users, and might also draw the attention of regulators and networks.

It comes after Samsung got drawn into controversy over a policy that appeared to allow its TVs to listen in on everything people said in their living rooms. The company replied that the policy had been clumsily written.

Increasing the number of ads will help Samsung increase its revenues even after people have bought their TVs. Though Samsung already has some deals in place, like taking part of the revenues from people watching Netflix on their TVs, it has struggled to generate revenues on top of the money it gets from selling hardware.

The move is being made to try and counteract slowing growth in the TV industry, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news. Though Samsung is dominant in that market, selling 20% of units according to analysts, market share is declining because it is largely saturated.

Save time, money, and headaches...IES now offers smart home & smart office systems.

The fast pace and ever growing possibilities of today's and tomorrow's technology are exciting. New products are available almost daily to fill our homes full of hi-tech solutions that make our lives more automated, convenient, and energy efficient.

IES technicians are here to help you choose the right devices from our vast range of home & business automation products that fit your lifestyle. We literally put the remote control of your home or business in the palm of your hands!

You can dim lights while watching a movie or having dinner, or schedule lights to turn on and off while you are on vacation. Stay green and save energy by checking to see if any lights were left on, or turn off anything that is plugged in. Consider using a programmable thermostat to increase energy management and reduce your utility bill by regulating thermostat use and temperatures based on your family's schedule.

Thinking about the office? Stay green and save energy by checking to see if any lights were left on. Want to schedule lights to turn on and off certain days of the week or just turn off anything that is plugged in? You can do that with our systems! Consider using a programmable thermostat to increase energy management and reduce your utility bill by regulating thermostat use and temperatures based on your operation hours.

An automation system also includes the safety of your family or workplace. IES offers a complete line of traditional sensors and security devices as well as camera and surveillance systems to protect your home or business. We even have the latest door locks & access controllers, communicating smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and wireless sensors to ensure that everyone is protected from dangers inside and out.

Don't forget about the fun stuff... We have wireless speakers for your smartphone or tablet, outdoor products for your yard or patio, accessories for your car and garage, a selection of smart products for kids, and everything your need for pet care and pest control.

When it comes to smart home or business automation, almost anything is possible - and IES has you covered for it all! Contact IES today for a quick quote - email us by clicking here or call 781-816-9437.

For more information on smart office systems, you can click here to visit the smart office section of our website.

For more information on smart home systems, you can click here to visit the smart home section of our website.

This guy planned on making the blizzard a profitable one thanks to technology, and he didn't even have to plow a single driveway.

Someone in Brooklyn built an igloo in the blizzard, then listed it on Airbnb. Yes, you read that right. An igloo for rent on Airbnb.

The post described the rental as: "Dripping with ingenuity and alt-lifestyle aura lays the Snopocalypse of 2016's most desirable getaway. Hand-crafted, and built using only natural elements - we're offering the experience of a life time in this chic dome-style bungalow for you and bae."

It looks like they threw a couple blankets and plastic bagged pillows in there for good measure. Fancy, no? Especially at $200 / night!

Structural integrity aside, it does look pretty cozy inside. And they have lights!

The fresh powder on the dome's peak really sells the whole experience. As does the tiny pine tree hugging the exterior. Your own slice of Alaska in a Brooklyn backyard.

If your dream was to lodge at a site that was almost certainly added to Airbnb in jest, you're already too late. The company didn't take long before removing the listing.

Airbnb sent an appreciative and chipper take down notice to the builder: "We are happy to see that you guys are staying busy and having fun during Blizpocalypse. Unfortunately, your igloo, while very well constructed, has failed to meet our occupancy standards and has been removed from search results. Be sure to pick a place with running water, electricity, and a roof that doesn't melt."

Too bad...this could have been the most desired rental of 2016!

Netflix now offers a how to guide to making smart socks that will pause your show if you fall asleep.

Have some extra time on your hands? Love watching Netflix but hate when you fall asleep in the middle of a show? You're in luck!

Netflix now offers a step by step guide to make high tech smart socks to detect when you've dozed off and send a signal to your TV, automatically pausing your show. Never again will you binge-watch yourself to sleep, only to wake up two seasons later wondering what happened.

How does it work? Netflix starts with instructions for knitting socks, and helpfully includes pattern designs for its most popular shows, including House of Cards and Master of None.

Building the electronics setup is step two. This includes an accelerometer (to detect when feet have stopped moving), IR LEDs (to send a signal to the television) and a battery, among other components.

The electronics are then inserted into the socks. A few strips of felt help keep them comfy. In order to get everything to work smoothly, users will also need to do a little soldering and computer programming.

Ready to start your sock project? Check out the guide at makeit.netflix.com.

The new tech fad: smart homes. Surprisingly helpful, surprisingly affordable.

When you're not home, nagging little doubts can start to crowd your mind. Did I turn the coffee maker off? Did I lock the door? Are the kids doing their homework or watching television?

