The Willis Tower, originally and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110-story, 1,451-foot (442.3 m) skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), it opened in 1973 as the world's tallest building, a title that it held for nearly 25 years. It is the third-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the 23rd-tallest in the world. Each year, more than 1.7 million people visit the Skydeck observation deck, the highest in the United States, making it one of Chicago's most popular tourist destinations.
Sears Canada Inc. was a publicly-traded Canadian company affiliated with the American-based Sears department store chain. In operation from 1952 until January 14, 2018, and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company began as Simpsons-Sears—a joint venture between the Canadian Simpsons department store chain and the American Sears chain—which operated a national mail order business and co-branded Simpsons-Sears stores modelled after those of Sears in the U.S. After the Hudson's Bay Company purchased Simpsons in 1978, the joint venture was dismantled and Hudson's Bay sold its shares in the joint venture to Sears; with Sears now fully owning the company, it was renamed Sears Canada Inc. in 1984. In 1999, Sears Canada acquired the remaining assets and locations of the historic Canadian chain Eaton's. From 2014, Sears Holdings owned a 10% share in the company. ESL Investments was the largest shareholder of Sears Canada.
A DIP switch is a manual electric switch that is packaged with others in a group in a standard dual in-line package (DIP). The term may refer to each individual switch, or to the unit as a whole. This type of switch is designed to be used on a printed circuit board along with other electronic components and is commonly used to customize the behavior of an electronic device for specific situations.
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., formerly known as The Stanley Works, is a Fortune 500 American manufacturer of industrial tools and household hardware, and a provider of security products. Headquartered in the Greater Hartford city of New Britain, Connecticut, Stanley Black & Decker is the result of the merger of The Stanley Works and Black & Decker on March 12, 2010.
Craftsman is a line of tools, lawn and garden equipment, and work wear. Originally a house brand established by Sears, the brand is now owned by Stanley Black & Decker.
The Chamberlain Group, Inc. v. Skylink Technologies, Inc., 381 F.3d 1178 is a legal case heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concerning the anti-trafficking provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2), in the context of two competing universal garage door opener companies. It discusses the statutory structure and legislative history of the DMCA to help clarify the intent of the anti-circumvention provisions and decide who holds the burden of proof. It expresses that the statute creates a cause of action for liability and does not create a property right, and holds that as Chamberlain had alleged that Skylink was in violation of the anti-trafficking provision, it had the burden to prove and failed to show that access was unauthorized and its rights were infringed under the Copyright Act. As Chamberlain incorrectly argued that Skylink had the burden of proof and failed to prove their claim, the court upheld summary judgment in favor of Skylink.
A garage door opener is a motorized device that opens and closes a garage door controlled by switches on the garage wall. Most also include a handheld radio remote control carried by the owner, which can be used to open and close the door from a short distance.
CGI Inc. is a Canadian multinational information technology consulting and Software Development company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. CGI went public in 1986 with a primary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. CGI is also a constituent of the S&P/TSX 60 and has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
A garage door is a large door to allow egress for a garage that opens either manually or by an electric motor. Garage doors are frequently large enough to accommodate automobiles and other vehicles. The operating mechanism is usually spring-loaded or counterbalanced to offset the door's weight and reduce the human or motor effort required to operate the door. Less commonly, some garage doors slide or swing horizontally. Doors are made of wood, metal, or fiberglass, and may be insulated to prevent heat loss.
The HomeLink Wireless Control System is a radio frequency (RF) transmitter integrated into some automobiles that can be programmed to activate devices such as garage door openers, RF-controlled lighting, gates and locks, including those with rolling codes.
Trizec Properties, Inc., previously known as TrizecHahn Corporation, was a real estate investment trust headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was originally a Canadian company. The name is derived from the initials of the three groups (Tri) that formed Trizec Properties Ltd: Zeckendorf, Eagle Star, and Covent Gardens.
Richard Louis Duchossois was an American businessman and racehorse owner. He was the founder and chairman of The Duchossois Group, Inc., a family-owned company headquartered in Elmhurst, Illinois that had ownership stakes in Arlington Park and Churchill Downs race tracks, and did rail car and defense manufacturing.
The Frantz Manufacturing Company located in Sterling, Illinois, is a manufacturer and marketer of conveyor system components and steel ball products used in a variety of applications.
Control4 is a brand of automation and networking systems for homes and businesses, offering a customizable and unified smart home system to automate and control connected devices including lighting, audio, video, climate control, intercom, and security. The Control4 platform interoperates with more than 13,000 third-party products and it is available in over 100 countries. After merging with SnapAV, by 2024 Control4 managed over half a million homes through a network of 12,000 authorized dealers. The company was based in Draper, Utah from 2003, until it's relocation to Lehi, Utah in 2023. Control4 currently operates as a brand/division of ADI Global Distribution.
Vivint Smart Home, Inc. is a United States-based smart home company. A subsidiary of NRG Energy, it was founded by Keith Nellesen and Todd Pedersen in 1999. Its products provide a unified access point to manage all smart home features, with 2 million customers as of 2023.
Ring LLC is a manufacturer of home security and smart home devices owned by Amazon. It manufactures a titular line of smart doorbells, home security cameras, and alarm systems. It also operates Neighbors, a social network that allows users to discuss local safety and security issues, and share footage captured with Ring products. Via Neighbors, Ring may also provide footage and data to law enforcement agencies to assist in investigations.
Vivint Solar was an American provider of photovoltaic solar energy generation systems, primarily for residential customers. The company was established in 2011 as an offshoot of home automation and security company Vivint and was headquartered in Lehi, Utah. The company primarily used a power purchase agreement (PPA) business model where Vivint Solar installed and maintained a solar system on a customer's home, then sold power to the customer at an agreed upon rate for a set term. In 2020, the company was purchased by Sunrun, another solar company primarily focused on the PPA business model for $3.2 billion.
Garageio is a smart home garage door controller created by Alottazs Labs, LLC headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Alottazs Labs, LLC is a privately held company founded in October 2012. Garageio is an Internet of Things product providing managed garage and gate access via a smartphone and other web-enabled devices.
A universal receiver is generally a radio receiver that is able to work with different standard transmitters.
HomeSeer Technologies LLC is a technology company based in Bedford, New Hampshire, in the United States. HomeSeer makes home automation controllers and software, designed to integrate lighting, HVAC, security, AV and other subsystems in most homes. Additionally, the company maintains an online store of compatible home automation products and a free online community forum for users and dealers.
