Sunday, 3 June 2012

Home Improvement Tips That Can Work For Anyone : The Wise ...

Activities don?t have to be very energetic or huge. They can be very hardworking, small and personal, too. The perfect example of this kind of activity is home improvement. Its main goal is improving upon your home so that it looks how you want it to look. Follow the tips below to get started.

Before beginning a home improvement project, make a list of the actions you think will need to be taken from start to finish. Obtain a second opinion from a trusted source to see if there are any steps you missed or anything you didn?t take into account. Plan to set aside plenty of time for your project, as it might take longer than expected.

After your home improvement work is finished, do not submit your final payment until you are happy with the work that was performed. You can also make ?progress payments,? which involves giving the contractor small sums of money in certain increments over the course of the project. Do not pay for work that you are not satisfied with.

To cut down your home?s energy costs, replace your current thermostat with one that can be programmed. Many families save close to $200 yearly through programmable thermostat use. A programmable thermostat can be set to change when your family is sleeping or out of the house, keeping you from paying for heating and cooling you don?t need. They?re also inexpensive, and can be picked up for less than $40.

When you reorganize your garage, make a clean sweep. Take everything out rather than just shuffling junk around inside the garage. By doing it this way, you can examine all of your stored treasures and decide which ones you can get rid of to make better use of your storage space.

If you are lucky enough to have a deck on your home, then you probably do routine cleaning such as sweeping and general removal of outdoor debris. You should also do a deep cleaning of your deck surface at least once a year. Remove everything from your deck to give yourself plenty of room to work.

If you have lost water pressure, it may be an easy problem to diagnose. Start by asking your neighbors if they are having the same problem. If not the problem is internal to your home. Check the water pressure at all faucets in the home to see if it is a whole house problem. It may just be an aerator that needs adjusted but if not, you may want to call in a professional.

Follow the above tips, and the investments you make into home improvements will be wise expenditures of both your energy and the resources it takes to complete a project. From the smallest project to the most complex, home improvement can be rewarding and worthwhile in many ways ? as long as you pay attention to tips like these.

If you want additional helpful information, please visit Livingcolours; or you can also check out now.

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Avoid Home Improvement Pitfalls With These Tips

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If homeowners are armed with relevant information that is updated and factual, they can complete many home improvement projects on their own. Before starting a new home improvement project, read this article for interesting insight and tips that will make the process more enjoyable and efficient. Adding panels to your walls can give your home a quick pick-me-up. Putting in new panels will give your home a new feel for a low cost. If you do change your mind and do not like what you have done, they are very easy to remove without causing a lot of damage to your walls. To avoid excessive repair bills ensure storm water does not flow towards your walls. Try to make your yard slope in the direction of the street or make your downspout longer. Start preparing for your planned remodeling project, even if it's still a ways in the future, by collecting ideas as you come across them. It should be easy to walk through room to room of your home and find many ideas for improvement. You won't have to clamor to choose a color at the very last minute. One way to improve your home is to install fixtures to reduce water usage. Low-flow toilets, shower heads and tank-less heaters are all readily available. These new fixtures will save money, eliminate wasteful water usage and add value to your home by being more modern and environmentally efficient. Doing this makes your bristles bend which, over time, makes them wear down. The way to keep a broom working well is to hang it with the bristles off the ground. The same principle is true for mops. The added concern for a mop is to allow for drying to lessen the amount of bacterial growth. A quick and easy home improvement project involves applying fresh caulk to all your windows. This benefits you in several ways. It lowers your utility bills, and helps protect against damage to the windows as well. In addition to the obvious insulation improvements, this can also prevent moisture from seeping in and stimulating mold growth. Use a chisel to take off the old caulking before you apply the new caulk. Buildings cannot be easily stolen, however, the supplies to build them can and will be if the opportunity is given. Keep your materials in a secure location when you are not actively using them. You can leave the supplies in the home if it has locks on its windows and doors. If the property is not secure, lockable containers are another idea to discourage theft. When storing supplies for your next project, keep in mind that building supplies of all types are often stolen. When there is no work going on, building supplies need to be put somewhere secure. If your home has lockable doors and windows, keeping them inside is fine. If the project has holes where windows and doors will go, then the supplies need to be kept in a lockable container on site. Pick up a flashy new mailbox to improve the outside of your home. Adding a new mailbox can make your home appear upgraded, which helps add more curb appeal to it. Make sure to comply with any city or homeowner's regulations before you install your new mailbox. It is a pretty simple job that should only take a couple of hours. If you notice what seems to be a hole used by mice, fill it with a ball of steel wool. The rodents are not able to chew through this, even though they can chew through just about anything else, so you can use this as a stop-gap until you make a permanent repair. Resealing the windows in your home can save you a great deal of money on your monthly heating and cooling bills. Making sure no cold drafts or moisture are leaking in from the outside will reduce your heating costs and prevent mold growth. Use a chisel to take off the old caulking before you apply the new caulk. A new front door could increase significantly the value of your home, sometimes up to 10 percent. You could update your front door and give it a completely new look by simply purchasing a new lock or doorknob. A dormer window can make a large attic more useful. This adds charm to your house, along with potentially doubling your square footage. A dormer window will increase the value of your home, and you will have more space to live in. Shut off your house's water supply when your home improvement work takes you into the kitchen or the bathroom. Whenever you are dealing with pipes, fittings, or fixtures, finding and turning the shutoff valve should be step number one. This step will enable you to prevent a flood. Replacing the caulking and sealant around your windows is a quick home improvement project with great benefits, both in terms of economy and avoiding serious damage. Making sure no cold drafts or moisture are leaking in from the outside will reduce your heating costs and prevent mold growth. If the old caulking is cracked, remove it carefully with a chisel and hammer and replace with fresh caulk. These tips will help you to avoid unnecessary setbacks and unexpected expenses. You can now say "Stop. Hammer time," and start a home improvement project whenever you want.

