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Learning to trust your Intuition

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The old TV show “Star Trek” has and episode where Spock is telling Kirk of a human flaw called intuition. Spock was all about analysis and logic, while Kirk often relied upon intuition to solve problems. Intuition is a complex human sense that isn’t entirely understood or even believed to be real by some. Some call it mothers intuition or women’s intuition. But I believe everyone has it even though some don’t know how to properly cultivate it for their benefit.

12DIntuition vs. Analysis

A Rice University research team wanted to know if intuition was more effective than analysis. The team also set out to discover if the intuitive approach was better if a person had related knowledge of the matters surrounding their choice.

For the first study, subjects viewed videos of 13 basketball shots, then rated them in difficulty based on a numerical scale. There were two groups of subjects. One group (analytical) was allowed time—prior to the actual viewing—to ponder any details to be considered, such as the athlete’s particular stance.

The other group was the intuitive group who did not have this time to reflect. Both groups had 10 seconds to give their rating. Their assessments were then compared to those of a basketball coach and his assistants.

Whether or not the analytical-group subjects had any basketball knowledge was irrelevant to how well they rated the shots. However, experience with basketball was indeed a relevant factor for the intuitive group. In summary, the most accurate ratings came from subjects with basketball skills in the intuition group.

The second study had subjects viewing 10 designer handbags and determining which were authentic and which were phony. The intuition group had five seconds to give their answer. The analytical group was allowed to look at details and then had half a minute to assess the handbags. The highest scores came from owners of at least three designer handbags—in the intuition group.

So what does any of this really prove?

Let’s apply this to a somewhat risky situation. An adult is learning to ski for the first time. Too much analysis hampers their efforts: “I’ve never done this before,” “I’m way off-balance,” “I might fall,” “If I fall I’ll injure my knee,” etc. As a result, it takes a good while for the analytical adult to actually be skiing.

However, put skis on a three-year-old for the first time, and what happens? It’s not long before the preschooler is zipping past the adult, even though from a neuromuscular standpoint, the adult is far superior to the preschooler. What’s going on? The preschooler’s brain isn’t developed enough to analyze. They have no fear.

Let’s take this a step further: self-defense. Hannah is approached by a much bigger man intent on assaulting her. Immediately she’s thinking, “I can’t fight him off; he’s a foot taller; he might have a knife; he’ll strangle me with his big hands; his eyes look glazed—he’s crazed on drugs…” She gets assaulted.

This same man approaches Kaytie, who’s the same size as Hannah. Kaytie has no self-defense training, facing the same situation by this disgusting being, it doesn’t register to Kaytie that he’s bigger or that he might have a knife.

She’s not logical. She doesn’t analyze. She’s pure raw emotion—and intuitively knows her desire to protect herself is far greater than his desire to violate her. She goes wild on him, resists and she flees.

This same principle can be applied to situations like getting into an elevator with a strange man. A woman should trust her intuition or gut feeling, rather than analyze: “I’ll seem rude if I tell him I’ll wait for the next elevator,” “I must be imagining he’s dangerous; after all, he’s well-dressed.”

Too much cerebral cortex can put women (and men) in danger. An animal in the wild relies upon gut instinct. We can learn from wild animals.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Are you Mentally Prepared for a Predator

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A bear in the wild that wants to protect its young from another predator isn’t worried about manners. This is how people should feel when in circumstances that don’t feel right. The bear has a gut instinct not to let its young near a predator.

A woman who feels funny about getting into an elevator with a creepy looking man should have this same instinct. But often, she lets analysis take over: She steps inside an enclosed box with a stranger who makes her feel uneasy.

She fears he’ll think she’s rude if she waits for the next elevator. She may have the grandest home security system in the world, but one slip in judgment could cost her her life: Inside that box, the man strangles her.

A predator can sense when a woman is more concerned about his perception of her than of her safety. But men, too, make mistakes, like the man who gives a ride to a man he’s meeting for the first time at a country road gas station late at night. The stranger could be dangerous. And if he’s innocent? Well, so he doesn’t get a ride this time. He’ll live.

But predators are just everywhere. And some are female. It’s amazing that some people will go all out in securing their home and sports car…but when it comes to the safety of their person…they’re incredibly lax.

People need to employ layered security: like going out in the cold; you don’t just wear gloves. You also wear a hat, scarf, wool socks, maybe thermal underwear, a sweater, a coat.

Conversely, there’s the MMA champion who has no home security system. A lot of good his hook kicks will do when he’s not home while the intruder breaks in. A solid home security system has motion detectors, a loud alarm, timed lighting fixtures, an advanced lock system on all the doors and an anti-penetration system on the windows.

