Now You Can Obsess About the State of Your Garage Door from Anywhere on the Planet [Homemod]

You're already 20 minutes late for work and you're panicking, only remembering the coffee on your roof as you pull out of the driveway. Two blocks later, it hits you—Did I remember to close the garage? This new garage door opener lets you check without circling back.

The AssureLink Garage Door Opener by Craftsman works like a normal garage door opener, using either a chain or belt driven system. The difference is that you can monitor and control the door from virtually any device with an internet connection. After installing the opener itself, you connect the AssureLink Gateway to your router, register and activate an AssureLink account (which costs $20/year after the honeymoon year—hey, obsession's costly), and download the control app to your device. You'll then be able to check the Up or Down status of the door and activate it remotely if the mood strikes.

To prevent tomfoolery and accidental crushings, the system is also equipped with lights and an audible warning whenever the door is closed remotely, as well as IR and contact sensors that automatically lift the door if triggered.

The chain-driven version will retail for $290 and the belt-driven will go for $330 when they're released later this Fall. My only question is, what happens when you pocket dial you garage door? [Craftsman]

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Super Badass Photographer Joao Silva Talks About His Injuries and the State of Photojournalism [Photography]

Photographer Joao Silva lost both of his legs last year to an IED landmine explosion in Afghanistan. He kept shooting as he was dragged to safety and treated by medics. But to hear him tell it, he's just an ordinary guy who ran into some bad luck.

I heard the mechanic click. I knew: this is not good. And I found myself lying face-down on the ground, engulfed in a cloud of dust, with the very clear knowledge that this has just happened and this is not good. I could see my legs were gone, and everybody around me was dazed. I was like, "Guys, I need help here."

Beyond his chilling description of the explosion and its immediate aftermath, he also talks about the ethics and craft of being a photographer in a warzone—"The things that we see go through the eye straight into the brain. Some of those scenes never go away."—and the current state of photojournalism.

It's a moving and inspirational bit of wisdom from a supremely humble, self-aware, and talented photographer. And as a reminder, you can still buy prints of Joao's work to help support him, with any excess funds going to a charity of his choice. [NY Times, Support Joao]

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China Slips and Reveals Its Own Cyberattacks on State TV [Video]

In a direct contradiction to China's official line about their never attack nations or groups online, Chinese state television CCTV briefly displayed footage showing their military students training for cyberattacks. Just enough to get then in trouble. Oops!

China's involvement in cyberwarfare has an obviously sordid history, but their stance on the subject even in the face of attacks on Google, the Pentagon, and the entire internet at large has always been the same; "It wasn't us." But this is the first time they've outed themselves, if unintentionally, with their own material.

Experts agree that the footage shown in CCTV-7's July broadcast is likely a decade old, judging from the outmoded interfaces shown. But the WSJ reports that it's enough to show intent. Displayed are prompts directing DDOS attacks against Minghui.org, a US-based Falun Gong site. Which jibes with previous reports on attacks on Falun Gong websites from a decade ago. Also:

The IP address given for the selected website-which is currently unavailable in China but accessible in the U.S.-is 138.26.72.17 and is registered to the University of Alabama in Birmingham, according to at least two websites that trace IP addresses.

Taken together, this shouldn't be surprising. Now it's just the waiting for China to own up to it. [WSJ, NTD]

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