Chester to seek home comforts with his squatters

Hull Citys James Chester gets the better of Leeds Uniteds Andy Keogh in the recent encounter at Elland Road. Picture: James Hardisty.
Hull City defender James Chester will be harbouring two hopes this weekend – a home win for the Tigers plus some peace and quiet at home. Richard Sutcliffe reports.
BEING called ‘Dad’ at the age of 22 years old is pretty unremarkable.
When the individuals addressing you are aged 19 and 20, however, then it is has to be considered a little bit out of the ordinary.
For James Chester, though, it has become an everyday occurrence since the Hull City defender allowed team-mates Cameron Stewart, Joe Dudgeon and Robbie Brady to move into the house he bought over the summer.
It is one of the reasons why, as the former Manchester United Academy graduate told the Yorkshire Post ahead of today’s Championship encounter with Reading, he wants them out.
Or Dudgeon and Brady, at least.
“They never shut up,” is how Chester responds with a huge smile on his face when asked what it is like sharing his home with the Tigers trio. “Or Robbie and Joe don’t, at least.
“Those two are driving me mad so I am trying to get rid of them. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice to have five of us at Hull who came through together at Manchester United.
“There were three of us last year – me, Cam and Corry Evans – and we all lived together in a club house. That was good but I wanted my own place so bought somewhere.
“Cam also moved in but then so did Robbie and Joe after they had signed (from United). Robbie and Joe are now driving me mad so I am trying to get rid of them.
“They never shut up. They call me ‘Dad’, seemingly because I am the only one who puts things away. I am the responsible one. It is why I want them out.”
Chester’s pleas for his team-mates to move out may have fallen on deaf ears, much to his frustration. But, when it comes to football, the 22-year-old could not be happier to have so many Old Trafford old boys at the KC Stadium.
Lifelong Red Devils fan Chester said: “I first met Joe and Cam at a very young age as we all joined United as schoolboys. Corry (Evans) and Robbie then came over (from Belfast) at the age of 16.
“Knowing each other for such a long time makes it really good that we are at the same club now.
“We all realise how privileged and lucky we were to come through the Manchester United Academy. It is a very special club, which also has the best coaches and the best facilities in this country.
“Thanks to United, we have had the best upbringing we could have hoped for and, hopefully, Hull will benefit from that.
“It was a good move (of the manager) to bring Joe and Robbie in (the latter on loan). As footballers, they are two very good signings. I have known both for a long time so know they are more than capable of playing at this level.”
Warrington-born Chester joined Hull last January in a deal worth around £300,000 and quickly became one of the first names on manager Nigel Pearson’s team-sheet.
His debut against Barnsley was marked with a home win, and his third game at the KC Stadium brought a first goal in Hull colours as the derby game with Leeds United finished 2-2.
Since then, however, highs on home soil have been conspicuous only by their absence for both Chester and Hull.
In fact, the defender’s 14 appearances at the KC have brought just three wins and seven defeats. And as if to underline just why the Tigers are struggling on home soil, during those 14 games Pearson’s men have netted just 12 goals.
During the same period, Hull have won six and drawn three of 11 games Chester has played on the road.
Such a contrasting record – plus the fact all three home games this term, including Macclesfield Town’s visit in the Carling Cup, have ended in defeat without a goal having been scored – is why the pressure is on Hull to deliver today against Reading.
Chester, though, insists there is no mental block among the Tigers’ squad when it comes to playing in front of the club’s own fans.
He said: “I enjoy playing at the KC. I have come from playing reserve team football and at Carlisle (during a four-month loan spell last season), where there were 3,000-4,000 there. I want to play as high as possible, and to do that it means in front of big crowds.
“Playing in front of 25,000 people is part of my learning curve and is something I enjoy. It is not something I fear at all. I don’t feel any different when preparing for a home game than I do one that is away. It just isn’t happening at home but we are working hard to put that right, hopefully starting against Reading.
“Teams come to the KC and make it difficult by sitting back. Crystal Palace defended really well (last weekend to win 1-0) but Reading are more of an attacking team and that should suit us.
“They finished last season really well and were unlucky not to go up. They have lost a couple of players, including Shane Long, but it is still a strong squad and I am sure they will be looking to emulate last year and go up.”
Asked if he felt anxiety was creeping in among the home fans, Chester replied: “The crowd pay their money to come and watch, and are not getting what they expect to see.
“But, believe me, we don’t go into games wanting to lose and it is not a nice feeling.
“The fans can help. We have young players and anxiety can pass on to the players. But they do pay their money and are allowed their opinions.
“I don’t think expectation has been a burden or anything like that. We are all confident we are good players and we know we have a good squad.
“It is still very early days and the league has already shown its unpredictability with West Ham and Leicester, who spent lots of money, not starting as well as they hoped.
“There is a long way to go and we have a good squad. One win will be all we need to turn things round.”
Three points today, therefore, would do very nicely. Especially if accompanied by Chester’s house being nice and quiet for the rest of the weekend to allow ‘Dad’ a chance to enjoy a welcome sleep.
richard.sutcliffe@ypn.co.uk
Source http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/

Home makeover moves Calgary mom to tears

By Sean Myers, Calgary Herald

Tears were running down Cheryl Morrisey's cheeks when she stepped into her new master bedroom, and then she broke down all over.
"It's beautiful," she said, clearly overwhelmed.
She walked into her ensuite, the first time she's had her own bathroom.
"I'm dreaming," she murmured to her four wide-eyed daughters as she poked her head in the shower.
Morrisey, a single mother, was handed the keys to her new 3,500-square-foot home in Kingsland, which is situated where the family's previous drafty 990-square-foot bungalow had been situated.
Morrisey's husband left her seven years ago with four girls to raise - the youngest was three months old at the time - and a mortgage to pay.
Morrisey, who had been a stay-at-home mom, took a job as a bus driver. Eventually she was hired by a law firm as a legal assistant, but upkeep on the home, which was already in rough shape, fell by the wayside.
She entered a Christian support program for single-parent families run by Cornerstone of Hope and became a volunteer. Soon she was babysitting for other families and taking care of seniors at a nearby longterm care facility with her daughters.
All the while, the family of five was sharing two bedrooms and one bathroom at home.
One of Morrisey's friends mentioned to Kerry Wiebe, a volunteer with the program who owns Christian Contractors, that Morrisey didn't have heat in her house.
When he went to investigate, Wiebe found a home that was beyond repair.
"I looked through the house and found mould through all the floor joists, and cold air blowing through plug-ins. The whole house hadn't had a dime spent on it since it was built some 60 years ago," said Wiebe.
"The house had been hit by lightning two or three times and the electrical and everything, it was just savage."
So Wiebe started calling his suppliers, at first thinking he could try to make some extensive repairs.
But inspired by the television show Extreme Makeover, a plan was soon hatched to knock the place down and build a new home using donations of time, money and materials.
The old house was demolished in May. Over 40 companies and hundreds of workers built the new two-storey, six-bedroom home.
Each of Morrisey's daughters - Emberlynn, 7, Delcia, 10, Cassandra, 15, and Bernice, 17 - has her own room and bathroom sink.
Wiebe estimated the total cost of the home, including furnishings, at about $600,000.
That's all been covered.
Morrisey still has about $50,000 left on her old mortgage, which she'll continue to pay, but she no longer has to worry about getting up in the middle of the night in the winter to check the boiler, "wiggling some wires" to keep it going.
"It's incredible," said Morrisey.
Wiebe said his partners have already suggested doing another home.
SMYERS@CALGARYHERALD.COM

