Floating Islands for Lake and Pond Management

Managing unwanted aquatic plant growth (pond weeds) in a lake or pond usually boils down to reducing and managing the amount of organic nutrients contained in the water. Herbicides give quick results but the effects do not last long because the root cause remains while only the symptom of heavy growth was temporarily diminished. The typical watershed includes manicured urban lawns and agricultural land actively in use. Urban lawns have pesticides and fertilizers applied to them at ever increasing levels as people chase the idea of a lush lawn the perfect shade of green. The relatively short and shallow rooted turf grass cannot absorb all the nutrients from the fertilizer and does nothing to hold back sediments as rain easily flushes both downstream into the pond. Agricultural land also has fertilizer use but at a very controlled rate as the farmer only wants to spend enough money to get the amount needed to the crops. A few feet below the surface lies a tile used to keep the land dry enough to use large equipment on to plant, maintain and then harvest those plants. In the short distance from the surface to the tile not all of the nutrients can be cleared. Once the water hits the tile, no more nutrients are removed as the water is transported to the nearest stream and pond. All of this leads to nutrient rich ponds with ever increasing levels of aquatic plant growth.

There are techniques to reduce and control the nutrients in the lake and pond and the best use nature to do the work. Floating islands are a manufactured platform that floats on the surface of the water supporting native wetland plants and natural bacteria which both digest and sequester nitrates and phosphates in the water that other aquatic plants use to grow. Getting this natural system is easy and quick. The islands come with preformed areas the size of a small pot that are filled with a small bit of soil and a plant plug bought locally. Wetland plants native to your area are best as they are adept at surviving the local conditions and contribute to the natural environment. The small amount of soil in the preformed pots give the young plant plugs a jump start to get growing.

As the wetland plants continue to grow, the roots extend into and then through the matrix of the island hanging out the bottom in the water. The roots then pull everything they need from the water column which includes the nutrients nitrates and phosphates. Natural bacteria already growing in the water and bottom composition of the pond take advantage of the island to grow both in the matrix and the root mass hanging below. Overall, the natural bacteria growth levels and activity are increased in the lake or pond which pulls even more nutrients from the water column. The end result is a lake or pond with improved water quality. As the nutrients are reduced and controlled, aquatic plant growth typically declines as they have less energy sources to utilize. Aquatic plants are important for the ecosystem and some will still remain in the pond but at the desired levels. Occasional spikes in growth from water events are still possible, but the extent and duration of the increase should be lessened.

Not only do the floating islands improve the water quality but they also add to the habitat. Above the water, the plants, flowers and seeds give birds, butterflies, turtles and other animals places to live and food sources. Below the water, the matrix of the island and the roots hanging in the water are shady places for insects, phytoplankton, zooplankton and other small creatures a place to find refuge and food. This sets up a localized food chain attracting the large predators of the pond which are typically bluegill, bass and catfish. Where there used to be open water devoid of life, an entire ecosystem now exists.

As you can see, floating islands benefit the environment in many ways. They replace wetlands that used to filter and clean the water that we removed to plant crops and build houses. In doing so, the floating islands take remediate the overabundant aquatic plant growth that we find unsightly, foul smelling and at times hazardous to our health. They improve the environment using natural processes and add to the habitat of the ecosystem. Floating islands are a great lake and pond management option that you should consider.

Zero Down Payment Auto Loans - The Truth Your Local Dealership Does Not Want You to Know!

Most people think of purchasing a brand new car or truck as of something distant because they either are worried about their credit rating or are afraid of a high down payment they would have come up with that they do not have set aside. The best solution for most consumers is a zero down payment car loan.

Do Not Go By What Dealers Tell You

Many car dealers attract customers by advertizing zero down payment financing on new vehicles with low monthly payments. They advertize great deals everywhere, from local papers to radio, TV, and internet. However, once it comes down to reality, most of these promises fail. Once you are in the financing office after a test drive at your local dealer, in most cases, you are approached with different terms than advertized.

Most finance managers would simply tell you that the offer had expired, or you did not qualify for preferred financing due to your low credit score. Then they give you an offer for financing with a down payment and a higher interest rate that most people would take, as they see no alternative. You drive away in a brand new vehicle, happy with a car but offset with the financing terms, and managers and owners of a car dealership fill their pockets with bonuses and contracts they get from auto financing companies for marking up the interest on a loan. This is the way it works.

