February 10, 2010

Things To Consider When Buying An MP3 Player

If you are looking to buy a new MP3 player, ask yourself this, “What do I want to use it for?” An essential first step and will help you get the most from your new player. You also will save yourself a lot of time and frustration, it’s all too common to discover that your player can do lots of things you don’t need it to do, and not the things you want it to do.

It also makes choosing your player much easier and enjoyable, as you may find you are overcome by choice, not really knowing which player is better, or more suited to your needs, than another. Is it just for listening to music while you are jogging or working out? Do you use the radio while in the kitchen? Or are you looking for something that you can plug into your TV and watch videos with?

MP3 players can be controlled with by simple buttons, for example, press to play and select, volume, and up and down to view your music library. There are also many MP3 players that use touch screens, including the very popular Apple iPod touch. Lots of of people do prefer touch screens, finding them easy and enjoyable to use. If you haven’t used one before, touch screens can take a bit of practice to get used to.

In this digital age, another question you have to ask is, “Will my music and video files play on my new MP3 player?” This is one of the main reasons why people complain their MP3 player doesn’t work. It’s all too easy to think that all all music files are all called MP3. However this is not the case at all. While the term MP3 has become synonymous for music files, there are many different formats. In addition to MP3, there is WMA or Windows Media Audio, a popular format; Apple’s preferred audio format called AAC, as well as RM or Real Media.

Finding a player that suits you, and then find it won’t play your music collection is common, and there is a answer. You can find many free programs that convert will quickly convert your music files into a format compatible with your MP3 player. You may find that your MP3 player comes with software to do this too.

Asking a friend or family member that you know uses an MP3 player, can be very helpful. They can show you how it works, and you can see how suitable it will be for you.

Want to find out more about MP4 players, then visit David Morris’s site on how to choose the best cheap MP3 players for your needs.

Filed under Technology and Science by David Morris

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February 8, 2010

You Need Power Factor Correction and TVSS Do Not Save Energy

In today’s energy climate more and more people have become motivated to accomplish what they can to become more energy efficient to conserve energy and money. Regrettably this same climate has encouraged some to take advantage of innocent consumers’ desires to save energy and reduce operating expenses.

Vendors that advertise power factor improvement (kVAR correction) and transient voltage suppression to save energy are a good case in point of this bad trend. Recently we are seeing more and more of these businesses cropping up and we believe it is time to set the record straight.

First off, transient voltage surge suppression (TVSS) plays an important part in improving power quality to guard sensitive equipment inside a facility. However, TVSS does not save energy. TVSS’s are barely active an infinitesimal portion of a second to defend against voltage surges which only last for less than a millisecond. To actually decrease energy use the TVSS would need to essentially cut power consumption for an extended amount of time which is not what they are designed to do. Again, TVSS is essential to protect susceptible electrical equipment but consumers should steer clear of vendors promising, or even guaranteeing, a reduction in energy consumption.

And what about salespeople who maintain that increasing power factor will save 15% or 20% or 30% of energy consumption and resultant costs? This is false but also a bit trickier.

For homes, power factor correction does zero to save energy because the average home already has an average power factor of approximately 0.97 which is nearly the perfect power factor of 1 or unity. Additionally, the unit (called a capacitor) is installed at the homes main circuit breaker. According to IEEE 5.5.3.3 capacitors must be located at or near the individual inductive motor loads to decrease power system losses by reducing heat and distribution losses known as I2R losses.

So what about commercial and industrial facilities looking to use power factor correction to shrink energy expenditures? It is completely appropriate for a business that is incurring penalties or a kVA billing structure from the utility company to improve the facility’s overall power factor by installing a capacitor bank at the main electrical service entrance or individual capacitors at or near the particular motor loads. Doing so will do away with the power factor penalties and/or reduce the kVA demand charges on the electric bill which can save considerable money and provide a significant ROI on the investment.

But what about power factor correction reducing kWh consumption? IEEE also tells us that at most I2R losses only account for 2 to 5% of the total load in a facility. Simple arithmetic tells us that it would be in opposition to the laws of physics to obtain the 15% to 30% energy reduction claimed by some vendors. Consider it. Even if your facility had 5% distribution losses and you could correct 100% of the predicament via power factor correction at every load (which can’t be done) you would still save no more than 5% at most. No where close to the claims of some capacitor reps and manufacturers.

All that said, power factor correction when done appropriately will eliminate utility penalties and kVA demand charges, improve facility power quality, increase electrical system capacity, and save a modicum of energy when applied at the proper motor loads in an industrial facility.

So make an investment in transient voltage surge suppression and power factor correction when appropriate and necessary. But caveat emptor!

Save Money On Your Company’s Energy Bill, visit Energy Edge Technologies site for strategies on saving a tremendous amount of capital on your Corporate Energy Bill or call 888-729-5722 Ext. 100.

