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Tuesday 28 January 2014

Top Lawn And Garden Water Saving Tips

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When most people think of ways to reduce their water consumption, they think of things they can do in the home. These are things like installing low flow toilets and faucet aerators, taking shorter showers, checking all pipes for leaks and being more efficient while washing clothes and dishes, using the garbage disposal, brushing teeth and shaving. There are other ways to reduce water consumption around the home, though, including tools and tips you can use in your lawn and garden areas. Consider a few of the top lawn and garden water saving tips from the pros:



Check for Leaks Outside, Too

While you’re checking for leaks in the pipes and faucets inside your home, it’s also important to see if there are any leaks outside. Be sure to check the couplings, hoses, faucets and pipes in your outdoor spaces. And don't forget about your irrigation system, follow these handy steps to see if your sprinklers have a leak.

Choose the Right Grasses and Plants

One of the most impactful ways to reduce water consumption in your lawn and garden is to choose drought-resistant plants, shrubs and grasses rather than species that require a great deal of water. If you’re planning on doing some landscaping, this is important to keep in mind. Local species are typically the best choice for water efficiency, as well as resistance to disease. Putting some mulch around new plants and trees will help extend soil moisture.



Water Your Lawn Carefully

Even if you can’t afford to replace your entire lawn with a new array of drought-resistant plants, you can still achieve reduced water and energy consumption with careful lawn watering. First of all, only water the lawn when you need it. There are soil moisture meters that can help you determine if you’re watering at the appropriate level, and rain water gauges to help you figure out how to adjust your watering following precipitation. Get to the roots when you do water, try to water during earlier parts of the day and don’t water when it’s windy.

Install New Nozzles, Filters and Timers


Just as there are inventive products, such as bath aerators, that help reduce water consumption inside the home, there are also products to reduce water usage out of your hoses and sprinklers. Products such as garden hose nozzles, automatic lawn sprinkler timers and filters allow you to adjust spray settings, ranging from mist to soak, to get the perfect amount of water when you need it.

Wash Your Cars Conservatively

Saving water at home is especially important while washing your car. By simply turning the hose off every time you fill up a bucket of sudsy water, and then not turning it on again until you’re ready to rinse the car off, you can save more than 100 gallons of water in one washing. You could save even more water by using a waterless car washing system, and there are several of these to choose from.

This can go a long way toward the goal of water and energy conservation, which is good for the environment, good for your pocketbook and good for everyone sharing the Earth’s resources with you.



Author Bio:
Jesse loves to garden and takes good care of his lawn and other plants, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important to him to protect the environment. He thinks these tips are great ways to achieve both a beautiful landscape and a healthy planet, and hopes they help others make good choices in and around their homes.

Posted By : Blogger Chargers22:11

Friday 24 January 2014

Top 10 Financial Planning Tips for Charities

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Charitable organisations have different goals, focuses, and structure than for-profit businesses. Because of these and other considerations, they require different advice regarding financial planning. The following tips are designed to help charities, even during tough economic times
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1. Be Knowledgeable about Tax Information
The IRS is a constant presence in the life of a charitable organization. For planning purposes, it is useful to know about the life cycle of a public charity, a useful refresher for many finance officers from the IRS, geared toward helping nonprofits.

2. Communicate with Stakeholders
An organization's stakeholders are its allies and can be an important resource. A charity may have among its supporters those with advanced skills that can be put to use for the cause. These can include accountants, auditors, bankers, and tax attorneys, to suggest a few possibilities. Communicate with them and avail the organization of that knowledge.

3. Balance Short and Long-term Planning
It is not enough for a charity to plan for next year alone; they must also plan for five, ten, and fifteen years. Striking a balance between immediate and long-term priorities can be difficult. In hard times, however, it may be advantageous to focus on shorter term goals until conditions improve.

4. Build Reserves for Lean Times
Inasmuch as possible, the organization needs to have reserves to handle times when donations drop off or unexpected expenses hit. Exercising fiscal wisdom, including cost control, capital management, and understanding cost structure, all help with this difficult goal.

5. Monitor Cashflow Carefully
Knowing where the money goes each month or quarter is a crucial step in planning. The organization must be attentive to this factor, not only because it affects the overall success of the mission, but because mismanagement draws the wrong kind of publicity and attention.