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Saturday, 2 June 2012

Scores defy ban on Tunis demo against extremism

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WWII vet graduates high school 70 years late

After a life filled with both tragedies and triumphs, an 86-year-old World War II veteran receives his high school diploma. KCBD's Tiffany Pelt reports.

By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

Jack Fletcher was in his senior year of high school in Spur, Texas, when World War II broke out. Graduation would have to wait -- 70 years, as it turned out.

Fletcher traveled the world after the war and now lives in Australia, but a special ceremony brought him back as an honorary graduate of the Spur High School Class of 2012,?NBC station KCBD of Lubbock reported.

"I had to look to make sure they put a certificate in there," he laughed after the graduation ceremony. "I was afraid they were kidding me!"

Born in 1925 in Spur, Fletcher moved with his family to another town. But in?1941, after Fletcher's?parents were?killed in a?car accident, he?and his siblings moved back to Spur to live with their grandparents.


But before Fletcher's senior year was over, World War II erupted.

"Oh man, me and my three brothers all volunteered as quickly as we could," Fletcher told KCBD.?

See the original story at KCBD

"My friend Corbit said I'll go to Europe to win the war, and you go to the Pacific and win it out there, and we'll get back together. God bless him, he was killed in his first mission," Fletcher told KCBD. "We had seven buddies of mine that were killed. I was pulled back to headquarters before they came up the ridge and that's the only reason I'm still here. It bothered me for a long time ? I should have been with them, you know."

Fletcher left?the military in 1946 and?found his way back to Spur.

"When I got off the bus at the end of my lane, there sat David," Fletcher?said as he began to cry. "That little dog ? my grandmother said he waited at the end of the lane each day when I left."

As quickly as Fletcher?returned to Spur, he left once again.?He?traveled the world working in the agricultural business. Fletcher found himself in Australia and helped to create the Australian Land and Cattle Co.

"We bought 4.3 million acres of country, a ranch about 11 times the size of Dickens County," he said.

But at age?86,?something was still missing. On?May 25,?Fletcher?came back to Spur to join the Class of 2012 as an honorary graduate.

Watch US News videos on msnbc.com

NBC News

Jack Fletcher is seen during his graduation ceremony May 25 in Spur, Texas.

"The superintendent assured them I was no slow learner, even though it's taken me 70 years," he said.

Though age separated Fletcher?from the 10 teens graduating, he had no trouble fitting in as he joked around with the group.

"If you would have waited until you were 86 years old to graduate, you could've had a camera come film you," he joked with one of the grads.

The first named called, Fletcher?walked across the stage in his blue cap and gown and finally received?his high school diploma. He ended the day?by tossing his cap with the other graduates.

"Spur will always hold a special place in my heart," he said.

Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report from NBC station KCBD's?Tiffany Pelt.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook?

