Solid Guidance On How To Become Successful At Home Improvement

A large number of individuals presume that renovation is too overwhelming to trouble tackling. If you go into your project with an unfettered mind, home enhancements don't need to be so tricky. As the following article will show you, there are several paths to make home improvement projects less expensive, more relaxed, and less difficult.

Building supplies are frequently stolen because they're valuable. These need to be kept safe when you are not working. If the home being worked on is a secure environment, meaning that all the doors and windows are established and capable of being locked, then it is all right to store the supplies inside. When the home isn?t secure, it is sweet to have a locked storage unit.

Heated floors are an accessible luxury. If you are considering replacing existing floors with tile anyway, ask about putting in radiant heat. You'll enjoy the warmth under your feet when you step out of the shower. Radiant heat flooring is a good thing to have if you're going to sell your home.

When painting or demolishing, utilise a drop material or tarp to guard stuff like furniture and floors. You can prevent more work by covering areas of your workspace up. Protect anything that you are not planning to fix or replace.

Consider swapping out the existing light bulbs that you have in your home with ones that use less wattage. These bulbs scale back your cost in electricity bills, and they are environmentally friendly; they've also got a longer lifespan than the standard lights, and they are higher in lumens per watt. Use florescent or LED bulbs to save money.

You can rapidly block off a mouse hole in your place using some steel wool. The mice can't gnaw thru it as they can other materials (including wood), so it will help to stop more pests from entering until you have enough time to finish a full repair [*T].

Keep a little box of varied fasteners available at every point. These handy tiny items are constantly needed when doing projects: picture hangers, screws of diverse types and sizes, a range of nails both large and small, and so on. The better the assortment you have of these, the fewer times you've got to delay a project and head for the ironmongery store.

Cleaning your carpets on a regular basis will make your entire house look cleaner. Frequently shampoo your carpets, particularly in areas that get plenty of traffic. Your place will look cleaner overall and, with a spotless carpet, it'll maintain a newer look also.

As you have now learned from this draft, renovation projects do not always have to involve anxiety and stress. Staying open to useful hints and recommendations as you go about making house repairs will make the process go smoother. This text offers a excellent start for almost any home improvement project. You will be able to enhance your home in almost no time if you follow the information that has been provided.

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Source: http://articlesquadron.com/home-improvement/heating-and-air-conditioning/solid-guidance-on-how-to-become-successful-at-home-improvement

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How Online Phone Tools Such As Audio Conferencing Benefit Small ...

By Connie D. Peckham

Some companies rely on communications within the business to get things done and audio conferencing is a powerful feature that can help them. Calling into a specific number with a code, three or more individuals can be part of the same phone discussion without the need for complex equipment. This kind of calling capability means that companies all over the world can connect as if they were in the same office. Audio conferencing has been available for a while using certain phone providers, but it has taken on a new lease of life with the development of virtual phone systems.

There is no denying the importance of the internet to commerce. With the surge in broadband speeds, more functions are being moved to the cloud. As the rise of online technology progresses, the end to analog phone lines is rapidly approaching, with some studies suggesting the end of landline phone usage by 2025.

In addition to audio conferencing, other factors are pushing internet phone lines into the forefront of communication technology. Broadband allows for a continuous exchange of large amounts of data, meaning that many calls can be made at any one time from a single connection. This makes it a perfect application for busy call centers. Internet phone systems also mean that calls can be routed to almost anywhere from a central system. A department that is unable to take a call can forward it elsewhere in a matter of seconds.

Outsourcing company resources to the web is a popular strategy for business for a few reasons. The main reason is that costs are reduced through cheaper calling rates and bundles of minutes and data. Lowering the costs even further, many providers will include the hardware at the start of the plan so that businesses do not need to purchase it. Services that are relocated to the cloud also benefit from reduced overhead costs, such as office space and maintenance costs.

Businesses that rely on good communication to make a profit should be ready to embrace audio conferencing and VoIP systems, as they carry with them even more benefits. A financial decline has been difficult on small startups and those with cash flow problems, so the birth of the cloud has come at a good time. Almost every business now has an internet connection, so it makes sense to use it where possible for saving money.

Our office telephone systems have a low set-up charge and low monthly fees. For more information, please visit audio conferencing and voip carrier.

Tags: audio conferencing, business phone system, business voice, communication services, email, managing phone menus, phone system, telecommunications, voice mail

Source: http://articles4net.com/blog/archives/299359

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Texas looks to fund health program without feds

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday directed state officials to begin looking for money to keep the Medicaid Women's Health Program, even if the Obama administration revokes federal funding amid a fight over clinics affiliated with abortion providers.