As for your person? Are you a good screamer? We are told to scream when attacked. But there’s a difference between hollering “Fire! Fire” when being abducted (“Fire!” is supposed to get everyone’s attention), and screaming “No” or “Stop” or even profanities. These are control words that are far better at getting control.

Many people want to lose weight. Kill two birds with one stone by taking up martial arts: Lose weight, tone up and learn to be productive in a threatening situation.

Put the pink dumbbells down and pick up a heavy barbell—even if you must struggle, because that struggle will prepare you to survive a crisis situation. Men aren’t off the hook from preparing for survival. Put down the cigarette and pick up a barbell to put some muscle on that body. You never know when you’ll one day need it.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

12 Home Security Mistakes We Make

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Smart criminals love dumb homeowners, but even a dumb burglar can score big when the homeowner makes just a little slip in security measures.3B

  1. Don’t nickel-and-dime your door locks; get high quality locks. A cheap lock is cheap.
  1. Don’t hide keys. Anyone knows to check under the flower pot or on top of the ledge above the door frame. Consider a keyless lock.
  1. Make sure valuables aren’t visible through windows—including those of your car.
  1. Flatten boxes that valuables came in like flat screen TVs so that you can then put them in large garbage bags, then put those out for trash pickup. Don’t tip off the bad guys what you have in your house.
  1. Imagine you’re a burglar…or rapist…on the prowl looking for an easy crime opportunity. You’re jiggling one doorknob after another in a neighborhood, knowing that sooner or later, you’ll find an unlocked door. Why oh why, then, would you try to break through a locked door? Homeowners need to see things from the perspective of the bad guy. LOCK YOUR DOORS! Stop making excuses: “I keep forgetting,” “It’s a hassle,” “I’m going in and out.”
  1. Keep your house alarm on—because some intruders will try to break through a locked door—or get in through a window. The second he penetrates, the alarm will emit a piercing sound that will instantly drive him away. But keep the alarm on even when you’re home. Yes, sociopaths think nothing of breaking in during the day.
  1. Keep your garage door locked at all times except during the seconds it’s in use.
  1. Used timed lighters inside and out so that your place is never dark.
  1. Don’t leave any ladders in the yard.
  1. Don’t post anything on social media that indicates you’re away from home.
  1. For when you’re away on trips, arrange for a vacation hold of your mail and newspaper deliveries.
  1. To increase an occupied-look to your house while you’re traveling, have a trusted person park his car in your driveway and mow your lawn (overgrowth suggests vacancy).

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Survival is about being Persistent

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“Survivor.” What comes to mind when you see or hear this word? A victim of a disease or of a perverted crime? A TV show? We’re all survivors in that every day, we do something to stay alive—life-saving things we don’t even think about as life-saving, such as eating healthy and exercising. People die every day from killing themselves with food.

1MSurvival also may conjure up true spectacular stories of survival, like the man who cut off his arm to free himself from a boulder because he was starving to death, and the man who ate a caterpillar and lotion from a bottle because he was starving to death after getting lost in the wilderness (both men fully recovered, though one has an artificial arm).

Sometimes we get a chance to survive, like being lost in the wilderness or adrift at sea in a raft. Sometimes that chance is shorter, like being in a house that catches fire.

And sometimes you don’t get a chance to employ tactics, like the guy who’s hit in the head from behind (or even from the front), falls to the cement and the pavement shatters his skull, causing a fatal acute subdural hematoma. Of course, that’s a better way to go, perhaps, than experiencing the terrifying six minutes it takes for an airplane to take a nose dive from 35,000 feet.

You can’t do much when you’re sitting in that plane or your leg’s in that wood chipper that’s rapidly pulling you in and nobody could hear you screaming. Ouch!

However, many people die because they simply didn’t have their wits. They had the time to survive, but made the wrong choices. Sometimes, survival begins with a choice. Do you want to get into that stranger’s car just because your legs are a little tired? Will walking kill you? Probably not. But the stranger who’s offering a perfectly able-bodied, young woman a ride in perfect weather likely has something sinister up his sleeve.

So many people worry about survival in terms of things that they’re very unlikely to ever die from, such as a terrorist attack. Don’t forget that the No. 1 killers are heart disease and cancer. And believe it or not, medical errors rank right up there in the top five too.