Rovers hoping to stay at home

SOCCER: SHAMROCK ROVERS hope to know by early next week whether they will be allowed to stage their three home matches in the group stages of the Europa League in Tallaght.
Club chairman Jonathan Roche insisted yesterday that every effort would be made to win the required support of the FAI and Uefa for playing there.
It had been widely assumed that in the event a Dublin club made it to the group stages of an European competition that their games might be staged at the Aviva Stadium but Rovers are wary of over-extending themselves and anxious to use what will be big occasions to further bed themselves down in what is still a relatively new home for them.
Rovers entered the draw as the lowest ranked of the 48 clubs and when they were placed in the same group as Tottenham Hotspur, who were ranked highest, a move to Lansdowne Road seemed entirely logical.
Neither of the other two clubs in the group – Rubin Kazan and PAOK of Salonika – would have anything like the public appeal in Ireland of the Londoners, however, and when it emerged that the home game against Harry Redknapp’s side had been scheduled for the last round of matches, staying in Tallaght started to make a good deal more sense.
“I wouldn’t say we’re concerned (about order of the games) because we want to play the games in Tallaght,” insisted Roche when asked yesterday if the timing of the Tottenham games had been a blow.
“Not really when you see the crowds for Ireland internationals or crowds for tournaments with some of the best teams in the world.
“Now I know the pricing would be different and all that but with all due respect to Rubin Kazan and PAOK . . . we’d prefer to stay in Tallaght.”  He was, he said, happy overall with the draw.
“We wanted a big boy and we got Tottenham. Obviously Rubin Kazan have a bit of a name as well and PAOK are probably one of these lethal teams that you don’t hear much about.
“But we’ve surprised ourselves in all of the games that we’ve played in. We’ve coped quite well. And now this is a new learning curve.
“Our players won’t mind going to White Hart Lane, they won’t mind going to Greece, they didn’t mind going to Belgrade so they mightn’t mind going to Rubin Kazan either. It’s something different.
“We’ll see on Monday night (when they play UCD in the FAI Cup) whether it’s all getting to them.”
The Russians will be first to come to Dublin with the game scheduled for September 15th with a 6pm kick-off. Getting the go-ahead to stage the game in Tallaght will involve installing at least 2,500 temporary seats and making a range of other improvements and adjustments to the venue so as to conform with Uefa regulations, primarily in relation to areas like media and marketing.
“Eight and a half thousand is the minimum but we’d probably look to put in 4,000 to make it 10,000,” said Roche.
The club is keen to do the work required although there is no guarantee that they will be allowed to and even if they are, he emphasises, the cost of the improvements may eat into the estimated €1 million they are guaranteed in prize money for participating at this stage of the competition.
“Basically it’s a million in prize money but then there’s the other side of the balance sheet which nobody seems to look at except ourselves,” he said.
General manager Noel Byrne said the hope is that the club might manage to generate enough revenue from ticket sales and commercial activities to cover all of the costs, thereby preserving the lump sum for investment in the club.
“It won’t impact on the (playing) budget too much,” maintained Roche. “We have things that we want to do at the club. We want to develop our own training ground out at Kiltipper; there are a lot of things, so we won’t be going doubling our budget, that’s for sure.”
There will be additional costs on the playing side, however, with members of the current squad due to get the last of their wages for the year when the domestic season finishes at the start of November. Extensions will have to be organised bringing them up until at least December 15th when the group schedule is completed by the visit to Dublin of Tottenham.
There is also likely to be a move to clarify matters in relation to bonuses for getting this far and, with the club now earning an additional €140,000 for each win and half that for a draw, for any further achievements over the coming months.
Byrne shared Roche’s confidence that the matter can be resolved quickly and amicably and joked that after another night of celebrations at the final whistle, the club will start the talks in a position of some strength. “The players all owe me money for jerseys,” he said.
“They keep giving the things away.”
Source http://www.irishtimes.com/

Home exchange – cut the cost of your holiday

By Patrick Collinson
After swapping his house in London, Patrick Collinson found himself staying in a brownstone villa in Illinois's answer to Islington

Home exchange made a holiday in Chicago cheaper and also more memorable. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Want a modern, three-bed residence in Edinburgh for a long weekend during the festival? Then wave goodbye to possibly £1,000. Fancy staying 10 days in a vast, $1m-plus, five-bed brownstone villa in Chicago's most happening neighbourhood? You're probably looking at another couple of grand. Yet I got both for free – all I had to do was exchange them for my relatively modest terraced home in south London.
Friends, of course, think you're mad inviting strangers into your home. Your place will be trashed. Once your home is pictured on an exchange site, you'll be targeted for robbery. You'll have your ID stolen and your bank account looted. They'll nick your car.
The night before your first exchange, while you're frantically cleaning the fridge/oven/bathroom, changing sheets and shoving personal stuff in the loft, you do wonder if it's really worth it. Wouldn't it be better just to cough up for a proper hotel in town and relax, knowing everything's OK back home?
The answer's simple. No. First, you can't argue with the money-saving aspect of home exchange. This year alone I've saved at least £3,000 through swapping. But just as important is the very different holiday experience you enjoy – living like locals rather than ticking off the usual tourist attractions.
The first night in Chicago, I sat out in 30C heat on the wooden back deck, slightly dazed after landing such an extraordinary home in Illinois's answer to Islington. Happily knocking back the wine my American hosts had kindly left out for me, I suffered that slight embarrassment I'm sure many other home exchangers feel. I realised I'd got a better deal than they had. Had I "oversold" my place on the exchange site? What would they be thinking right now? That my place was, well, a bit low-rent in comparison with theirs? It's perhaps a nagging feeling that never quite leaves you when you swap homes.
The Americans had left extensive local information and told me the neighbours would probably call round. Sure enough, the next day Christy was at the porch, my introduction to just how fabulously friendly Americans can be. "Do you want a beer? Do you want a car?" The most delightful Americans don't understand the concept of being without a car.
"Take our Jaguar. And what are you doing this week? Do you want to come out to west Chicago? We'll show you the bits the tourists don't get to see."
Well, it would have been rude not to. So a few days later, the Mag Mile, the Lake Michigan waterfront bike ride and the Art Institute already under my belt, I found myself at Christy Webber Landscapes. The neighbours, I could see, were pretty big in Chicago landscaping. No wonder she could afford to offer me that Jaguar, when the company she owned had 280 other vehicles. I got the tour of her 12-acre eco-industrial plant, then headed out in a red pick-up truck to landscaping projects and urban farms that are replacing burnt-out blocks in the edgy and otherwise derelict inner-west suburbs of the city. Not, perhaps, the usual thing you get up to on holiday, but one of the resounding memories of my trip.
The internet can be a fearful place – full of scams, fraud, rip-offs and viruses. But home exchange proves it can also be about making connections you'd never otherwise achieve. My guess is that home exchange only really works if you reckon that most people are, most of the time, pretty virtuous and civilised – that they'll treat your home in the way you'd treat it yourself. But the net also allows you to check out who's taking your home, and find out more about the property. Once I'd made contact online and expressed interest in swapping, I did my research. Google Maps allows you to pinpoint the exchanger's home, and Street View lets you snoop round the neighbourhood. Maybe it was just in-bred journalistic nosiness, but it comforted me that I could find out surprisingly large amounts of information about the place I was heading to and the people coming to stay in my own home.
I chose HomeExchange.com because it offered the biggest selection of properties in the city I wanted to visit. It was slightly pricier than the others, but with a discount code I got the membership fee down to just £58 for a year.
After signing up, you find yourself turning into an estate agent-cum-lonely hearts advert writer, as you compose your property write-up. Oversell yourself and find the wrong partner? Undersell and never get anyone interested? Does "seven minutes to Victoria" work for someone in San Francisco the same way it does in London? Should I mention the actually quite frequent plane noise?
Next, you realise your home is full of quirks that you happily live with but that might madden a visitor. The bathroom light cord that only someone taller than 6ft 5in can reach. The broken oven timer. The rust-covered barbecue. That stain on the mattress that doesn't bother you but, ahem, it doesn't look pretty. One of the joys of home exchange, however, is that it forces you to get on with the little DIY jobs you have steadfastly ignored.
Just having an entry on a home exchange site, though, doesn't guarantee that you'll find a match. There were about 100 properties in both Chicago and Edinburgh on the site. In Chicago, I emailed about 20 before I found someone who was interested in swapping and, crucially, was happy with the dates in July I was proposing. Edinburgh was much the same – except that lots of listings had a stern message warning potential swappers not to bother asking about availability during the festival. Once we had agreed swap dates, we made it contractual. It's not a requirement for users of the site, but we felt happier having documents confirming that we were going ahead.
I didn't opt for auto exchange, fancying my 11-year-old car a tad unattractive to swappers, and hey, I live in central – oops, zone 2 – London, anyway. Everything else I (and they) made available – from the Wii to Wi-Fi, from Netflix to Sky. Having the resources (and space) of a house – the washing machine, cooker, garden, books, CDs, DVDs and so on – made holidaying so much more comfortable.
My only regret has been that on my second swap, to Edinburgh, I perhaps spent less time cleaning than I should have done. It was only a long weekend, I thought. But their place was immaculate, mine rather less so. They had a beautiful basket of gifts waiting for me on my arrival; I had scribbled out a note and left a bottle of plonk. Home exchange is a wonderful thing. But always remember to clean the oven ...