With a smart home, you could quiet all of these worries with a quick glance at your smartphone or tablet. You could connect the devices and appliances in your home so they can communicate with each other and with you - from anywhere you may be (as long as you have Internet access).

Any device in your home that uses electricity can be put on your home network and at your command. Whether you give that command by voice, remote control, tablet or smartphone, the home reacts. Most applications relate to lighting, home security, home theater and entertainment, and thermostat regulation.

The idea of a smart home might make you think of George Jetson and his futuristic abode or maybe Bill Gates, who spent more than $100 million building his smart home (source: CNN Money). Once a draw for the tech savvy or the wealthy, smart homes and home automation are becoming more common.

IES now offers smart home installation services. From in your house to around the world, you can control any of the following devices and more:

• security cameras
• locks
• sensors / alarms
• doorbells
• garage doors
• shades / curtains
• lights
• fans
• outlets
• thermostats
• appliances

For as little as $250, you can get your smart home up and running. Costs include equipment & installation. There are no monthly fees to pay or equipment to lease - you own all your equipment.

Interested? Call 781-816-9437 and ask for more details on smart homes. We'd be glad to answer any of your questions or setup a free estimate.

Microsoft prices Windows 10 licenses at $119 for Home, $199 for Pro.

Microsoft has a grand plan to get its next operating system, Windows 10, running on 1 billion devices in three years -- by giving it away for free...sort of.

The software, which Microsoft announced Monday will begin rolling out July 29, will be offered as a free upgrade for all Windows 7, Windows 8.1 PC, and tablet users. For the PC market, those two versions power about 74% of all devices.

For everyone else, Windows 10 will cost the same as its predecessor, Windows 8, the company confirmed to CNET on Monday.

A copy of Windows 10 Home will run $119, while Windows 10 Pro will cost $199. For those who wish to upgrade from the Home edition to the Pro edition, a Windows 10 Pro Pack will cost $99.

Microsoft may have given the impression it was making a critical pricing change to its flagship operating system when it announced in January that, like competitor Apple, it would offer an upgrade free of charge. However, the company has been transparent from the beginning that the upgrade is only eligible for one year, until July 29, 2016, and has said at various points in the past few months that pricing for single licenses would stay on par with previous releases. Now, there is the possibility that future versions of Windows may follow this same path, meaning Microsoft may never go fully free with its OS.

Microsoft says copies of the software will be available online and in stores. Retailer Newegg, which appeared to have leaked pricing and release date information this past weekend (here) still has pages for Windows 10 Home and Pro live on its website, although its pricing says $110 for Home and $150 for Pro and is not updated to reflect Microsoft's confirmed pricing.

For those eligible for the free upgrade, the process will only grant you an equitable version of the software. That means if you had Windows 7 Home, you get Windows 10 Home. If you had Windows 8.1 Pro, you get Windows 10 Pro.

For more information on how to check your upgrade eligibility and reserve your upgrade for the July 29 rollout, visit the Microsoft website here.

Got an extra $17k to burn? Buy this 18 karat gold Apple watch!

Apple expects some iPhone owners to shell out more than $10,000 for a smartwatch. And it hopes they don't care if it becomes outdated in a year.

The Cupertino, Calif., electronics giant on Monday revealed pricing for the three models of Apple Watch, which will be available April 24 in nine countries. The device starts at $349 for the basic Apple Watch Sport version and goes up to $17,000 for the premium Apple Watch Edition.

That huge price gap comes from the use of the materials in the watches - 18 karat gold for the high end edition versus aluminum for the sport edition - but not for any of the actual features. iPhone owners won't be able to do any more with the expensive gold number than with the entry level model (aside from show off their ability to afford a wearable device that costs more than some cars).

By pricing its smartwatch that high, Apple, one of the world's largest makers of smartphones and tablets, is setting itself up as a luxury watch seller. But the transition could be tricky. The computing world is moving faster than ever before, as technology executives like to tell us, and what's new one day may easily be outdated a few months later. Spending $10,000 - $17,000 on a golden gadget that could become obsolete in a year is a risky proposition, especially since we don't yet know if Apple will have a trade in program, how it will support older devices in the future and whether any of the components in the device are replaceable.

History has shown that buying the first generation of a new Apple product often isn't the smartest move. Apple tends to update its products in short order - usually within a year and sometimes even earlier. And it incorporates new features in each update that make the prior model less attractive.

Source: CNET

A false copyright message is rapidly spreading across Facebook. Don't waste your time copy & pasting.

"In response to the new Facebook guidelines, I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, professional photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention). For commercial use of the above my written consent is needed at all times!"

You may have seen that very message pop up -- perhaps time and time again -- in your Facebook feed. The message has been making the rounds on the social network. It encourages people to copy and paste the text and post it on their own walls if they want to be placed "under protection of copyright laws."

It's a frightful message and those worried that Facebook will own their photos or other media are posting it -- unaware that it is a hoax. Here's the truth: Facebook doesn't own your media and there is no such thing as the Berner Convention.