"We'll find the money. The state is committed to this program," Perry told reporters, shortly before he issued a letter directing Thomas Suehs, head of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, to work with legislative leaders and identify money to keep the program going if federal funds are halted.

But pulling that off will be no mean feat: The program costs about $40 million and the federal government currently covers 90 percent of that.

The health program provides care to about 130,000 low-income women statewide. It had been expected to close next week, when Texas begins enforcing a law passed last summer that bars state funding from clinics affiliated with abortion providers. The Obama administration has said it will stop funding the program because federal law requires women to be able to choose any qualified clinic.

Perry spokeswoman Catherine Frazier countered that Texas has the right under federal law to determine qualified providers in the program.

The law is part of a long-running campaign by conservatives in the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature to shut down abortion providers by imposing strenuous regulations and cutting off state and federal funds for their non-abortion services. Perry and Republican state lawmakers specifically don't want Planned Parenthood clinics, which treat 40 percent of the program's patients, to get any state funding, even when that money is not spent on abortions.

That has created a legal standoff, with federal and state officials accusing each other of political extremism while poor women will be left without necessary health care. The Women's Health Program serves women ages 18-44 earning less than $20,000 a year or less than $41,000 for a family of four.

Perry did not specify where the funding for the Women's Health Program might be found. "We've got a multibillion-dollar budget, so we've got the ability to be flexibility on where the money comes from," he said after an event at Texas Republican Party headquarters.

His letter to Suehs noted officials have been discussing the possibility of making up lost federal funding in the Women's Health Program for weeks.

The state Legislature is out of session and does not meet again until next year, but Frazier said the governor has the authority to redistribute available funds as he sees fit ? and would not need to convene a special session.

Perry said he's anxious to save the program after the Legislature last year cut funding for 160,000 women enrolled in it. In total, lawmakers slashed $83 million in funding for women's health programs. It was not immediately clear what other areas would have to be scaled back to make funds available for the governor to keep his promise.

The Texas Democratic Party blasted Perry for removing funding from other parts of the state budget to save the program.

"Instead of diverting resources from already strained state services Perry should own up to his mistake," party spokeswoman Rebecca Acu?a said in a statement.

State law already forbids taxpayer money from going to organizations that provide abortions, so groups such as Planned Parenthood have established legally distinct corporations to separate family planning and women's health providers from clinics that perform abortions.

The law about to be enacted goes a step further to make any affiliation between a clinic and an abortion provider grounds for cutting off funding. That can mean sharing a name, employee or board member, even if the two clinics are legally and financially separate. Lawmakers last year said their goal was to cut off all state funding for Planned Parenthood, not to leave poor women without health care.

"Those people that are out there trying to say, 'Oh they're going to kill this program' are just dead wrong," Perry said of the Women's Health Program on Thursday. He said the Obama administration is "trying to support an organization that supports them. ... But Texans don't want Planned Parenthood, a known abortion provider, to be involved in this."

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Perry accused the administration of trying to violate states' rights "by mandating which health providers the State of Texas must use."

"I will not allow these services to be denied by your administration's political agenda and opposition to enacted Texas law that prohibits abortion providers and their affiliates from receiving taxpayer dollars," the letter said.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Tomlinson in Austin and Angela K. Brown in Fort Worth contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-looks-fund-health-program-without-feds-235847027.html

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Panel of SoCal Sustainable Agriculture Entrepreneurs Discuss ...

The world?s population is growing rapidly, and that calls for new ways of thinking about how to produce enough food while also conserving the earth?s natural resources. As a result, agricultural entrepreneurs today are striving to combine the best of traditional farming methods with new technologies in order to create food that is healthy, flavorful and locally grown.

And if that doesn?t sound like enough of a feat, there?s also the challenge of doing it all using a business model that won?t leave the farmer broke.

Southern California has become a region of growing activity for these types of ventures, and Seedstock has attempted to provide a glimpse of what that experience looks like. A panel of agricultural entrepreneurs from the region?including those using soil, hydroponic and aquaponic growing methods?gathered at UCLA yesterday to share their experiences.

The entrepreneurs answered questions by the audience and by the event?s moderator, Seedstock founder Jason Reed, providing insight into the burning questions any modern-day starting farmer would want to know: How do entrepreneurs get started in such forward-thinking farming ventures, especially when they don?t come from a farming background? How do they get around barriers like raising enough capital and dealing with zoning issues?