6. Improve the Skills of Managers and Trustees
Continuing education for finance officers, managers, and trustees can pay dividends as new ways to manage funds are discovered and better methods are learned. Organisations exist that help provide both training and support to charities seeking to improve their financial literacy, including Charities Aid Foundation.

7. Consider Outside Assistance
If possible, utilising professional financial planners to get an organization off the ground or fill in the gaps might prove an ideal solution to long-term financial planning. Many planners can put everything in order and then leave the regular staff with a tidy five or ten year financial plan.

8. Analyse Strategy Decisions
Analyze decisions and act with parsimony. Every decision should be goal-oriented and if the mission isn't furthered by a financial decision, then that decision should not be made.

9. Conduct Periodic Reviews
Learn from past and present mistakes, and use that knowledge to plan for a better future. Good organizations are continuously examining their decisions to find the strategies that worked best for them and got the results they need.

10. Engage in Contingency Planning
A charitable organization should always have a plan at the ready for emergencies and the ability to carry it out, if needed. This contingency plan will also require frequent, enlightened updating to ensure its viability, should the charity ever need to act in an emergency, financial or otherwise.In summary, charities have a lot to think about in terms of financial planning. Beginning with these tips, any organization should be able to improve its situation and clarify its direction and financial goals for the future.


Author Bio:
Emslie is a Manager for a popular charity and financial planning is her main priority. Emslie recommends Francis Clark Financial Planning for those looking for expert financial advice.

Posted By : Blogger Chargers04:52

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Ideas For Corporate Event Planners

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Corporate events are fun occasions to let the employees get to know each other better and allow them to feel that they are a part of the team. Thus, a great corporate event will not only provide entertainment for all participants, it might also bring long-lasting results in the form of a team that works harder to achieve the common goals. Check how to organize corporate event that will be remembered for long.


Inside or outside?

Typically, corporate events are held in meeting rooms in hotels, but depending on the season you can also consider other options and vote for an outside events. Barbecue is perfect if you are looking for something less formal and it allows to invite not only the employees, but also their families. Outside sport events and other games raise the team spirit much better than any motivational speech. Short trips and weekend conventions outside of town are also preferred by some employees, who see them as a fun way of spending time.

Entertainment above all

Why are you organizing the corporate event? Is it a way to award your employees for their hard work or motivate them to do better next year? Is solidifying the new team of professionals your main goal or do you simply want to celebrate special occasion with your co-workers? In each case your goals can be achieved better if you choose entertainment over long and dull speeches. Keep all formal announcements down to the absolute minimum. Instead choose more informal and fun ways of getting your message across. When choosing the entertainers, games and acts to fill the event with follow a certain theme or simply ask your co-workers what they would like to do and support the most popular ideas. If you follow a certain theme you can also ask the attendees to wear costumes to the party and create suitable decorations to make it more fun. If you are planning an outdoor event physical activities and competitions are great options. It is also a good idea to prepare a surprise entertainment – a live band or stand-up comedian performance will be the star of the evening and something your co-workers will appreciate even more since they did not see it coming.


Be creative with the promotion

If the number of participants in your corporate event is very moderate then informing them about the upcoming party is fairly easy thing to do, but the more the attendees, the more it pays off to engage social media in the process and create a fun way to promote your event online. Make a funny film to advertise the event and send it to all participants. Create a Facebook event and use Twitter to remind the attendees about the upcoming party. If the event is a part of a larger venture, for example a launch of a new product, invite also business partners and customers to the event. Buy advertising on social media and engage bloggers to promote the event and give out free passes.

Author Bio: The author of the article, Irina Kovalyova, is a blogger, marketer and Social Media lover who is now leading the Ubag project dedicated to custom balloons printing

Posted By : Blogger Chargers01:25

Wednesday 8 January 2014

An Introduction to Cyber Law

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In the current age, a thief can steal more precious stuff with a computer than with a gun. The exponential growth in e-commerce, online stock trading, and sharing of pictures and personal information has led to a rise in the amount of criminal activities on the internet. These illicit activities are all part of the cyber world, a world where unlawful acts are committed using computers. Computers in such cases are either used as a tool to steal or can be the target. The following article discusses about laws against internet crime and the law colleges in India teaching cyber law.