Perhaps the greatest weapon for survival, however, is the mind. Are you a screamer or a fighter? Panic disables, but anger enables! I’m reminded of a woman who was assaulted by a tall teen boy. After struggling, she eventually got him on the ground, pinning his arms over his head and sitting on him till police arrived. She states in an article at torontosun.com: “When I get angry, I have a lot of strength. The secret to getting through something like this is, ‘Don’t panic, but think through what you’re going to do now.’ ” Love her!

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

5 Home Security Myths

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If you’ve decided to avoid getting a home security system, I’m banking that the reason is at least one of the myths described below. Check them out:

1S“I have nothing valuable inside.” First of all, unless a burglar has X-ray vision, he’s going to have to break in to find out you have nothing valuable. He might be so pissed at this that he trashes the place before fleeing.

Secondly, a burglar knows that your “blue collar neighborhood” probably isn’t replete with alarm systems, but rather, lots of doors with simple locks and lots of windows with broken locks or already-torn screens.

Finally, what may not seem of value to you may be the burglar’s ticket to his next drug fix—anything he could quickly take off with and sell on the street or even eBay. They also like simple stupid stuff such as clock radios, DVDs, ornaments, even unopened bottles of vitamins.

“It’s too expensive.” Of course, the high-end, super sophisticated alarms that movie stars have for their mansions cost an arm and a leg, but home security companies know that they can make a tremendous profit off of selling less fancy systems for the average working class Joe and Jane. Why sell only to the rich? Some systems come as low as $9.95/month for monitoring. If you can’t spare $10 a month, see what vice you can give up that costs you at least $10/month.

“My neighborhood is safe.” If you think your neighborhood is safe, chances are it’s upscale. But that’s exactly where many burglars like to steal! They’re skillful at figuring out who doesn’t have the alarm system, while some know how to get past the alarm system. They want high-end valuables and won’t find them in “bad” neighborhoods too easily.

“Hide a spare key outside the door under a flower pot or welcome mat.” Even the world’s dumbest criminals know to check the rock that just happens to be by the front door for a key underneath. Either have a trusted person hold onto a spare key, or use keyless technology.

“Don’t let anyone know you’re traveling.” Actually, this means don’t blab about your trip indiscriminately, but do secretly tell a trusted adult so they can keep tabs on your house.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Protect your Packages from Theft

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Yes, many thieves don’t have anything better to do than to follow delivery trucks around town to see what kind of bountiful packages they’ll be leaving at the doorsteps of homes. This means even more crooks simply drive around residential areas looking for boxes sitting outside of doors. These crooks will walk off with the packages.

5HHow can you help prevent this from happening?

  • When making the purchase, set up the delivery so that your signature is required for receipt.
  • Make sure you have the transaction’s tracking number.
  • If you can’t arrange to be home to receive, then arrange for the package to be dropped off at a local shipping center.
  • Sometimes these shipping centers are located far from home, so another option is to install an easily-seen surveillance camera over the door. A fake one will look just as real. The only drawback to a fake one is if the thief is either exceptionally brazen, or doesn’t see the camera.
  • Next, arrange to have the package placed in as much of a concealed area as possible. For example, set up a planter by your door that has artificial (or real) foliage cascading over it. Small boxes can be placed under the foliage, hidden from thieves.
  • Arrange for UPS, if that’s the delivery company, to alert you with a text or e-mail when the delivery is imminent.
  • Another option, if you live in an apartment or condo is to have the delivery made to the front office.

Additional Safeguards

  • If you want a package picked up from your place, don’t leave it outside. Surely there’s a way around this, such as bringing it to a shipping center, mailing it or arranging to be home to give it in person to the recipient.
  • If you opt for snail mail, insure it and notify the recipient when to expect it.
  • If mailing checks, deposit them at the post office or postal collection box, rather than leave them in your mail box for the postal carrier to pick up (or hand them directly to him).
  • If traveling, put your mail delivery on a vacation hold.
  • Retrieve your mail daily.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

13 Cheap Simple and Smart ways to secure your Home

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You don’t have to be wealthy to have a superbly protected home. You just need to have some common sense.