The event panelists included Pierre Sleiman, David Rosenstein, Colin Archipley, Jesse DuBois and Dan Allen.

Sleiman is co-founder and CEO of Encinitas-based Go Green Agriculture, which has a goal of setting up hydroponic (meaning without soil) mini-farms all over the country that are controlled by computerized technology run by the company. Rosenstein is founder of EVO Farm, an organization that runs the only commercial aquaponic farm in Los Angeles. (Aquaponics is the fusion of hydroponics with aquaculture, which includes the raising of fish.) Archipley is co-founder and CEO of San Diego-based hydroponic organic farm Archi?s Acres and the Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training (VSAT) program, offering combat veterans opportunities in sustainable farming. DuBois and Allen are the CEO and CFO, respectively, of Farmscape Gardens, an organic garden installation and maintenance company based in Los Feliz (in Los Angeles) that aims to help people grow their own food in soil right in the city.

From left to right: Pierre Sleiman (Go Green Agriculture), David Rosenstein (EVO Farm), Jason Reed (Seedstock), Colin Archipley (Archi's Acres), Jesse DuBois and Dan Allen (both of Farmscape Gardens). Photo: Jessica Vernabe

Breaking Into Sustainable Agriculture

These entrepreneurs aren?t representative of the typical farmer. For the most part, they come from backgrounds in other fields that aren?t related to agriculture. Sleiman studied computer science and business in college before starting Go Green Agriculture, and Rosenstein was a fully employed documentary filmmaker prior to pursuing a full-time career as an aquaponic farmer. (He did work on films about socially and environmentally conscious topics.) Archipley was a Marine sergeant. DuBois wanted to be a screenwriter, and Allen had a political science background.

These entrepreneurs were drawn to agriculture after developing both an understanding of the importance of having healthy, local food and a desire to solve problems plaguing today?s food system. Rosenstein said he got his inspiration from the documentary films he worked on where he found a common thread to the stories he was helping to tell.

?The common thread is that food can help solve all the world?s problems simultaneously,? he said, listing climate change and chronic diseases as some of those problems. ?For me, I just wanted to step away from the camera and be one of those people.?

The five farmers gave some key advice for getting a sustainable farm started. Those included starting small; choosing a crop and growing technique that matches with the entrepreneur?s philosophy; coming up with a business model that solves a problem in a new way; and making sure the plan is economically feasible.

Archipley said he has seen his share of young people who are enthusiastic and want to ?save the world? through sustainable agriculture. But sometimes that isn?t enough, he noted.

?If you want to be around for a long time, you have to make a profit,? Archipley said. ?You?ve got to crunch the numbers. You have to figure out where you?re going to sell your crop. You have to figure out what crop it is. ? You have to make those decisions before you actually make that investment.?

One way to give an agriculture startup some competitive edge is through directed crop selection. New farmers should try to find out what kinds of products the local community is demanding, the panelist said. They could also find a niche market to explore, which helps the farmer avoid the gruesome price competition of the subsidized crop markets.

?It turns out Los Angeles is a melting pot of mini-culture. Most of us can?t find the produce that comes from home,? Rosenstein said. ?So (there?s) tapping into special markets?cash crops besides the cash crop.?

DuBois said Farmscape allows clients to choose from a wide variety of seed options, and they balance their crop options so they include both the highly specialized ?crazy? crops and the more conventional ones.

Soil vs. Hyroponics vs. Aquaponics

While the panelists are all making strides in sustainable agriculture and their goals are similar, there is an obvious difference between them?how they grow their food. They all had their different reasons for why they chose the methods they did.

Sleiman said he chose hydroponics?particularly with the model in which the growing metrics of the mini-farms are controlled by the company?s central office?because it is a simple model that can be spread more easily than aquaponics. (The plant products are grown in water and nutrients are directly delivered to the roots, bypassing the use of soil.) The growth process can be easily monitored by the company?s software system, cutting out the need for a highly skilled employee to handle the metrics.

Other benefits include the use of 60 percent to 80 percent less water than traditional growing methods and higher productivity levels, Sleiman said. He noted that his method also eliminates the need for pesticides. Archipley also grows his food hydroponically, adapting certified organic techniques to the hydroponics model. He said he also found the method to be much more water efficient.

Meanwhile, Rosenstein said aquaponics allows for the elimination of runoff (unlike growing in soil), and it is a ?closed-loop? system that replicates a natural process. (The fish waste in the aquaculture part of the process is used as nutrients for the plants, which are grown hydroponically. The plants, in turn, act as a filter the water, which is re-circulated back to the fish.) On the other hand, when using hydroponics, the farmer has to buy the fertilizers and nutrients that feed the plant instead of producing them naturally within the system, he said.