 
What is Cyber Crime?
The misuse of computers has given birth to a range of new age offenses that are addressed by the Information Technology Act, 2000. Any unlawful action in the virtual space considered felonious is referred to as cybercrime. It can include criminal activities like theft, forgery, fraud, mischief, and defamation. All these are subject to Indian Penal Code. Cybercrime can be reported against individuals, entities, property and governments. There is also a unique kind of cyber terrorism doing the rounds these days. 

 . Cybercrime against people can include broadcast of child pornography, harassment via e-mail, and spreading of obscenity.

 . Cybercrime against property can include vandalism of the computer, stealing confidential data, robbing of funds from banks and other financial institutions, and diffusion of harmful programs.  

. Cybercrime against government may include cyber terrorism. This category consists of cases where cyberspace is used to threaten national or international governments and terrorize citizens. The crime turns more serious when the person or group breaks into a military or government-run website.

The need of cyber laws in India 
During the genesis of the internet, nobody had inkling that the virtual world could pose as a threat to the security of people and property. Today, the internet is part of the fast-permeating revolution that can be abused for criminal deeds and so it has to be regulated.

Anonymity and concealment are the biggest reasons why an increasing number of crimes are happening over the internet.  It is probable for one to engage in criminal acts with impunity. That is why some intellectual people have been misusing this facet to propagate unlawful undertakings. In order to safeguard the citizens and their sanctity, there need to be proper cyber laws in India.

The significance of cyber laws
Cyber law is extremely important as it touches practically all the aspects of monetary transactions and other events going on across the Internet, namely the cyberspace and World Wide Web. It may initially appear that the field of cyber laws is technical and that law does not have any connotation of virtual actions. However, it should be understood that all activities in the cyberspace have certain legal perspectives that can help those being victimized.

How does cyber law concern me?
Cyber laws concern all those using the internet, which practically includes everyone. With the uses of internet increasing day by day, the dynamic nature of the digital medium makes it the most advanced means of networking and communication. All the actions taking place have a legal standpoint.

From the moment you register the domain name for a site to the time you actually set it up and start its promotion, you have to know that there are legal issues attached to every move you make. Whether sending and receiving electronic mail, posting defamatory content on social networking sites or making electronic commerce transactions, there are numerous cyber law issues that can put you in a tight spot if you are on the wrong side of the law. In a contrasting situation, you can also make use of these laws to seek help against illegitimate activities concerning you.

It is likely that some people are least bothered about safety on the internet as they may feel distant and that the happenings in the virtual world may not impact them. However, sooner or later they will have to pay heed to what cyber law experts and other professionals say. The law fraternity is promoting the field of cyber law as it is an upcoming field. This can be said by gauging the volume of traffic of websites and load on the World Wide Web. The country needs lawyers and cyber law experts who can stand up for the victims of cybercrime. The field is soon going to witness a boom and there will be a sudden need for qualified professionals.

There are various top law colleges in India that teach law courses concerning internet crime. The following are some of the finest law colleges of India –



National Law School of India University – Based in Bangalore, this institute has been ranked as the best law institute in India. It offers Post graduate diploma in cyber laws and cyber forensics. It also offers other law programs like B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), LLM - Master of Laws, M.Phil. (Master of Philosophy), LL.D. - Doctor of Laws and Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy. 

National Academy of Legal Studies and Research University – NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, is presently ranked second among the law universities of India. Set up in the year 1998, this esteemed college offers Post Graduate Diploma in Cyber Law. It also offers LL.B. courses, LL.M., M.Phil., PhD, and many exchange programs.

National Law Institute University – Based in Bhopal, this law school was set up in the year 1997. It offers M.Sc. in Cyber Law and Information Security (M.S.C.L.I.S). It also teaches B.A., LL.B (Hons.), and LL.M. degree courses.

Author bio: Devika Arora is a prolific writer who compiles relevant facts and analyzes the current state of affairs pertaining to the domain of education in India. She is currently writing informative articles, news stories and blog posts on Indian educational institutes and the various courses offered by them like art courses, media courses, medical colleges, various B.Ed colleges and many more. The above article discusses about Indian law colleges teaching cyber law.


Posted By : Blogger Chargers00:27