The Landscape and Garden Blog
Dec
4
It’s the age of smart. People used to have simple phones, cards, and other items in their purse, briefcase, and household. Now they have smart phones, smart cards, smart appliances. This implies that the object is no longer just an object, it possesses an intelligence of its own — or at least a memory of its own.
The smart card is more than just a piece of plastic. It actually communicates with readers and records information for tracking and identification purposes. The simplest smart card has a magnetic strip that can be recorded and read by a reader. That strip is the card’s electronic memory. It is used on everything from bank cards to drivers licenses to shopper reward programs, although the information being stored varies greatly according to purpose.
The other type of smart card actually contains an integrated circuit embedded in the plastic. This circuit transmits an RF signal which can be read by a special reader in close proximity to it. These are ideal for identifying personnel and granting them admittance to offices, laboratories, or even specific floors or sections of a building. They are more than just an electronic door key. They can store extensive personal and job-related data and can even be used to pinpoint the location of a card within a given area. It just requires a strong enough reader.
Nov
27
On the world wide web there are essentially three kinds of sites. Personal sites are created by individuals or organizations to express an idea or simply share things with the world. Business sites, even if non-profit, as designed to interact with consumers to either sell something or to provide information. Government and educational websites can also be considered business sites. The final category is web developers. These are the people and companies who design and create websites for those in the second category, and sometimes just to experiment with new features and code.
While there are some basic similarities between personal and business websites, developers have more advanced needs when it comes to web hosting. These people require an account with much more functionality and power than most business sites.
The best web development hosting are going to be completely customized to the needs of the specific developer. Language support is critical, with most hosting companies providing compatibility with PHP5, MySQL and Ruby on Rails. Developers are likely to need SSH capabilities, access to managed servers, and the flexibility and power offered by VPS (virtual private server) hosting.
With the proper hosting, developers can work on multiple client sites, experiment with test sites, and easily test and tweak the design, usability, and functionality of any required site feature.
Nov
18
Crime rates vary from city to city and even from neighborhood to neighborhood. Regardless of the location of a home or business, there are minimum security measures that should be employed. These include having sturdy locks and the best alarm system a family or business can afford. There are more advanced steps to be taken, if the threat of burglary is higher or there are highly sensitive documents or expensive valuables to protect. A good investment for any home or business is a security safe.
The best type of safe to buy is going to vary based on individual needs. Most offices will most likely be protecting documents and computer files while retail businesses will have lots of cash and perhaps, more expensive inventory items. Homes could have everything from documents to jewelry to art collections or guns. There are safes designed to protect specific items, such as gun cabinets and gun safes, but most safes are chosen based on the size of the total items to be stored in it and the type of rating needed. In addition to having an anti-theft rating, all safes are rated for how well they will withstand a fire. Safes that are tops in both can cost a pretty penny, so most people will decide which is the greater threat and choose accordingly.
When shopping for a safe, consumers can check with local locksmiths and alarm companies for recommendations. They can also do a web search for something like ” safes new york ” to find showrooms in their area. There are even warehouse companies who will sell safes by catalog or online. Just remember in those cases that shipping something as big and heavy as a safe can add quite a bit to the cost.
Nov
15
The state of Illinois has strict requirements for education and licensing of mortgage brokers and mortgage loan originators. New brokers go through extensive training on mortgage law, ethics, fair lending, and consumer protection as well as related subjects. They must also submit to extensive checks of their background, including criminal activity and credit history. Only after proving their reliability and passing state and federal testing are they licensed to work in the state mortgage industry.
Overseen by the state department of banking along with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing system, all programs for Illinois mortgage continuing education as well as training for new officers much comply with the standards set forth in the SAFE Act of 2008. Companies who offer training in the state should be able to verify that they are NMLS-approved and that their course content meets all state and federal standards. Mortgage officials can choose from a variety of programs, including night classes and online courses.
Licensing of any banking professional is necessary to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and offered legally-sound loans. One of the big problems that led to the real estate crash was barely legally and unethical lending practices by many mortgage companies and individuals. The SAFE Act was designed to raise the standard for licensing and make sure that consumers could access a national registry of licenses to ensure that the officials they work with are licensed and in good standing.
Nov
11
Even though lots of people experience interrupted sleep, and the horrible health effects that come with it, not everyone would benefit from a CPAP machine . While the machines seem simple enough to use and the results are easy to see, they are not an over the counter treatment for anyone who has trouble sleeping. In order to get a machine, an individual must be diagnosed with sleep apnea by a doctor and prescribed the machine — and not all sleep apnea patients are ordered to use CPAP systems. It is just one treatment.
Sleep apnea results from interrupted air pressure during sleep. This generally happens because the patient stops breathing throughout the night. Each time, the person wakes up, even if they don’t realize it, usually only for a second or two. CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure, which is what the machine provides by use of a filtering machine, tubing, and face mask. Most patients report that the CPAP machine provides relief from symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, and being easily distracted within the first week.