Rosenstein noted that there is no substitute for the richness and quality of food grown in good soil, but the reality of growing in urban settings necessitates the use of other methods.

?The deficiency of the model of growing through the soil is that you can?t get to a scale in an urban environment,? he said. ?That?s where aquaponics and hydroponics come in because of the cycles and the density you can get.?

Meanwhile, DuBois and Allen focus their work with Farmscape Gardens on helping people grow their own gardens intensively on small spaces right in the midst of metropolitan areas.

The panelists also gave advice about how to work with investors (develop a clear pitch on how you plan to grow the company; also look to friends and family for early investment). They talked about how to deal with zoning issues, and about spreading enthusiasm about careers in agriculture (reaching out to students in schools and providing paid internships).

Seedstock?s partners in the event included the Entrepreneur Association and the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. The event was also sponsored by Whole Foods Market, Westwood Village.

Source: http://seedstock.com/2012/03/09/panel-of-socal-sustainable-agriculture-entrepreneurs-discuss-business-models-challenges-and-opportunities/

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George Washington High principal resigns after two troubled years at Denver school

The principal of George Washington High School has resigned after almost two tumultuous years at the southeast Denver school, and following critical editorials in the school's newspaper.

Loan Maas announced her departure Wednesday at school and a notice was posed late Thursday on the school's website .

"It is with a heavy heart that I let you know that I have decided to resign," her announcement reads. "This very difficult decision was made due to personal health issues."

But Maas leaving the building is exactly what a group of teachers requested a week ago, citing unrest at the school, numerous teachers being placed on leave and disciplined for minor issues.

Currently, one teacher, and one counselor are on administrative leave, according to union director Billy Husher.

In late February, teachers and their union conducted a survey to help quantify the atmosphere at the school.

Results showed teachers felt leadership was not effective and that they lacked confidence in the administration.

They presented the results to Maas and other administrators. But the conversation did not go well, Husher said, and so teachers took the survey results, a no-confidence vote against Maas, and a letter requesting her dismissal to district adminstrators.

"The faculty of GWHS respectfully requests that our principal, Loan Maas, be promptly removed and that you appoint an interim principal," the letter states.

Student-written editorials in the school newspaper, "The Surveyor," point to a disgruntled teaching force and building tension between staff and administration, and between the students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate and traditional programs.

"Strained relations between the GW faculty and the administration are having an increasingly apparent effect on student learning," one editorial reads.

Newspaper advisor Sara Morrow confirmed that Thursday morning she was told the newspaper would be confiscated before distribution.

The decision was reversed later in the day and the newspaper was distributed as normal.

But Morrow faces a "due process hearing" today with Denver Public School's human resources directors, and with the school's athletic director Michael Gaither, ? who was criticized in an editoral published Thursday for reportedly attempting to interrupt an orchestra rehearsal for the school musical a week before its performance.

Thursday's resignation announcement was accompanied by a note that Maas will continue to lead the school until a replacement or interim principal is named.

Concerned parents submitted letter a to the district early Thursday asking to participate in the development of a transition plan and the selection of a new principal.

"While Ms. Maas' departure was a surprise, and we recognize the sense of urgency to identify her replacement, we are writing to express our strong recommendation that the district take the time to engage in a thoughtful and deliberate search that includes robust community engagement," the letter states.

Superintendent Tom Boasberg responded by making an appearance at the school on Thursday afternoon to speak with parents about next steps.

A closed meeting is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the school.

Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372 or yrobles@denverpost.com

Source: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20135283/george-washington-high-principal-resigns-after-two-troubled?source=rss

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Panasonic details US availability for 25 of its 2012 HDTVs

Too busy multitasking to make any important decisions? You might want to bookmark this post, then, because Panasonic just spat out a wallop of a press release outlining US availability (but not pricing) details for 25 of its 2012 HDTVs. Starting with those Infinite Black Ultra plasmas we saw at CES, the 65-inch VT50 is coming later this month, but you'll have to wait until April for the 50-inch GT50. If you can settle for a set with an Infinite Black Pro panel, though, the ST50 series is available now in 50- and 55-inch sizes, with the 60- and 65-inchers coming this month and in April, respectively. Moving down the 3D Plasma totem pole, the UT50 series will start tricking out this month in 42- and 50-inch flavors, with 55- and 60-inch counterparts following in April and May. The most affordable of the models listed, the 50-inch XT50 series, will go on sale before the month's end.