What you need to know if you want to swap

If you've come back from a conventional holiday to a big credit card bill, and you're keen to explore house swapping for next year, getting going couldn't be easier. The internet was made for house swapping and there are a host of websites to choose from. Here are a few tips to help you find the exchange you are looking for.
• If you're looking for an overseas exchange, pick the website that offers the largest number of listings in the country you wish to visit, and the fewest number in the UK (assuming you live there). This dramatically improves your chances of finding a swap. For example, HomeForExchange.com, probably the best value (it charges £37 a year), has more than 2,000 properties listed in the US and 800 in Canada. There are 740 in England.
• The biggest home-swap website is HomeLink.org.uk. It has thousands of swaps all over the world, but it is also one of the most expensive sites to join – £115 a year. A cheaper option is the Guardian's site (guardianhomeexchange.co.uk). This costs from £35 a year and is excellent if you want to swap within the UK – there are 1,100 UK homes listed – but not so good if you want to go abroad. For example, in Germany it currently lists only 20 homes. HomeExchange.com has a large list of properties around the world and costs about £75 a year to join. It is possible to reduce this by 30% by using discount vouchers available on the web. The National Childbirth Trust operates a swap service between members – details at ncthouseswap.ning.com. Another excellent site is SabbaticalHomes.com, aimed at academics looking for longer swaps/rentals but open to non-academics too.
• Once you have chosen your site, take plenty of attractive photos of your property and write a good description of it, one that sells the benefits but does not over-promise. Be candid about your home – if a railway line runs past the end of your garden, the general view is that you have to be upfront about it.
• You then need to start contacting potential swappers. You can write a basic letter and send it off to as many swaps as you are prepared to do. It's a scattergun approach, and many people won't reply, but plenty will. Then it's just a case of finding a swap that fits your needs. If you have children, it makes sense to switch with people who are in the same boat – or who have at least had children themselves.
• Experienced home exchangers say that once you have found a likely candidate, it is well worth spending time talking to make sure that both parties know exactly what to expect. Some advise drawing up an informal contract, which sets out who will be arriving when, and who will pay for what – useful if swapping cars, for example. Some swappers ask for references. It is worth doing a few basic checks to establish that your guests are who they say they are. It is a good idea to lock valuables away because, in the unlikely event that anything goes missing, your insurer will not pay out.
• Cleanliness is essential. Your house should be spotless, and you need to leave the place you visit in the same condition you found it. Some swappers hire professional cleaners, arguing that the cost is more than outweighed by their holiday savings.
Source http://www.guardian.co.uk

Wealth managers dip tentative toe in hedge fund waters

By Alice Ross

Wealth managers seeking a more stable home for their clients’ assets, as equity markets remain volatile, have been recommending London-listed hedge funds – which aim to make money in all market conditions and protect against lossesIn the past month, a number of hedge funds have produced positive returns in spite of heavy falls in global equity markets. BH Macro, a single-manager listed hedge fund, was up 7.1 per cent in the month to Wednesday, compared with a 13.8 per cent fall in the FTSE World Index over the same period.
“On a select basis, hedge funds fulfil a valuable role within portfolio construction and, over recent weeks, investors in these funds have become blatantly aware of their value,” argues James Maltin, a director at Rathbones, which owns BH Macro and Aspect Diversified Trends, a quant fund, for its clients.
Stonehage, the family office, has between 25 and 30 per cent of its clients’ money in hedge funds.
Ronnie Armist, executive director, prefers “macro” hedge funds that aim to profit from movements in the global economy, rather than taking bets on specific equities.
But he warns that clients can have concerns over the high fees charged by hedge fund managers. Funds of hedge funds have double layers of management fees, while single manager hedge fund will typically also charge a performance fee.
“There are concerns about fees in funds of hedge funds, and one has to be cautious,” admits Armist. “But sometimes you find a very good one you’re happy to put money in,” he says.
He recommends that investors hold a mix of different hedge funds, so they are not reliant on just one team to make the right calls. He also checks the shareholder registers of single hedge funds to find out if funds of hedge funds have invested in them – he warns that this is “hot money” that could be taken out in a hurry if markets fall and investors demand their money back.
Ewan Lovett Turner, an analyst at Numis Securities, says clients have been phoning him this week interested in BH Macro and BH Global due to their performance in August. However, he adds: “It’s still an area where people have been burned in the past, and [investors] are waiting for them to prove themselves in these markets before returning.”
Some wealth managers are still avoiding hedge funds altogether. Many of the vehicles failed to protect investors as much as they might have hoped in the market crash of 2008, falling 20 per cent on average compared with a 40 per cent fall in equities. Tom Becket, chief investment officer at PSigma, thinks that a mixture of equities for growth and cash for protection can serve investors better than investing in a sector that suffers a lack of transparency and liquidity.
But others say the industry has moved on since the last market crash. “I think 2008 certainly cleaned out some of the less astute hedge fund managers – there’s no doubt about it,” says Armist. “Gearing [borrowing to invest] is less dramatic and I think, ultimately, over the medium term, to get capital preservation, hedge funds definitely have a place in a diversified portfolio.”
Some wealth managers are prefer single-manager hedge funds to funds of funds. Kieran Drake at Winterflood Securities argues that it is easier for investors to see what is going on in a single-manager fund. “We had a meeting with a fund of hedge funds and they had to ring round all the different funds they invest in and ask how performance was going in the market turmoil,” he says. “In single manager funds, it is quite transparent.”
But wealth managers agree that it is difficult to pick the best performers.
“The space is full of many poorly performing funds, so it is essential to focus on the best managers in the region,” says Adrian Lowcock at Bestinvest. He likes BH Global and BlueCrest AllBlue, which has returned 71 per cent to investors over five years.
Buying listed funds also offers the opportunity to buy funds when they are looking cheap. Drake suggests buying Dexion Absolute and BlueCrest AllBlue, both of which are trading on avove-average discounts to their net asset values.

Solar power in California is still a hot topic

By Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times

Solar power remains popular. But lower rebates and a higher cost to lease change the landscape.

 Abundant sunshine has made Southern California one of the brightest markets for residential solar power in the country. Some might say too bright.

Encouraged by federal tax credits and a municipal rebate, so many Los Angeles residents sought to add rooftop solar panels at the start of the year that the Department of Water and Power had to suspend its Solar Incentive Program in April because of overwhelming demand and funding concerns. But on Thursday — at 10 a.m., to be precise — the DWP will relaunch the program, albeit with reduced rebates and a new online system to process applications.

What do the new rebates mean for homeowners? For those who want to go green and add solar panels, what will the new out-of-pocket expenses look like? And potentially most important, how will the new rebates affect the ability of residents in Los Angeles and beyond to lease panels instead of buy them — a popular way to get solar installed with minimal up-front costs? The answer to that leasing question isn't too sunny, but first let's look at the broader solar-power landscape.

The last time the DWP offered a solar rebate, homeowners who bought and installed photovoltaic panels were reimbursed $3.25 per watt, or $16,250 for a typical 5-kilowatt system. The average cost of this system was about $35,000, so the rebate covered nearly half. Savings on electric bills meant that the solar panels typically paid for themselves after 10 to 12 years.