It is important that anyone who suspects they or a loved one has sleep apnea are properly diagnosed. There are other types of sleep disorders that require different methods of treatment . Generally, this involves spending a night in a sleep clinic which will monitor breathing and other vital signs during sleep. Only with then can a patient receive an official diagnosis of sleep apnea and a doctor’s prescription.
Nov
4
The worst thing about moving is rarely the logistics of the move itself. It’s usually the overwhelming levels of physical, psychological, and emotional stress that accompany the process. Moving, along with most types of major life changes, is considered to be one of the leading causes of stress in both adults and children. Be prepared to handle this stress is an essential element to a successful move experience.
The main thing you can do to reduce stress during a move is to simplify as much as you can. Yes, there are going to be pages of checklists and tasks to complete. Whenever possible combine related items and multi-task similar activities. If possible, replace time consuming things such as meeting various friends and family for goodbye lunches and dinners into one group going away gathering. Anything that isn’t really a necessity should be dropped in favor of things that really are essential — and this include throwing away old possessions or adding them to a donate pile instead of wasting time packing and moving them.
The next key is to be willing to let go of control. This may mean delegating responsibility for certain move decisions or activities to your spouse such as choosing movers or older children who can take over running a yard sale. In fact, children who are physically capable should take ownership of packing their own room and belongings. There’s also nothing wrong with letting a trusted friend plan that going away party, drive things to goodwill or even pack your china for you. If someone offers to help, don’t hesitate to take them up on it. Everything you move from your plate reduces your overall stress.
Oct
30
It is essential to the development of a successful website that companies conduct market research in the form of usability testing. This testing will provide valuable feedback on whether or not the site is meeting the desired user needs. Most business sites are designed to generate sales or leads or to increase brand awareness or loyalty. It can be easy for companies and designers to think they’ve got a site that meets those goals, but until it’s put before the average consumer, there’s no way to know if it will succeed.
There are a variety of Usability Tests available. These include hallway testing, expert review, and remote user testing. All attempt to observe the user interacting with the website and evaluate four different areas. The first, and perhaps most important, is performance. This measures how difficult it is for users to complete basic tasks on the site and whether they give up in frustration before completing them. The second measurement is accuracy or how often people make mistakes during this process. This step also involves determining whether the mistakes were the result of faulty information or missing instructions that can be corrected.
The next area for evaluation is recall. Knowing how much a user remembers after a session and how much information they retain over a period of time can be important for businesses that rely on repeat customers or brand loyalty. The final measurement is emotional response. This applies to how the customer feels about completing specific tasks, but also their overall response to the site and the company after visiting the site.
Ideally, usability testing should be conducted at several times during the design process, especially after any major changes or revamps. This way results can be compared against previous findings to see what has improved and what still needs work.
Oct
24
A swimming pool in the backyard is the American dream for many middle class families. They imagine cooling off on a hot summer’s day and hosting parties for friends and neighborhoods. Whatever the specific dreams, it’s extremely important that the families come to an agreement of the primary uses for the pool before hiring Dallas swimming pool builders to begin construction.
As with many things, the form a swimming pool takes is closely related to the function it is intended to fill. A pool that is primarily used for exercise or even practice laps for budding competitive swimmers is going to be very different from a pool used for entertaining and to demonstrate a family’s economic and social status. Other potential purposes are family fun pools which might have water slides or game nets, and diving pools which are deeper. Additional pool features that depend on function are attaches spas, waterfalls, and lighting or heating elements.
Even design choices such as built in planters, mosaic tiles and the type of materials used for the pool and surrounding deck will be determined by function. A family that fails to plan for function may end up with a pool that doesn’t fit their needs and sits unused year after year.
Oct
21
With it’s large high resolution screen and the ability to digitally download content, many newspapers and magazines believed that the the iPad would be the solution to their internet problem. Most have fallen victim to the stream of free information and news available online, suffering falling subscription numbers and loss of advertising revenue. They hailed the iPad as a way to recapture audience, providing customized content to new subscribers who would access their news through the device.
Now that the iPad has been available for six months, industy analysts have been researching the pull of the iPad. Their finding indicate that the iPad hasn’t been the revolution publishers expected, but it is slowly making progress. iPad developers have created more than 900 apps that fall into the “News” category in the Apple App Store. However, some of those apps are content aggregators and feed readers that aren’t traditional news media.
News publishers are still hopeful. After an initial frenzy of early adopters , iPad sales have slowed to a more moderate rate. Research predicts that the device won’t achieve mass-market penetration for another three years. Newspapers are counting on their audience growing as use of the iPad increases. Many are offering free access to their news for a limited time or only headlines. The hope is that once users get a taste of the content, they will pay to subscribe to the full version. The final word on the impact of the iPad on traditional media is still a few years off.
Designed by Tim Sainburg from Brambling Design