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Romney won't tell Trump to dial it down

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Friday, 1 June 2012

Cricket now offers the iPhone with $55 'unlimited' everything plan

Cricket now offers the iPhone with $55 'unlimited' everything plan

Cricket Wireless, the prepaid subsidiary of Leap, has just announced the availability of the iPhone 4 and 4S on its network. A 16GB 4S will set you back $500, while an 8GB 4 clocks in at a slightly more affordable $400. Both are available with Cricket's $55 "unlimited" everything plan, which includes all you can eat talk, text, and data -- provided your idea of "unlimited" data falls within its fair usage policies (in this case, 2.3GB of data). Cricket is hardly alone among America's smaller carriers in offering the iPhone, C-Spire as well as a number of regional carriers all stock Apple's wares. What makes this offering unique, is that Cricket is the first completely prepaid carrier to sell the handset. So, if you want an iPhone, but don't want the contract or the post-paid, usage-based fees? Well then, Cricket might just be your new best friend. Check out the PR after the break and hit up the source for more info.

Continue reading Cricket now offers the iPhone with $55 'unlimited' everything plan

Cricket now offers the iPhone with $55 'unlimited' everything plan originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Honey, I shrunk technology ? Smartphone avalanche burying ...

phones 300x202 Honey, I shrunk technology   Smartphone avalanche burying computer industry dinosaursThe personal computer has dominated modern life for 25 years, but the often bulky devices are increasingly giving way to smaller, lighter smartphones and tablet computers. The whole sector is scrambling to survive the avalanche set off by Apple under its late founder, Steve Jobs. Technology giant Hewlett-Packard, whose business is still built on personal computers and printers, this week announced it would slash its payroll by 27,000 workers, or 8 percent, by 2014 to eventually save at least 3 billion dollars a year. Managers were admitting to Wall Street that HP?s future was as a smaller company.

The world?s largest PC manufacturer has so far failed to connect with consumer demand for smartphones and tablets ? a new technology landscape of slender mobile devices dominated by Silicon Valley?s Apple and South Korea?s Samsung. A world of mobile computing appears to have only a small space left for Hewlett-Packard, as well as PC competitor Dell, which has suffered shrinking sales recently. Both have failed to achieve the innovations to make a successful transition. As early as 2010, when he launched the iPad, Jobs talked about the ?post-PC world.?

Other manufacturers did not take his vision seriously, and they continued to make their big desktop machines and laptops. One of their biggest innovations was to make PCs in colours other than the old ?computer grey.? In time, Jobs was vindicated. ?Today, Apple is reinventing the phone,? he said in 2007, as he launched the iPhone. At the time, it sounded like an exaggeration, but the cellphone with a touch-sensitive screen set new standards for performance and appearance. Above all, the iPhone redefined the industry, because for the first time it brought to the fore not the device but the software it holds: the apps. At the start of 2010, Jobs dealt a definitive blow to the PC: he launched Apple?s tablet computer, the iPad. With it, the company again achieved a resounding success.

Over the past quarter alone, 35 million iPhones have been sold, along with close to 12 million iPads. By comparison, based on the data of market research firm Gartner, 89 million PCs were sold over the same period by all manufacturers put together. PC firms tried to come up with their own tablets, well before Apple did. More than 10 years ago in Las Vegas, Microsoft founder Bill Gates presented his vision of the digital table computer. The smartphone, too, is hardly Jobs? invention. However, alternative devices were too expensive, inconvenient or just too ugly to become bestsellers. Now, little is left for PC manufacturers to do but chase Apple and try not to miss the train altogether. Some of them continue to focus, successfully, on the traditional PC market, like the Chinese company Lenovo, whose boss Yang Yuanqing likes to talk of a ?PC-plus era.? A big fish like Hewlett-Packard, however, can hardly change overnight.

For years, the US giant worked on perfecting its business of selling computers, complementing them with extras like printers and offering services for such equipment. It was a perfect long-term relationship with customers, or so HP managers thought. HP reached the top of the industry 10 years ago through the expensive purchase of rival PC maker Compaq. Change within the sector, however, threw them off balance. Their hardware sales dropped, their software business failed to grow fast enough, payment for acquisitions like security service provider SonicWall was still pending. Prospects are good once the payroll is reduced, and share prices rose more than 3 per cent Thursday. While Apple is surfing the mobile wave with the iPhone and iPad and setting trends in the notebook computer market with the MacBook, Hewlett-Packard does not even have smartphones and tablets on offer. HP bought the smartphone pioneer Palm in 2010, but the management opted to close the company soon afterward, because it was uncompetitive. ?dpa

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