  1. BeOnKeep your doors locked overnight! Smoke blows through my ears and nostrils every time I read about someone “entering through an unlocked door” in the middle of the night and committing a sicko crime. This goes for windows, too. Rapists love to enter through unlocked windows. If you’re a big male bruiser with no children, and these things don’t scare you, then consider that you could still be up against a burglar with a gun to your head as you’re counting sheep.
  2. Keep doors and windows locked during the daytime when you’re home, too. Not all intruders operate in the dead of night.
  3. Keep the garage locked: always.
  4. Though some locks cost a lot more than others, we’re talking about door locks, not cars. If you want a $60 lock badly enough, this money will come out of the woodwork.
  5. Make your home looked lived in at all times. The BeOn smart lighting home security system is affordable and doesn’t have the month to month monitoring costs.
  6. Always keep the alarm on. A deranged sociopath doesn’t care if you’re home and it’s 2:00 in the afternoon when he needs money for his next drug fix.
  7. Make sure that your valuables are not visible through any windows.
  8. Never hide keys near doors because burglars will find them. Go keyless entry or leave keys with a neighbor.
  9. When you’re out, leave a TV on so that its flickering light makes your house look occupied. Use automatic timed lighting devices.
  10. Never announce on social media your travel plans.
  11. Always break down the boxes that expensive items came in before leaving them curbside for trash pickup.
  12. Put a vacation stop on your mail and newspaper delivery when you travel if you don’t have a trusted neighbor who can collect them for you.
  13. You won’t appear to be on vacation if a neighbor uses your driveway to park their car.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BeOn Home Security discussing burglar proofing your home on NECN. Disclosures.

The most prolific Serial Killer…ever

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Charles Cullen of New Jersey may have murdered up to 400 people, though around 35 murders have been confirmed. He’s currently serving a sentence of 127 years. As a nurse, he killed patients at the hospitals he worked at. A form or mercy killing as he believed his actions to be.

7HUnlike some serial killers who torture their victims, rape them and even have sex with the corpses, claiming “curiosity” or “fun” as the motives, Cullen claims he killed his victims to spare them from coding, which is dying as a result of cardiac or respiratory distress. His reasoning was he put them out of their misery first.

It’s not so much that Cullen didn’t want the patients to suffer. Instead, he told detectives he couldn’t stand to witness or even hear about resuscitation attempts. However, why was he a nurse in the first place, knowing that witnessing these events would be part of the job? Nut-job.

Nevertheless, this whack job also informed authorities that he indeed wanted to spare patients from suffering and perhaps prevent staff from keeping a vegetable alive after cardiac arrest damaged the brain. These motives are highly questionable because many of the victims were scheduled to be released from the hospital soon before they were killed (via drug overdoses).

Cullen admitted that each murder was a spontaneous event rather than a long, thought-out premeditation. He told authorities that much of his existence took place in a fog and that he lacked the memories of most of the killings. He said he couldn’t explain why he chose the particular victims. The killings spanned 16 years.

Arrest
On December 12, 2003, Cullen was arrested. A few days later he told detectives that he killed Rev. Florian Gall and tried to kill Jin Kyung Han, both hospital patients. He then told them he had killed up to 40 people.

In April 2004, Cullen pleaded guilty to murdering 13 patients via lethal injection. The reason he never got the death penalty was due to a plea agreement to cooperate with authorities. Not long after he pleaded guilty to several more murders.

At present, Cullen remains at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.

Cullen doesn’t quite fit the bill of a classic psychopath. He apparently didn’t use any prowess with cunning and manipulation to murder his victims. Rather, his crimes were sneaky, and the victims likely had no idea what was happening to them.

Psychopaths don’t act crazy, but on March 10, 2006, Cullen exhibited really weird behavior in a courtroom for a sentencing hearing. He was upset with Judge William H. Platt. Cullen kept telling the judge over a 30 minute period, “Your honor, you need to step down.” After the judge ordered that he have his mouth stuffed with cloth and duct-taped shut, Cullen continued muttering under the gagging.

A psychopath is not someone who’d want to give up a kidney to another person, especially if the sick person was as far removed as the brother of a former girlfriend would be. But in August 2006, Cullen gave up a kidney for the brother.

Cullen is the youngest of eight kids. When he was born, his father was 58, and the father died when Cullen was an infant. When he was a teenager, his mother died in a car wreck. Cullen reported that his childhood was awful, but it’s not clear just how, especially since the death of his mother devastated him (versus relieved him, which in that case, would indicate she had abused him).

A very disturbing element of all of this is that his homicidal rampage went undetected for so long, but that also, the various medical facilities Cullen worked at turned a blind eye when they did suspect him of harming patients.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Tips to prepare for Power Outage

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Don’t wait to be in the dark to find out you’re in the dark. Are you equipped for a power outage? A power outage can even occur in perfect weather, thanks to a construction team “hitting a wire.”

BeOnBatteries. Don’t have these scattered haphazardly in some drawer. Battery holders are sold that you can hang and place batteries in “pockets” for tip-top organization.

Communication.