Filed under Technology and Science by James Scott

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Options for Corporate Energy Efficiency

There are several rankings and benchmarks for corporate energy efficiency and corporations can perform an energy audit to see where they can improve with their energy usage. Corporations should look into how many kilowatts they use per square foot and how much gas or BTUs are used per square foot. Each country will have average values and recommended values for being efficient.

If you are looking to improve your company’s energy usage you can look into the different products available as each vendor will have information about its products’ energy consumption. For example, glass companies will provide information on their products’ solar heat gain and U-value, and so on.

Many more corporations are creating positions that deal specifically with energy management and many times there is compensation or benefits for those corporations that have good energy performance. There are several different ways in which corporations can make changes to their energy usage and ultimately enjoy big energy savings.

You want to make sure that your building is properly maintained as this keeps it running as efficiently as possible. Small changes can actually cause big changes in energy consumption. One such example is not running the air conditioning at night if no one is in the building. Also you can go through a retro-commissioning process to get your building back to its original state.

Steam systems are frequently an issue with energy usage as they are not maintained well. Steam traps tend to be used to deal with condensation but these can easily become stuck open and transfer the steam back into the boiler. This wastes a lot of heat as the steam goes back into the system and does not heat the building. You need to make sure these are replaced regularly and maintained well.

You also want to optimize your HVAC systems and these can account for 20 percent or more of all energy used in a building. And lastly, you might want to look into thermal energy storage or heat recovery options.

Save Money On Your Company’s Energy Bill, visit Energy Edge Technologies site for strategies on saving a tremendous amount of capital on your Corporate Energy Bill or call 888-729-5722 Ext. 100.

Filed under Technology and Science by John Gerace, PhD, PE

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February 4, 2010

Real Estate Investors and Rehab Specialists: You Must Read This ASAP!

For real estate investors, there are two things that are always in short supply regardless of the ups and downs in the economy: capital and quality inventory. Most investors that I have worked with not only need capital but strategies to go after capital that is not issued based solely on a credit score. Even if a real estate investor has good credit they still have the obstacle of too many inquires and too many open loans on their credit report and funding sources are spooked by these distractions and turn the applicant down even though all of their loans are current and they have a solid FICO.

If the above describes you or if you have limited or poor credit and you’re a serious real estate investor, here is how to get all the capital you’ll ever need. First put a solid strategy together. Start with your company infrastructure. Organize your company with a CEO, CFO, Board of Directors etc. After you’ve done this you want to set up your inter-industry strategic alliances which should be composed of other investors, bird dogs, electricians, roofers, general contractors etc. You want each of these alliances to have a purpose. They should be a portal for industry niche knowledge and consultation and also referral hubs. Let each of your alliances know exactly what type of investments you’re looking for and as they are sending you referrals, reciprocate by issuing them work in whatever specialty they are in.

Next you want to have a solid business plan written for your company (don’t write this yourself, have a professional do it for you) that spells out the intricacies of your company, your alliances, your accomplishments and goals. Paint a picture of success and strength.

Next you need a mechanism for accepting investment capital so you’ll need a Private Placement Memorandum. This document package gives a technical breakdown of your investment opportunity and spells out the risks and advantages in detail to keep you from getting sued by investors down the road. This memorandum takes advantage of SEC Regulation D Rule Exemptions 504, 505 or 506. A PPM is the minimum requirement dictated by the SEC for accepting capital from accredited and non accredited investment sources. Real investors will demand an PPM anyway so it’s good to have it done beforehand.

Now that your company is properly structured, you have a solid board of directors and alliances; your business plan is well written and to the point, you have a solid outlet for accepting capital from investors, you are now ready for capital. Your best bet is to go back to the company who wrote your business plan and private placement memorandum and use their ‘investor finder’ service. Legitimate corporate consultants who write technical documents will also stand behind their work by assisting their clients in finding investors. One solid strategy for getting access to capital quickly and easily is to have your Investor Finder forward go through their database and email individual and institutional funding sources.

When you are contacted by these investment sources, give them the option to invest in your company using the PPM (which will give you a fund in which you will be able to rehab real estate, buy at auctions etc). You will also want to give them the option of investing in a ‘per deal’ scenario. Allow them the option to also (or only) invest in particular transactions with you so when you get a deal, with a solid investor finder service, you’ll eventually have 100+ solid investors to go to for quick capital on particular transactions that go above what your PPM fund can handle.

There you have it, a strategy that works 100% of the time for real estate investors globally. Your best bet, to make sure that you do this properly, is to hire a consultant that can set up this process for you. Cheers to your success!

Call us for Real Estate Investment Solutions and Partners! Need A Corporate Consultant?, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183We Can Transform Your Business

Filed under Technology and Science by James Scott

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