New economics

Under the new rebate structure, homeowners will be reimbursed $2 to $2.20 per watt, or $10,000 to $11,000 for a typical system. That lowers the incentive to about 30% of total costs. Homeowners will recoup their investment in about 13 to 15 years, said Michael S. Webster, assistant director of DWP power system planning and development. (Rebate rates for homes with leased solar panels will be even lower, but more on that later.)

The other wrinkle: The DWP estimates that about 700 residential installations will qualify for these rebate amounts, and then the rate will drop even further. For subsequent homeowners who buy their systems, the rebate drops to $1.62 per watt, or $8,100 for a typical 5-kilowatt system. At this rate, 2,000 more installations can be completed before the rebate drops yet again, to $1.05 per watt.

If history is any indication, the DWP could receive those first 700 applications within four months, possibly sooner. At least one solar installer reports accumulating a backlog of as many as 300 applications in the four months that the city's Solar Incentive Program was shut down. Bottom line: The largest rebates are expected to go fast.

Why the tiered structure? The idea behind these incentives is to get people to buy something new — something that they might not otherwise invest in because of cost. Once enough people buy in, however, the market grows larger, and economies of scale help to bring down the free-market prices. More people theoretically can make the purchase without incentives.

Indeed, the cost of solar panels has been decreasing, thanks to an increase in companies entering the market and a recession-induced glut of supply. In the first quarter of this year, solar panels cost 30% less than during the same period in 2010, according to the Solar Energy Industries Assn. in Washington D.C.

The bad news: Panels and other hardware constitute roughly half of the total cost of installation, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratories. The other half is composed of soft costs, principally labor, that can be difficult to reduce.

Gloomy outlook

How these new numbers pencil out will be particularly crucial in the world of solar panel leasing. Many residents have installed solar through leasing companies that require no money down but charge a monthly fee for use of the panels. For many customers, that monthly bill is roughly equal to what they had been paying the utility company, so solar was a no-brainer: They could go green with no costs up front and little or no increase in their monthly expenses. In some cases, their monthly expenses went down. By some estimates, leasing agreements account for about half of the California solar market.

Under the new rebate structure, however, companies that install solar as part of a lease agreement will get smaller rebates: $1.95 per watt, or $9,750 for a typical residential project, if among that first group of 700 installations. The rate drops to $1.50, or $7,500 for a typical home, for the next 2,000 installations.

Some companies say the reduced rates make these so-called third-party systems no longer financially viable. Verengo, which had been one of the city's largest installers of residential solar, said it already has pulled out of the L.A. market as a result.

Verengo used to offer a lease with zero money down. Now, in order to still make money on a job, Verengo would have to charge customers $4,000 to $5,000 upfront, a proposition that is "unsellable," Verengo President Ken Button said.

Other companies, such as SolarCity, are trying to entice customers in other ways. SolarCity plans to leverage its Energy Efficiency Services, which helps customers to upgrade to more energy-efficient appliances and heating and cooling systems that are eligible for state and local utility rebates. Solar becomes part of a larger effort to help customers reduce their electricity use and pocket additional rebates.

But some installers, particularly those that specialize in third-party systems, say the math no longer makes sense. To continue offering solar installations with no or little money up front would require an increase in leasing fees. In L.A., the result would be monthly charges that exceed homeowners' old electric bills by 25% to 30% — again, a difficult proposition to sell to prospective customers, installers said.

Supporters of the newly reduced rebates point out that the program is funded by DWP customers, so although higher rebates would be nice, they would require extracting more money from all customers at a time when rates already are expected to rise. DWP has proposed increasing electricity rates an average of 5.6% annually for the next three years, beginning Nov. 1. That alone should drive demand for solar, officials said.

"Everyone knows electricity prices are going up," DWP's Webster said. "It's only upward pressure on electricity. From an investment perspective, solar is a very, very safe investment."

So, while electricity prices go up and rebate amounts head down, solar-panel installers keep pressing for ways to lower the cost of going green. Sun Run advocates governmental reform to cut the waiting-in-line time for permits. Other installers are embracing technology.

Sungevity, a solar lease provider based in Oakland, uses aerial photographs from the Internet to design solar installations, rather than sending staff to the site. Sungevity looks at how panels would be best positioned, uses customers' utility bill data to estimate the rebate, then emails its quote to the prospective customer.

The push for innovation is likely to continue here, where demand has long been strong. California accounts for half of all solar installations in the country. And since 2006, the number of solar installations in L.A. has increased 1,594%.home@latimes.com

Saving money with vouchers, discount codes and freebies

By Jill Papworth

We're all looking for ways to make savings. Jill Papworth offers a guide to getting started with discount vouchers

 Tuck in: voucher codes can get you discounts at many high street chains. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

Britain's "freeconomy" is thriving, with adults now saving an average of nearly £1,200 a year by using money-off vouchers, special deals and freebies, according to research issued this week.
The Halifax Home Insurance study shows how the economic downturn has turned us into a nation of bargain-hunters, with a fifth of those quizzed saying they rarely buy anything at full price. Deals on meals are the top target for a discount, as more than half (53%) save on restaurants, takeaways and fast food, with holidays and flights close behind.
Contrary to the national stereotype, 12% of adults admit to haggling to make sure the price is right, with only 1% saying they are too embarrassed to use discounts. The survey claims that getting a good deal has now become a "social activity," with 44% of us sharing discounts with friends.
As a result, more than one in four say they can now do things they otherwise never would, thanks to money-off codes and vouchers, such as buying better presents for family and friends.
If you have yet to join the bargain-hunting bandwagon, here are some tips to get you started:
Dozens of websites, including myvouchercodes.co.uk, vouchercodes.co.uk, everydaysale.co.uk, vouchercodes.com, moneysavingexpert.com and voucherseeker.co.uk, as well as our own Voucher codes site, offer discounts on products and services at a variety of online UK retailers including fashion, financial services, gifts, gadgets, books, CDs, DVDs, hotels, travel and eating out.
The offers range from a specific price, to scaled percentage reductions, to free delivery. Each website explains how to redeem the codes. In general, you click through to your chosen retailer's site, select your goods or services, and when you get to the checkout, enter the relevant promotional code and click "update". Most sites also feature printable vouchers that you can use to get discounts in high-street outlets such as two-for-one meals. Some sites acknowledge that codes may quickly fall out of date, and most encourage you to register free to receive the latest offers via email. Serious discount seekers register with more than one site because each negotiates its own discounts.
If you are shopping online, and are presented with the opportunity to input a code when paying for items, simply open up a new tab and search to see if it is listed on one of the discount code websites. If not, the chances are it is a code offered by the retailer only to an specific group of customers. Such codes do sometimes find their way into the public domain via websites such as hotukdeals.com.
Probably the most famous of the recycling sites, where you can pick up unwanted items for free or give away your own, is the Freecycle Network, which matches people who have things they want to get rid of, with people who can use them.
The laudable goal is to save landfill, and the result for bargain-hunters is a great way to pick up freebies. Run by local volunteer moderators, the first UK Freecycle group was set up in London in 2003, and there are now 540 across the country, with 2,490,981 members. You simply sign up with a group in your local area and then can post free "wanted" and "offer" messages and respond to other members' postings by email.The person giving away an item decides who gets it from the responses and sets up a collection time, posting a "taken" message on the item once collected.
From experiences in the Guardian Money office, we reckon the system works well. Items offered by my local group this week included working fridge freezers, TVs, a dog cage, two sofas, a brand new sink and toilet, and a bag of paperback thrillers.
Newer rival, Freegle, operates in a similar way and has 313 groups and 1,224,919 members. Though primarily a community classified advertising site with listings of items for sale, gumtree.com, which is available in most UK locations, has a useful "stuff for free" section. This week free offers in the London area included a large trampoline, free haircuts, a piano and house plants.
There are many websites offering free product samples or links to websites offering freebies, competitions and tips on saving and making money. The drawback with most of these, however, is that to get your freebie, you normally have to sign up with the site for regular emailed newsletters which can clog up your inbox. The way round this is to set up a secondary email account to register with sample sites and receive their newsletters.
Among the plethora of freebie sites worth a look are magicfreebiesuk.co.uk, freebielist.com, frugallerforum.co.uk, freesamplesuk.org, freebieuk.org.uk, freeinuk.co.uk and freestuffjunction.co.uk.
Source http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Kirk Communications SEO Company NH Helps Companies Get Noticed

