Technology

(BPT) – We all know hiding your house key under the doormat is a terrible idea, but we do it anyway because it’s a convenient backup. When it comes to safeguarding passwords, especially in a family setting, people often choose convenience over safety.A…

(BPT) – Households heating with natural gas, which is almost half of U.S. homes, are expected to spend an average of $635 on heating this winter – 22 percent more than last winter, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration – but some easy…

(BPT) – Wireless providers would love for you to believe that a modern lifestyle requires an endless, unlimited stream of data; and by the way, they’d love to sell it to you! On its face, there’s probably nothing wrong with this assumption. Just think …

(BPT) – Temperatures are falling, pumpkin spice everything has reappeared and stores have already put out holiday displays – all signs that winter is either on the way, or already here, depending on where you live. If you haven’t already had your heati…

(BPT) – From the moment you bring your pet home, they are a member of your family and you want to do everything you can to protect them from harm — including bringing them home safely if they get lost. Each year, 6-8 million pets are taken into U.S. animal shelters. Thankfully, with HomeAgain, more than 2 million pets have been safely reunited with their families.

Dr. Linda Lord, DVM, MS, PhD, is a veterinarian who has done extensive research on reuniting lost pets and their families. She is one of the leading veterinarians who works on HomeAgain at Merck Animal Health.

“I’m proud to be a part of the network that helps with these efforts. As a pet owner, a veterinarian and someone who has worked in lost pet recovery for 13 years, I know that taking the right first steps is critical to finding your pet. But even with all my experience, I was a bit frantic when I lost my own dogs, Sally and Charlie, who ran away from my house in the country. Sally was missing for four days, and Charlie was missing for five. Luckily, we had support from HomeAgain and they both made it home safely. I was aggressive in my search and learned a lot about what strategies worked well and which ones aren’t as effective.”

Dr. Lord shares tips on the steps you can take to be proactive and help bring your pet home safely and quickly:

The pet microchip, recommended by veterinarians, is a simple, safe and affordable innovation. And it works. A pet microchip is a great start to helping to keep your pets safe and find them if he/she gets lost. But in your moment of need, only the services that HomeAgain provides offer the friendly voices of our full support network of Lost Pet Specialists, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and more than 2 million local pet rescuers to substantially increase the likelihood of a pet returning home. Every person in the HomeAgain process is committed to bringing pets home safely — from the call center representatives to your neighbors, who have signed up to be a PetRescuer and have the PetRescuers by HomeAgain app.

It’s also important to point out that a microchip alone might not be enough: Only registered microchips give lost pets the best chance of returning home. In a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, including 53 animal shelters across the U.S., only 58 percent of the animals’ microchips had been registered in a database with their pet parent’s contact information.

Without contact information, a microchip is significantly less effective. That’s why the American Animal Hospital Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association encourage pet owners to check their pet’s microchip information annually and keep it up-to-date. By doing this yearly, you increase your pet’s chances of returning home if lost!

Dog Finder Tips When Your Pet Gets Lost

#1: Have your pet’s microchip and/or I.D. number written and readily available.

#2: Act immediately. If you are registered with HomeAgain, contact your Lost Pet Specialist.

#3: Look close to home first. Pets like to roam, but are cautious about staying in familiar places. If your pet is missing for less than an hour, try places they are used to.

#4: Look far from home. HomeAgain lost pet alerts are sent to an entire network of PetRescuers in your area, and are on the ready to help search for your pet.

#5: Download the PetRescuers by HomeAgain app on iTunes or Google Play to help track the status of your Lost Pet Alert.

#6: Make “Lost Pet” signs. Post “Lost Pet” signs within at least a 10-mile radius. If you have HomeAgain, your Lost Pet Specialist will help you create one and distribute it as well.

#7: Call local shelters and veterinarians. If you are registered with HomeAgain, your lost pet’s chip will be scanned and your Lost Pet Specialist will immediately be alerted to help bring them home to you!

(BPT) – With the holiday season approaching, you may be thinking about giving your family the gift of home security – especially if you know you’ll be traveling over the holidays. Yet high monthly fees and lengthy security company contracts could make …

(BPT) – For many, fall is back-to-school season. It’s the time for pumpkin-spiced coffee, decorative gourds, scarves and cardigans. But by far, the most exciting part of fall is when the sports world begins to heat up. As the football season kicks off,…

(BPT) – With long nights and chilly temperatures, it’s always good to find an excuse to stay home. Here’s a classic excuse that’s gone from lame to legitimate in a short time: I have to catch up on my favorite TV show.

So fix your favorite snack and pull up a sofa, because this fall, there are a ton of hot and critically acclaimed TV shows debuting and returning.

In fact, one projection says 2017 is on track to smash records. This year, as many as 500 original scripted shows have already aired and streamed, according to a report in AdWeek. That means there should be something for everyone, right?

Now’s the perfect time to check in with your set to make sure it’s up to the task of bringing you the best possible TV-watching experience.

Get cinematic: It’s not unheard of for TV shows to boast multi-million-dollar budgets that can cover elaborate costumes, locations, sets and stunning special effects that would rival any movie. If you’re looking for TV technology with the ability to accurately replicate the action and characters, consider investing in one of LG’s sets. Whether you look at their premium LG OLED TVs or one of their Super UHD TVs with Nano Cell Technology, you’re sure to get the most lifelike, advanced picture quality available.

Switch around with ease: If switching the TV display from cable to streaming is still a complicated feat that requires three remotes and a 10-minute training session that still befuddles your partner, it’s really time to update your entertainment station to something sleeker and more intuitive.

A smart set with a compatible remote can solve all these problems. For example, all of LG’s OLED and Super UHD sets come with its award-winning webOS Smart TV platform and Magic Remote, which makes flipping between content seamless and easy — all without stumbling into a screen of TV static. Plus, LG’s Magic Remote is voice-activated, making your life easier than ever before.

Get organized: Figuring out what to watch and when to catch it is half the battle. The last thing you want is a big let-down because your show happens to be on a bye week you didn’t know about. Shop around for an app that lets you manage your shows, so you know at a glance what’s coming up. Also, today’s sets come with a platform so you can keep and manage your information right where you’re going to use it.

Start thinking about the series finale: When a favorite emerges, keep the season finale in the back of your mind. That’s a great reason to host an end-of-season viewing party, because plot twists and cliffhangers are so much sweeter when experienced with someone. Even if you have plenty of comfy seating to handle the crowd, make sure your TV set is suitable for screening at a wide angle. Many LCD sets have a narrow viewing range with the TV’s “sweet spot” limited to directly in front of the TV, which can mar the entire experience.

However, the superior technology of LG OLED sets pulls everyone into the drama with the widest viewing angles available, and with more than a billion rich colors and perfect blacks, your guests will only see a lifelike, high-contrast image wherever they sit. LG has the largest selection of OLED TVs on the market. If you’re interested in learning more, visit lg.com/us/oled-tvs.

(BPT) – Soon after back-to-school season ends, a new one begins for parents of college-age kids: “send-me-something” season lasts for the whole school year. This year, instead of sending your college kid yet another care package filled with cookies and…

(BPT) – There was a time when setting up a smart home was a labor-intensive endeavor. You had to know which devices worked together, spend tedious days getting everything to work just right, then master complicated software to control the whole experie…