"We have noticed some statements that suggest otherwise and we wanted to take a moment to remind you of the facts -- when you post things like photos to Facebook, we do not own them," Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in a statement. "Under our terms (https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms), you grant Facebook permission to use, distribute, and share the things you post, subject to the terms and applicable privacy settings." 

Brad Shear, a Washington-area attorney and blogger who is an expert on social media, said the message was "misleading and not true." He said that when you agree to Facebook's terms of use you provide Facebook a "non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any content you post. You do not need to make any declarations about copyright issues since the law already protects you.  The privacy declaration [in this message] is worthless and does not mean anything."

 

Facebook users cannot retroactively negate any of the privacy or copyright terms they agreed to when they signed up for their Facebook accounts nor can they unilaterally alter or contradict terms instituted by Facebook simply by posting a contrary legal notice on their Facebook walls.

This isn't the first time a message like this has popped up on Facebook. A similar message made the rounds in June and a few years ago as well. 

Bottom line? Don't bother copying, pasting, and posting. It was a hoax before and is still a hoax now.

Paper business cards may be dying. Check out this cool replacement.

The humble business card still hasn’t been killed off by digital alternatives. Being handed a piece of dead tree with contact details printed on it in ink arguably increasingly stands out in an age when digital data is so cheap and mutable.

But paper inevitably presents a barrier to accessing and utilizing the data thereon — hence alternatives such as QR code business cards, and business card scanning systems like CardMunch.
Well, here’s a third alternative in the making: SwivelCard is a paper business card that — by way of a spot of patented printing and some clever perforations — also includes a USB stick interface so the business card can be stuck into a USB port and then point the user to a particular webpage.

The webpage you associate with individual SwivelCards can also be changed — so you could update it with content specific to the person you’ve given a particular SwivelCard to, for instance. One suggested scenario there is for a wedding photographer to personalize the photo content they showcase to a potential client, for example.

And, being as it has a digital interface, the SwivelCard also includes the ability to track usage — so you can see where your business cards have ended up, and how much people are accessing them. So it’s a paper business card with analytics.

How does the SwivelCard manage to stick a USB drive onto a piece of paper? “We invented a way to print a USB drive onto/into paper.  We use a special metallic ink to print the USB contact strips & embed a small chip in the paper,” says the startup.

For those without a USB drive, the card does also include NFC and a printed QR code so the data can still be accessed in other ways.

At present SwivelCard is a patent and a prototype. Its makers are raising crowdfunds on Kickstarter to bring their smart business cards to market, but have already doubled their original target of $10,000 with a further 33 days left of the campaign — meaning they have the means to deliver on their promises.

They’re offering taster packs of mini versions of their SwivelCard for $29 and $79 but if you’re after the full fat offering — which includes all your details printed on it, with a design of your choosing — it’s now a $289 Kickstarter pledge for a pack of 200 SwivelCards, so these smarter paper business cards don’t come cheap.

If all goes to plan, the makers are aiming to ship packs to backers starting from this October.

Source: Tech Crunch

Bluetooth and a blender? Now this is the coolest cooler we have ever seen!

One of the hottest Kickstarters at the moment is also the coolest. It's hard to imagine a cooler could inspire passion, but the Coolest cooler is winning crowdfunding fans by throwing everything from a blender to a Bluetooth speaker into the mix.

The Coolest has some features that are just plain smart and practical. It comes stocked with all-terrain wheels, gear tie-downs for strapping your extra stuff on top, plate and knife storage, and an LED lid light to shine down on the glory of its contents.

It holds 60 quarts and an internal divider doubles as a cutting board. The cutting board comes in handy when you want to slice limes for your margaritas, which you will be making with the 18-volt battery-powered rechargeable blender that attaches to the top of the cooler.

The blender certainly catches the eye, but the technology doesn't end there. There's a USB charger for powering up your smartphone and a removable waterproof Bluetooth speaker so you can blast "Margaritaville" while you're making your blended frozen beverages. The Coolest is not so much a cooler as it is a party companion.

The Kickstarter has certainly created a new cooler fanaticism. The original $50,000 funding goal got left in the dust. Now, nearly 11,000 backers are in for over $2 million with a long 49 days to go. The cooler is going for a $185 pledge. Ryan Grepper, the man behind the Coolest, is looking into stretch goals such as more colors, bigger wheels, and perhaps even a solar charger.

Check the Coolest out on Kickstarter by clicking here.

New technology allows you to watch lightning strikes around the world in real time.

There's a mesmerizing new project from an organization called Blitzortung.org that lets you see real-time lightning strikes around the world. It works using a network of volunteers willing to purchase and set up a $275 detection kit consisting of an antenna system, amplifier and controller.

Once activated, each station can spot the radio signals from a lightning strike and transmit the precise time and location to the Blitzortung.org's servers. From there, the lightning is displayed, complete with a bug zapper sound, on one of five maps including North America and Europe, along with a line between the strike and detecting station. Curiously, a sensor in New York can pick up lightning in Cuba, for instance, since the low frequency RF waves from lightning can travel thousands of miles.

Source: Engadget