 Portsmouth, NH -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/25/2011 -- Having a great product or service unfortunately doesn’t always mean your company is headed for success. If nobody knows about your business, it’s pretty hard to get anywhere. That’s why an SEO Company New Hampshire like Kirk Communications can be a great choice for any company. Kirk Communications has a highly trained team in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which helps companies get found on search engines.
As an SEO Company NH Kirk Communications works on getting your company highly ranked on Google, Yahoo, and Bing, where thousands of users are searching for businesses every minute. Kirk’s SEO Company New Hampshire is trained in SEO Content, Metrics, and Strategy.
Kirk’s SEO Company NH has highly trained professional SEO writers that understand the changing algorithms of search engines and make sure that your website is written to code.
Kirk’s SEO Company New Hampshire also makes sure that we’re giving you valuable SEO metrics. We make sure we’re giving you keywords that matter to your company and that users are searching for.
For example, we make sure that you rank for keywords that are going to drive traffic not just any old keyword. Anybody can pick a very specific keyword and rank first for it, but if nobody’s searching for that keyword then it won’t mean much to your company. Being a good SEO Company NH is about making sure our clients get noticed. We’ll help your company rank high for the keywords that hundreds or thousands are searching for!About Kirk Communications
Kirk Communications is an SEO company NH with additional offices in Luxembourg and New Delhi, India. In addition to being an SEO company New Hampshire Kirk Communications is a global provider of integrated marketing solutions including social media programs, public relations, Web site design and development, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay per Click (PPC) analytics and advanced 3D animation. The company shares its philosophy, based on a focused commitment to strategic and tactical corporate communications, with clients across a broad range of vertical markets including technology, financial services and healthcare. Beyond being an SEO company New Hampshire, Kirk Communications offers an extensive suite of state-of-the-art SEO and PPC analytics, that, in conjunction with innovative message development, helps its customers refine their brand, increase visibility and stay ahead of their competitors. Kirk Communications counts among its clients IDG, JungleTorch, Dorcy International, Optimize Interactive, Atlantic Plastic Surgery Center, SeaNet Technologies and Animetrics. For more information, please visit us on the web at http://www.kirkcommunications.com

Source: Kirk Communications

1 SEO India Company, 1 Web Design & Development Company, 1 RPO Agency

ONS Interactive Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is India's #1 360° New Media Company Specializing in Web Site Design & Development, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). 

It’s a pleasure introducing ONS Interactive Solutions Pvt. Ltd. India's #1 360° New Media Company Specializing in Web Site Design & Development, Profit By Outsourcing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Profit By Search & Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Profit By RPO.
ONS Interactive Solutions Pvt. Ltd.is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified company, having base at Noida, India, the IT and Business hub of India and are in New Media Business since September 2000 and have over 170 people in our team.
About our 3 Brands:
Profit By Search: #1 SEO India Company offering SEO Services India & Link Building India to SEO Company India
Profit By Search, Believes If a Website Keywords Ranks on Page 1 of Search Engine's like Google, Yahoo & Bing, Results can be better than Super Bowl ads, Airport Billboards, Magazine Inserts and Blimps. But drop to page two and the website might as well be invisible, As per a study by eMarketer.com in 2011 said that "only 17% of searchers bothered to move past the first page of their search results." Thereby Profit By Search concludes that, Keywords Ranking on or beyond Page 2 is good for tracking trends but has almost no business value.
Now the million dollar question is of how a Website can Rank on Page 1 of Search Engines?
Answer to this Million Dollar Question is a technique called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that employs a combination of factors to help a website achieve higher rankings in major search engines organically.
If a website get the above factors right, then this would cement that Website's Rankings on Page 1 of all the Major Search Engines. But If a website Owner doesn't have the time or expertise to Manage his SEO Campaign then they have the option to Choose one of Profit By Search's SEO Plans where one of Profit By Search's SEO Experts will manage the SEO Campaign and will ensure Page 1 listings for all the selected Keywords.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an industry where no one can guarantee #1 position in search engine results pages. If someone does so, all the so called "Expert" is trying to do is sell 'snake charm oil'. Our Commitments to clients is based upon over a decade of experience in getting clients listed on page 1, top 5 or top 3 positions for all their targeted keywords. Moreover, if Profit By Search doesn't get the promised positions within the stipulated period of time, our best brains will continue working on the project free of charge for up to a period of six month till we position the keywords keywords at the top of search results.
Profit By Out Sourcing: #1 Web Design India & Web Development India Company
Profit by Outsourcing is an Offshore Web Design & Web Development Company Specializing in PHP Programming, ASP.Net Programming, AJAX Programming, RoR Programming, Custom programmed Content Management & E-Commerce Solutions/ Open source Customized Content Management & E-Commerce Solutions, Web 2.0 Designing ( 100% table less or div based designs) developed in xhtml / css as per the w3c guidelines and Rich Internet Applications (RIA's) are applications built using Adobe Flash Flex AIR Action Script, Adobe Flex, Adobe Flex(AIR), Microsoft Silverlight, Sun JAVAFX & AJAX and Web 2.0 Application Development Company from India.
At Profit By Outsourcing, Most of Our Business comes from Volume Clients/Partners that are Primarily Web Design & Web Development Companies based in North America, Europe, & Australia and have more than 50 such relationships across the Globe.
Profit By Outsourcing provides 2 Types of Sub-Contracting Options to our Partners:

•     Our clients can hire their Own team of Dedicated Programmer(s) & Designer(s) from Profit By Outsourcing, who will work dedicatedly and exclusively on their Projects for 176hrs/mo and will provide daily work status reports at close of play. Dedicated Resources can be easily reached on all the IM'S, Email, Phone etc.
•     If the Partner Doesn’t require a dedicated team of programmer(s), they also have the option to sub-contract all their web design & development requirements to Profit By Outsourcing on a project basis, where Profit By Out Sourcing agrees with our partners on total project cost before project commencement, the cost is calculated on basis of project specifications provided by the client.

Profit By Out Sourcing is India's First Magento India Certified Solutions Partner.
Profit By RPO: #1 Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Agency
At Profit By RPO 70% of Our Business comes from Recruitment Agencies/Partners mainly Prime 1st tier Vendors in North America and have more than 30 such relationships, In all these relationships Profit By RPO keeps their Identity obscure to the end client and just act as an extension to our Partners company and this has enabled us to work with Prime 1st tier Vendors on their Tech requisitions for Fortune 500 companies like IBM, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Microsoft, Accenture, Adobe, TCS, Etc.
Our Internet Researchers/Sourcers and Recruiters are experienced and qualified college graduates with excellent computer skills, Internet savvy. They know popular software packages, databases; spreadsheets; use advanced internet search techniques, x-raying, flipping, peel back, boolean search, compile data in spreadsheet or database.
They have exposure on many vendor job boards and databases e.g. Monster, Dice, CareerBuilder, Computerjobs, HotJobs, search tools, search engines, user clubs, forums, alumni, associations, directories, conferences/seminars, and related industry information available on the internet.
Source  http://www.prweb.com/

Giving smartphone apps away could mean big bucks later

By Fiona Graham

 So you've decided your business needs a mobile phone app. The design is done, the information architect has given it the all clear; it is a thing of beauty.