  • Have the power company’s phone number somewhere that it won’t get lost so that you can find out the estimated time of power recovery.
  • Even in this age of smartphones, you should always have a landline phone, because a power outage can cripple cell phone towers. Yes, the primitive phone system can save the day.
  • Know how to use your car’s battery to charge your cell phone, just in case your landline doesn’t work.
  • Have a self-powered radio on hand, but you’ll have batteries on hand so that you won’t need one, right?

Lights. Designate an easily-accessible compartment in your house to store light-yielding devices including headlamps and flashlights. This compartment should be labeled with glow-in-the-dark stickers for easy finding.

Candles. Forget candles; they can start fires. Keep glow sticks on hand, too, but in the freezer so that they last longer when it’s time to use them.

Sustenance. Designate a section in your pantry for emergency food—items that are to be used only in the event of an outage. Bagged and canned items can last seemingly forever. And don’t forget a can opener—one you use by hand, of course. Also keep plenty of bottled water in this section.

Like the good life? If during a power outage you don’t think you’d take to living on a limited diet very well, then have on hand a gas camping stove, but chances are, you’re not going to be too picky about the menu when there’s no power.

Got kids? A power outage could throw them for a loop, so have a plan ready to keep them calm and collected. This can be any number of board games in stock, or more creative ways to pass the time like seeing how many braids you can put in your daughter’s hair by LED light.

First aid kit. Keep this in an easy-to-find location and know exactly what’s in it.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to discussing burglar proofing your home on NECN. Disclosures.

21 Tips for Holiday Home Security

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People complain about all the stress that comes with the holiday season: the in-laws, the expense of buying gifts, figuring out what to buy, travel, reunions with people they don’t like…

5HBut trust me on this: You’ll take you’re ever-criticizing in-laws and bratty nephew any day over a burglar who turns your holiday plans into a nightmare. So here’s how to protect your home:

  • First, make your home looked occupied at all times, even overnight. Ideally, a timed light in the kitchen could make burglars think someone’s up for a late night Christmas cookie binge. When you’re away, use timed lighting devices.
  • If you’re traveling, arrange for a vacation hold for newspaper and mail deliveries.
  • Keep all doors and windows locked at all times, even if you’re in and out. This includes the garage door.
  • Protect windows with special film that prevents penetration by an intruder.
  • Beef up your doors security. Think “door reinforcement technology” Think “Door Devil”. Your door jamb, where your lock bolts is made of ½ inch to ¾ inch flimsy pine. A 10 year old can kick in your door. But not if it’s beefed up with reinforcement. I’ve donethis to ALL my doors.
  • Figure out which drapes and blinds you don’t need open, and then keep them closed at all times.
  • Plant thorny shrubs close to windows.
  • Put your home security system’s sign on the front lawn, and one in the back, and its stickers on your windows.
  • You DO have a home security system, right? If not, get one. The security systems of today are not like the ones of times past that required hours of installation involving tearing out the walls to put in the wires.
  • If you can’t afford one, then at least put up the sign and stickers, which you can find somewhere if you look hard enough, perhaps some extra ones from friends who have systems.
  • And about your doors and windows: Have you checked the locks? Make sure they’re top-of-the-line.
  • If there are no men in the house, ask a male friend if he has any workboots he’d like to get rid of; put them outside your door, but make sure this doesn’t look staged.
  • Also put out an old-looking tool box and a strewn pair of men’s work gloves near the front door or on your patio.
  • Use your garage for cover: Do all loading of luggage inside with the door closed.
  • Before traveling, arrange with someone to shovel your driveway to make it look like someone’s home.
  • It’s amazing how many people blurt on their Facebook page their travel plans. Did you know that some burglars will spend hours perusing Facebook to see whose home will be empty, and then will get the exact location using the GPS tags on family photos? A photo of your dog can lead a burglar straight to your front door.
  • Make sure nobody from outside can peer in and see the gifts under your tree. When you read about a robbery of all the presents under a tree, you can bet that the pile was easily visible through a window.
  • Never create voice mail messages that imply that you’re not inside the house.
  • Arrange for someone to leave their car parked in your drive while you’re traveling.
  • If your car is always parked outside, make the interior gender-neutral so that a sociopath doesn’t think that no man possibly lives there.
  • The least likely place a burglar will check a house for valuables is a child’s bedroom. Hide your jewels inside your preschooler’s socks, or really, get a safe!

Robert Siciliano is a home and personal security expert to DoorDevil.com discussing Anti-Kick door reinforcement on YouTube. Disclosures.