Had your heart set on an LED number? If you recall, Panasonic announced a boatload of those at CES, and this press release doesn't even mention all of them, but so far we know the E5 series (32 and 37 inches), the E50 series (42, 47 and 55 inches), the lower-end X5 series (32 inches) and the 47-inch TC-L47DT50 (part of the high-end DT50 series) will all be available this month. Want the best and the biggest? Panasonic is shipping its 3D-capable, 55-inch DT50- and WT50-series sets in May. Rounding out the list, there's Panasonic's first polarized 3D TVs, which will be available later this month in 47- and 55-inch flavors, with a 42-incher following in April.

Got it? Good. You sure? In case you need a moment to digest all those dates and model numbers, tap the source link below to find detailed specs, along with confirmed pricing -- something you won't see anywhere in that extensive press release.

Continue reading Panasonic details US availability for 25 of its 2012 HDTVs

Panasonic details US availability for 25 of its 2012 HDTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/panasonic-details-us-availability-for-25-of-its-2012-hdtvs/

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'Julie,' prototype Windows Phone 7 handset from Sony Ericsson, appears on eBay

It looks like a rumored relic from Sony Ericsson's past ? a Windows 7 phone codenamed "Julie" ? has just appeared for sale on eBay. Photos of the prototype on eBay appear to be new, and they very closely resemble shots of a rumored WP7 QWERTY slider that leaked just over a year ago. The eBay listing is light on specs, except for an 8.1-megapixel camera, which is on par with other current flagship WP7 phone cameras. While Sony Ericsson was initially slated to be a Windows Phone 7 hardware partner in 2010, it never actually got a WP7 device to market. But if you've got a burning desire to be possibly one of the only people on Earth with your hands on "Julie," you've got nearly two days left to jump in the auction. Just don't expect any subsidized pricing ? in the time it took to write this, bidding jumped from $810 to over $3,000.

Update: The listing's been pulled from eBay without explanation, but it's not hard to imagine that someone would prefer for secret prototypes to stay secret.

Thanks, TheKingsEighth!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WinRumors/~3/HP6DeRHQ_zQ/sony-ericsson-julie-prototype-windows-7-phone-ebay

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SoftKinetic brings DepthSense range sensor to GDC, hopes to put it in your next TV

SoftKinetic DepthSense

Microsoft's Kinect may have put depth sensors in the eye of the common consumer, but they aren't the only outfit in the game -- Belgian startup SoftKinetic has their own twist on the distance sensing setup. The literally named "DepthSense" range sensor uses infrared time-of-flight technology, which according to representatives, allows it to not only accurately calculate depth-sensitivity in dark, cramped spaces, but more importantly offers a shallower operating distance than its competition. We dropped by SoftKinetic's GDC booth to see exactly how cramped we could get.

It turns out the sensor can accurately read individual fingers between four to fourteen feet (1.5 - 4.5 meters), we had no trouble using it to pinch our way through a few levels of a mouse-emulated session of Angry Birds. The developer hardware we saw on the show floor was admittedly on the bulky side, but if all goes to plan, SoftKinetic says we'll see OEMs stuff the tech into laptops and ARM-powered TVs in the near future. In the meantime, though, gesture-crazy consumers can look forward to a slimmer version of this rig in stores sometime this holiday season. Hit the break for a quick demo of the friendly sensor in action.

Dante Cesa contributed to this post.

Continue reading SoftKinetic brings DepthSense range sensor to GDC, hopes to put it in your next TV

SoftKinetic brings DepthSense range sensor to GDC, hopes to put it in your next TV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/softkinetic-brings-depthsense-range-sensor-to-gdc-hopes-to-put/

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The new iPad to support 4G LTE on Verizon, AT&T, Rogers, Telus, and Bell

Apple has just confirmed during their iPad event today that the new iPad will indeed have support for LTE. iMore had previously heard 4G LTE networking was a go for the new iPad, and indeed it is. The new iPad will have 2 LTE models, one for Verizon, and one for AT&T in the US and Rogers, Telus, and Bell in Canada.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/JGAkMAQldpM/story01.htm

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Apple Speaks Out Over Ebook Price Fixing Allegations [Ebooks]

With the US Department of Justice breathing down its neck, Apple is attempting to defend itself over allegations of ebook price fixing—claiming that it's the victim of conspiracy theories and over-analysis. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/wHQ02sFdR5o/apple-speaks-out-over-ebook-price-fixing-allegations

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