That just leaves the small but important matter of how you're going to make money out of it.
If you think pinning a suitable price tag on it and waiting for it to take the various app stores by storm is all that's needed, you could be in for a nasty surprise.
Mobile app downloads are expected to have increased from over 7 billion in 2009 to almost 50 billion in 2012, according to consultants Chetan Sharma.
This translates to a growth in revenue from $4.1bn (£2.5bn) to $17.5bn.
But although 80% of the 2009 figure is accounted for by paid apps, by 2012 that is expected to drop by around half.
The rest is made up of a mixture of advertising, virtual goods (things bought within the app environment, such as tools in social games such as Farmville), and other revenue models.
Sometimes giving your app away for nothing may mean a bigger payoff in the future.
Lights, camera, action In parts of the Middle East and North Africa, 2011 has been a turbulent year. In Egypt, this culminated in the fall from grace of then-president Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years in power.

Social media was credited with playing a key role in the movement - and in Tahrir Square activists were broadcasting live video using their mobile phones to websites, blogs and Facebook using a service called Bambuser.

Company chairman Hans Eriksson is understandably proud.
"The protesters just got the picture out to the world about what was going on that traditional media just couldn't capture, especially towards the very end when journalists were holed up in hotels and broadcasting from balconies," he says.
"People were broadcasting from the square about what they were seeing and feeling. There were some truly amazing moments."
The mobile phone app is available free for all platforms.
"When it comes to the digital world, if you take away e-commerce and gaming, it's all about volume that you can monetise at a later stage" says Mr Ericksson.
Ultimately, he says, Bambuser plans to make money in the same way You Tube does through advertising. In the meantime, it shows advertising around the video streams, as well as marketing for the product itself.
The other main source of income is a premium-paid version for business users.
The exposure the service got during the unrest in Egypt translated into an increase in interest from media companies and broadcasters. All of the main public television channels in the Nordic countries are now using it. 
If you build it

Another organisation with a very different business model that has chosen to give their app away is Open Buildings.

The project is a community-driven platform for companies in the construction industry that aim to find new business and show off their work.
What started as hobby has become a start-up with $2m in venture capital funding.
Co-founder and chief executive officer Adel Zakout says it has been a strange journey.
"Our ambition was initially to create an archive of the world's built environment.
"Our focus changed as we gained funding and our experience grew. At the moment we're trying to help companies in the construction industry create an online presence, create a portfolio of work online, and become easier to find."
Once the community is fully established, the company plans to work on a 'freemium' model - the basic package will be free, but there will be charges for add-on services and marketing.
Making their apps free allows them to build on that community, says Mr Zakout.
"Our focus is on making money from the professionals rather than charging customers for the product.
"By making it free we were able to access a much larger audience of people, we were able to build up our community and get companies adding projects to the site at a much faster pace than if we charged."

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

It's way easier to get consumers converted to free apps than to pay for them”

Iljar Laurs Get Jar

Open Buildings does plan to create other sources of income from the apps. It considered advertising, says Mr Zakout, but decided that would impact too heavily on the user experience.

"[It works] where you're able to have very contextual advertising. If I were reading an article, for example on fashion trends, to have advertising on certain clothes or style and then be able to click on them and learn more. When ads are a real part of the experience as opposed to being an add on," he says.
Instead, the plan is to offer city guides that can be purchased within the app and downloaded at home, to avoid roaming charges.
Choices, choices So, given the options out there, how do you know which one is right for you?
Iljar Laurs is the founder of Get Jar, the world's biggest free app store.
He believes that as the market for applications has evolved, apps have become, like web pages, more like shelves for content.
As such, different business models need to be developed for different types of content. To do this, you need to measure two things - stickiness and utility.
Utility means how much the user values the time using your app.
"If it's a game like Angry Birds, it's really high because you're really into the game.
"The general rule is the higher the utility of the app, the more the consumer is prepared to pay for the app up front.
"If it's a relatively simple application, like a web app like chat or messaging, the consumer is less likely to pay anything at all and you have to go for other models.
"'Extremely sticky'
Stickiness refers to how often you end up using an app - if you 'stick' with it.
"The majority of games are only played three or four times and are very unsticky.
"Some apps like Facebook are extremely sticky - I might use it 10 times a day for the rest of my life."
Stickiness means that advertising might be a good option.
"If you have an unsticky app and choose to go with advertising, you will only display it three or four times. As the current rate is $1 for a thousand impressions, you won't make much."
According to Mr Laurs it is a simple equation.
"If you have a high utility but low stickiness you go for a paid app. High stickiness and low utility, like web applications, then advertising is the choice.
"High stickiness and high utility, for example social games like Farmville that are really engaging and the consumer plays for months, then you typically do offer either a subscription model or virtual goods."
Recouping costs Virtual goods - for example things players need to enhance a game - have been pioneered by companies like Zynga, the creators of Farmville.
Considerations include whether your target market can easily pay for things - for example are they underage and have no access to a credit card?
And you need to weigh up the rates taken by the market place for a paid for app with the rates charged for using advertising.
Apple, for example, takes 30% of the face value of every app sold in its iTunes store.
But if you simply want to promote a product - a shiny new BMW, for example - then making your app free and recouping the cost in increased sales is the sensible option, says Mr Laurs.
"As long as the app is perceived as free for the consumer then the marketability of the app is generally 50 times higher than any paid app.
"If you direct the user to the paid app, in general your conversion rate will be 50 times less."
"It's way easier to get consumers converted to free apps than to pay for them. It's human nature."

Decorating your new home – choosing textiles

The world of textiles offers so many possibilities for room design and plays a lead role in the overall dressing, theme and ambience in a room, whether it be luxurious dupion silks and velvets or fresh linens and chiffons or sea grass and rattan craft or vintage patchwork and bunting...the list is endless!

 It isn't any wonder that you may feel a little overwhelmed with what colours or patterns to choose. Florals or stripes? Eco-friendly fabrics...are these natural fibres? What will offer durability and longevity...what will not date? What will keep the house warm and save money on heating bills? Again, there are a fair few factors to consider about your fabric choices before you dress your much-loved new home.
I have discovered that when designing room dressings for some of my clients, many require the furnishings to play a ‘mix and match' role, enabling them to alter the look of the room in a few years by alternating the cushions, throws, rugs and wall art to complement their main items of furniture and furnishings by using an alternative colour in their fabric. Also and more importantly, this should not break the bank!
Some current trends that are popular are 1950's classic modernity, evoking nostalgia and authenticity; minimal luxury - clean, simple and timeless; and crafts from the past such as wicker weaving.
Shabby chic and country crafts are still extremely desirable and can be found on the high street in stores such as John Lewis (www.johnlewis.com), Laura Ashley (www.lauraashley.com), Zara Home (www.zarahome.com) or Next Home (www.next.co.uk), for example. Alternatively, why not spend your Sunday afternoon visiting a craft market for great handmade items? Greenwich Market in London is very impressive, or look out for a local market near to you.
If you have a blank canvas to work with and require quality furnishings that are made to last and are tailored to suit your style and personality, but are not sure where to begin, why not have your window dressings made for you? Also, your cushions, throws and bed spreads. It is initially more expensive than the high street, approximately double the price of an average pair of curtains or bed set, but your end result is bespoke items that will give you many years of pleasure and cannot be found in anybody else's home.
Two companies that I would love to recommend are, Clarke & Clarke (www.clarke-clarke.co.uk, see picture above) and Villa Nova (www.villanova.co.uk). Both companies offer a wide range of furnishing and upholstery fabrics that cater for most tastes and budgets. Fabrics range from £20 up to £100 per metre depending on your choice. There is also a fabulous wallpaper range to complement.
Do not be scared of using different patterns and textures to match each other. You may wish to go bold with stripes, so why not enhance with a floral fabric to complement? If your style is more minimalist, stay with neutrals but make the room interesting by choosing fabrics of heavier weaves or that are more tactile such as chenille or devore , both soft and luxurious to the senses.
Finally, use your own style and personality through your fabric choices but do consider the size of your room, along with the amount of light and heating, before you consider your final colour and fabric choices.
Written by Elizabeth Bishop (www.elizabethbishopinteriordesign-kent.co.uk)
If you're considering buying a new-build home, there's no time like the present to make an appointment to visit a show home on a new property development. It's also a great way to pick up the latest style trends. Among the great new homes schemes for sale at present with inspiring show homes are:
Source http://www.whathouse.co.uk/

Feature: Livelihood Ghana: home-based food, energy & water production

From: Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD)

 While many citizens and policy makers continue to believe that the best way to ensure that water, food and energy is supplied to homes and businesses is by expanding the existing systems and installing new ones. I prefer to look for solutions in small and independent systems that use unsophisticated but smart technologies to create and maintain the supplies basic to our existence. It is not realistic to think that every household can meet all of its needs within its walls, but with clever designs, many systems can be installed that can deliver water and energy and to some extent food in a year round manner.

This is easily achievable in our tropical Ghanaian situation by making these systems a part of the design of our homes that are yet to be built or re-engineering existing homes to equip them with water storage and purification systems as well as energy. The big energy generation and water supply systems are prone to frequent breakdowns and cost a lot of money to maintain. The situation in Accra is clearly a demonstration that big systems do not work or work only for a few people, and yet our tax money is used to fund the systems that will not benefit all of us.

The Current and Future Challenge
Majority of houses in Ghana have designs that are not suitable for a tropical climate as we have here. There are times of the year when there is excessive heat and low wind currents and many of us suffer greatly, being unable to sleep until early hours of the morning. In the face of insufficient energy supply, many houses are built complete with slide doors and windows, ostensibly to meet the style and status requirement. All of these bad features couple with the increasing population argues for an immediate policy to avert future crisis as though the current crisis is not debilitating enough.
In addition to these shortfalls, the earth’s climate is changing; it will continue to do so far into the future at rates projected to be unprecedented in human history. Ghana’s vulnerability to the risks associated with climate change may exacerbate the current social and economic challenges. The effects of climate change are inevitable and the earlier Ghana adapts the better. The effect of this phenomenon on the social life of the population is overwhelming especially in the areas of agriculture, energy and water supply.
Ghana Water Company currently cannot meet the water needs of the population in Ghana. The company only produces two million out of the total needs of about five million gallons for inhabitants of Accra, not to talk of other parts of Ghana. These problems are worsened by the changes in climate; the proposal therefore will look at interventions at the household level with the aim of adapting to climate change. The recent earthquake in Japan has forced the shutdown of the large nuclear plants and the private sector is suddenly producing small energy production systems for homes.

The Solution to Production Shortfalls

The current social and economic paradigm of making huge investments into building even bigger systems for energy, food and water production must give way to small, low-tech, smart systems. These independent systems of a necessity must be home-based and the new policies must empower the individual with technical assistance to generate their own basic needs. Currently, most Ghanaians are doing this anyway, many rural communities are not connected to the water and electricity supply grid of the country and even in the big cities like Accra, there are suburbs like Dome that meet all of its water supply needs by boreholes.

Water Supply

Apart from borehole water, storage tanks that can hold rainwater for 6 months at full capacity will effectively put Ghana Water Company out of operation. The difficulty with independent supply systems is that many people hate assuming responsibility for many things, but when there is a crisis and the lights are off and the taps are not flowing, people wake up and do whatever is necessary to meet these basics. The idea is to activate this survival instinct and use them in a proactive manner to ensure that all households will install systems that can provide water and energy. When this is successful, we would have developed the capacity to deal with worse case situations that will cripple large systems.

Food Supply

The interventions in food supply will take the form of balcony gardens, backyard farming and ‘flower pot’ agriculture. While this measure may not be able to meet all the food supply needs of households, it can cut a considerable percentage off. Placing the challenge of food supply in the hands of individual household means that they can tend their garden at their spare time; eliminating the long supply chain that is associated with the current food supply system. Households will also reduce their food wastage and improve their ability to recycle biological waste in the form of conversion into manure through a simple processing plant to fertilize their garden.

Waste Treatment

Waste management is also becoming a major problem for city authorities, connecting manure production to recycling of bio-waste will separate it from the waste generated. Paper and plastic waste will be easier to recycle if it is not fouled by decomposing bio-waste. Manure preparation is odourless and environmentally friendly; employing the activity of earthworms in a fortified plastic container as a bioreactor. The benefit is improved yield of backyard garden and reduces the burden of bio-waste handling which generate many infectious disease cases.

Energy Production

When I saw a young man on the TGIF show reporting the development of a system that allows the use of few solar panels to power a home, I was excited and more so when President Mills for a meeting invited him. A technology like this can make it possible for households to operate their own energy supply systems.

In addition to this, small wind turbines as well as biogas production systems all can be integrated into an efficient home-based energy system for cooking and lighting. The provision of the right kind of technical assistance in the form of modules and light-equipment to enable such home-based systems to run efficiently will make a big difference in our livelihoods.
Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD),
parthur14@gmail.com
http://pakar1-corner.blogspot.com/
Source http://opinion.myjoyonline.com/ 

Using Low Cost Home Improvement Loans

Low cost home improvement loans arе loans thаt уou takе out tо be аble to make improvements on yоur home. In many cases yоu wіll uѕe yоur homes equity аs collateral against the amount of money you borrow. Finding low cost home improvement loans саn bе challenging at times, but іf yоu put extra effort into finding onе уоu mаy save yоurself a lot of money in thе long run.
If уou аre trуіng tо find a lender locally уou сan loоk іn yоur phone books yellow pages under keywords, lіke loan оr home improvement. You always havе the ability tо compare lenders whеthеr уоu lооk locally or not. Your оthеr option iѕ to lоok online.
Online Lenders
When yоu loоk online yоu maу find ѕеvеrаl lenders and wаnt tо know whаt each lender offers. In thiѕ case уоu саn request each lender to send yоu а quote on the loan yоu arе inquiring about. The information you maу want to lоok fоr іs the interest rate and thе terms аnd conditions оf the loan. You wіll wаnt to know whаt iѕ required of уоu when yоu аrе applying. You mау be asked tо provide yоur social security number.
Many lenders аsk уоu for thіs becauѕе thеy wіll dо a credit check аnd ѕee whаt type оf a credit score you have. In mоst cases this mау bе thе basis for wherе theу set thе interest rate. Low cost home improvement loans maу ѕееm tо be tоо good tо bе true whеn уоu borrow from online lenders. Most lenders online are ablе tо offer yоu lower rates bеcаusе theу do nоt have to worry аbout outsidе business costs, ѕuсh as: heating оr cooling bills, rent of аn office, аnd paying employees.
Additional Information
The main factor іn anу home improvement loan is thе equity with whіch уou are gettіng thе loan. The more equity уou hаvе іn your home the morе the lender will allow yоu tо borrow. The uѕe оf equity сan аlѕо helр to lower the cost оf thе loans interest. Low cost home improvement loans аrе оften based on thе applicant’s ability tо repay the loan on a monthly basis. The lender will wаnt to ѕeе thаt yоu make your оthеr monthly payments оn time. This shows them thаt you are а responsible borrower. When you gеt low cost home improvement loans yоu maу wаnt to kеер in mind thаt you are borrowing money оn the terms that thе lender has set.
If yоu do not lіke thе terms yоu ѕeе from onе lender уоu may want to find anоthеr lender thаt wіll work wіth you оn thе terms of thе loan. When yоu gеt low cost home improvement loans thе lender wіll want to compare what the equity yоur uѕіng іѕ compared to the amount of money yоu want tо borrow. If the equity is higher thеn the amount уou wаnt tо borrow then therе iѕ a good chance thаt thе lender wіll аsk уou for leѕs оf аn interest rate. Home improvement loans are аvaіlаble оn а wide scale. You mаy want tо narrow уоur search tо fit your рartiсulаr loan needs.
When borrowing money to improve yоur home уоu maу wаnt tо keеp all the expenses involved in the process, in mind. You mау wаnt tо shop arоund аnd find a lender thаt іѕ аble to offer уou the bеst rate, but keep іn mind to read аll of the fine print of the agreement, bеfore yоu sign it. Low cost home improvement loans mаy tend to be а lіttle difficult to find аt first, but wіth much perseverance yоu should bе ablе to find thе loan that уоu аrе loоking fоr to meet уour needs.
Source http://www.climbthenet.com/

University entrepreneurs: how to make money while getting your degree

By Amy Grace   

University presents a great opportunity to earn money as well as a degree. Four entrepreneurial students explain how they cashed in on their studies. 

Money is a major issue for most students, and part-time work can be a big help when it comes to making ends meet. But along with the financial benefits, a job can also help you develop invaluable experience, skills and contacts — all of which will stand you in good stead for future life.

Most students make a beeline for the usual list of tried-and-tested high street employers — shops, restaurants and pubs — that welcome them with open arms. But some choose to go it alone, kick-starting their entrepreneurial skills and often achieving considerable success very quickly. So if you have ideas, passion and drive, why not use your university years to earn more than just a degree?
Jules graduated from Northumbria University this summer with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Marketing. She founded tea-lovers’ one-stop-shop The Tea Shed in her final year.
“I knew that I could have a lot more fun at university if I had money and was my own boss. I also wanted to leave university in a position to pay off my debts relatively quickly, as well as having two months’ rent saved up. But I didn’t want to get bar work because that would have ruined my social life, and I don’t really like working for other people. I needed to come up with my own way of affording nice clothes and a decent social life. My business ventures enabled me to do that.
“When I started university I was already self-employed, and had been since I was 17. I had earned money catering for friends and at farmers’ markets and parties, and I then progressed to hosting under-18 club nights — putting down a deposit of around £300, booking DJs and bands, and then taking what was left of the sales revenue after the club’s commission. Lots of students do that kind of thing. It went a long way towards my accommodation costs until I moved back in with my mum last summer and started investing my money in The Tea Shed, which was the basis of my final year project at Northumbria.
“Choosing a very practical course was a conscious decision because I wanted to learn creative and applied business skills, so that on graduating I could design things and run a business. My course also taught me about focus groups, which are a vital research tool. University life gave me the space and opportunity to try different ways of earning money, and in the process I won awards for my business and business plan, secured financial grants and had free access to some great PR advice.
“If I could give new students one piece of advice, it would be to follow your instincts and ensure that whatever course you want to do is really going to help you achieve what you want on graduating. And if you come up with a business idea to earn money along the way, the key to getting things up and running is research, research, research.”
Ben Tattersley, 17
AS-level student Ben is taking Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Product Design. He writes apps in his spare time, and hopes to go to either Loughborough or Brunel University in September 2012 to study Natural Sciences or Industrial Design.
“I started writing apps for webOS after answering an advert on a blog for web developers. That was my first experience of being paid for work. If, one day, I end up making a killer app, I’ll be financially comfortable, but for now I can pay for my social life with my earnings.
“My phone helps me organise my life and when I come across something that it can’t do it gives me the idea for a new app. I think the experience of going to university and having to juggle different demands as well as manage my social life and budget will help me generate even more ideas.
“Writing apps isn’t difficult — if you can write a web page, you can do it. My success has led me to do some voluntary work giving presentations to webOS developers and enthusiasts, such as at the webOS Connect event in London. I also do volunteer teaching in app development at my school, and some students have picked up the necessary skills within a week of classes. But I do tell them you have to know when to let go of an idea if you’re not getting anywhere with it — otherwise you end up neglecting your studies.”
Richard Shepherd, 21
Richard has just finished his third year of a BA in Journalism at University College Falmouth, following two years studying for a foundation degree in Journalism and Practical Media at Exeter College.
“I needed a way of earning money that would fit in with the demands of my college course, and baking was the answer — I made and sold scones, cakes, flapjacks, cheese straws, mince pies and puddings. I was living at home at the time, so it worked well with my lifestyle, too.
“My flapjacks had always been popular with friends and that gave me the confidence to start selling them. Country Markets, a co-operative in Taunton, was my first outlet and at one point I was making £70 a week.
“I then approached a farm shop and they bought my sticky-toffee puddings. I started making 10 a week, at about £2 each. Then they took my mince pies, which sold in the thousands. At the same time, I was going to school craft fairs and setting up free tasting sessions, and I approached local cafés and started attending a weekly market.
“Baking and balancing the books was easier than a regular job because I could manage my own time; while I was waiting for Christmas puddings to steam or sponges to rise, I wrote essays. The other advantage of earning money through a skill like baking is that it requires minimal investment, so it’s easier getting something off the ground.”
Joanna Montgomery, 23
After graduating from the University of Dundee last year with a BA in Digital Interaction Design, Joanna launched Pillow Talk, a product connecting long-distance lovers, and a company called Little Riot.
“During my first year at uni all I wanted to do was go out, which proved quite expensive, so I then spent my last three years clawing it all back. I’m lucky to have left university with a company of my own, a website and minimal debt, and that’s mostly down to working as a freelance website designer from my second year onwards.
“I also did photography for weddings, gigs and album covers. I mostly generated business through word of mouth and by putting up posters, and I earned a few hundred pounds per month, which paid for my social life, travel and clothes.
“At university I had access to an organisation called the Enterprise Gym, which covers all you need to know to set up a business. There’s no better time than your uni years to develop an idea, because you have a huge network of free resources at your disposal — it’s a springboard for success.

Oceanside can't reach decision on selling mobile home park

By Nathan Scharn, 

OCEANSIDE — After publicly entertaining the idea of putting a city-owned mobile home park up for sale, an Oceanside governing board could not reach a majority decision and will continue to own and operate it.
Oceanside in 1998 purchased the park with the intention of quickly handing it over to a nonprofit. That deal fell through, and the city has run it since, consistently turning a profit that has been reinvested into the park. An aerial view of the park shows significantly more landscaping, including several lakes with green lawns, than adjacent mobile home parks.
The board tasked with overseeing the park, the Oceanside Mobile Park Financing Authority, consists of the five-member City Council; Frances Thoene, a resident of the park; and Robert Neal, a member of the Planning Commission. Neal was absent.
In what would have been the City Council’s usual split, with Councilmen Jerome Kern, Gary Felien and Jack Feller voting to put the park out to bid and Mayor Jim Wood and Councilwoman Esther Sanchez supporting continued ownership of the park, Theone cast a tying vote, preventing any action from being taken and ensuring for now the city’s continued ownership of the park.
“I think it’s a smart business deal for the time being,” Wood said. “We’re actually making money, making people happy (and) reinvesting back in the park.”
The city doesn’t own the land the park is on, but was considering selling a lease that runs through August 2052.
Council members who wanted to sell the park said they didn’t think the city should be in the mobile home park business.
“The original intent was never for the city to own this park,” Kern said. “I’ve been asking about this for four years since I’ve been here, why do we own a mobile home park? It’s just not something government should do.”
The city issued $8.7 million in bonds for the park in 1998, and as of March still owed nearly $6.6 million. The bond payments have been made with revenue from the rent, and will be paid off in 2028.
Of the park’s 272 spaces, about 68 percent of those occupied belong to low-income residents. City officials had hoped to set the park up as low-income housing in a sale.
Kern, Felien and Feller said they liked the idea of the homeowners, who rent the space beneath their homes from the city, banding together to buy the park.
“That’s certainly the answer that would make me sleep easier at night,” Felien said.
Sanchez said she doubted residents could raise the capital quickly enough, and worried a new owner would raise rents.
“Who will lend seniors $6.5 million when they’re not loaning builders money?” Sanchez said.
The rent for spaces in the park are kept steady by the city’s rent control ordinance, allowing rates to increase by 75 percent of the consumer price index annually. The City Council in May switched to vacancy decontrol, which allows current mobile home owners to keep rent control but eliminates it when the dwellings change hands. That decision has been stopped by a successful referendum petition circulated by mobile home park residents and other community activists. Vacancy decontrol will go before Oceanside voters in June, and will remain in place for mobile home parks, including Laguna Vista, in the meantime.
With the threat of uncertainty fresh in their minds, many Laguna Vista residents were fearful of changes in ownership.
“We want it to stay like it is,” said Sue Currie, who moved to the park with her husband, Frank, in recent years. “Everything has been just wonderful.
“If it sold ... maybe they’d raise rents way up.”