Auto Dealers Are Not The Only Source For Vehicle Financing

There is a pleasant alternative, however, that most smart consumers have taken advantage of already. Auto dealerships are not the only ones that grant loans, and there are other lenders that would pre-approve you, before you even step your foot in a dealership. Most independent auto finance companies operate online, avoiding any intermediaries in the lending process, allowing consumers to enjoy lower rates and better auto loan terms. Most of them utilize lender-matching platforms that allow consumers submit one application only to enjoy multiple loan offers from different auto finance companies at once. Most, if not all, of these lenders offer better terms that your local bank or dealership may present you with. This is how you may get ahead of the game and avoid empty promises of zero down financing from your local dealer.

Qualifying For A Zero Down Loan Is Easy

Another common myth that people believe in, mostly due to influence of auto dealers, is that only people with excellent credit may qualify for zero down loans. Some dealers even fool the customers by telling them that they have special relationships with certain lenders. Online lenders do not care about special relationships - they are in the business of granting loans for qualified individuals and making money. You may be surprised that the qualification criteria for zero down loans from lenders online are more relaxed when compared to banks and dealership financing. They mostly need proof of steady employment and disposable income to cover loan payments, and do not worry too much about your past credit mistakes. In addition, they make preapproval decisions in a heartbeat, and may get you a blank check the next day, that you would be able to use at any dealer of your choice.

How to Make Your Karma Work For You

We've all heard the sayings, "you reap what you sow," and "you get back what you give," but how many of us have actually received that advice to heart? The concept of karma was not created purely to teach people how they should treat each other, it is a description of the way we create our own realities. What we give out we do indeed receive back in one form or another. This holds true whether it be in thought or in action and it is how the law of attraction works.

So how do you make karma work for you instead of against you? The answer is simple: control your thoughts and actions. Make every effort you can to think positively and always act from your heart. Who you are on the inside is far more important than you appear outwardly. If you are unsure of where you stand, just ask yourself the following questions:

Am I judgmental of myself or others? If yes, do not only change the words you speak, but if you notice yourself even thinking negative judgments about someone, immediately stop and look for something nice to think about them. Remember that what you think is just as powerful as what you say or do. Learn to control it.

Am I selfish, rude or inconsiderate? Learn to be more thoughtful of other people's needs and feelings. Think most how you would feel if the tables were reversed before acting at all times. Do not be a user, liar, or cheat. Do not abuse or take advantage of other people. Always treat every other person as you would want to be treated. This does not mean that you need to be a doormat or do things that are not in your best interest, always strive to keep the balance.

Am I kind, compassionate and generous? Learn to be kind and compassionate on all levels of your being. When you do something for someone, or give a gift, make sure that it comes from your heart. Be there for your friends and family when they need you. Love fully and deeply. Be compassionate toward all people and all of our animal friends we share this world with as well. True kindness and compassion does not see color, sex, age, status, beauty or even species. True kindness and compassion are two of the most important things we can ever master in our lifetime and the rewards can be generous.

Am I an optimist or pessimist? It is always better to have a positive outlook than a negative one. What we give out (our thoughts and expectations as well as our actions) is what we will receive. Would you rather receive the results of positive thinking or negative thinking? The choice is yours.

Am I grateful? Learn to practice gratitude for everything in your life, including the little things. Graciously accept gifts and help as they are given to you. Most importantly, be grateful for the loved ones you have in your life as they are your greatest gifts from the universe.

Do I have faith? Learn to be at peace with where you right now, even if it is not as you had planned. Learn to trust the universe to guide you toward your highest fulfillment, even when it has to drag you through the mud to get you there. Always have faith and know that everything is as it needs to be for your greatest good.

What we experience in life is the product of everything we have ever thought, said or done. Learn to focus on the positive, be compassionate, gentle, loving and kind. When you can learn to truly live this way, from the inside out, karma will always be on your side.

Disclaimer: this article is intended for inspirational purposes only and the techniques and ideas described here are not to be used as a substitute for professional medical or psychological treatment or without prior consultation with, approval of, and under the supervision of your physician or therapist. Application of the information, techniques and ideas in this article is at the sole risk and discretion of the reader.

Raising Money Online - Fact or Fiction?

A recent study by a large tech research organization indicated, of the 180,000 "Causes" on Facebook, the average funds raised through this online method for each charity over the course of a year, was only $ 1000.

Really?

This seems slightly outrageous given the excitement and passion circulating about using Facebook by nonprofits for online fundraising. It seems everywhere you turn we have charities urging us to "like" them, to support their efforts. Daily my social networking news feed blows up with requests from friends to give to the> insert cause here <organization to help them cure, fight, win, save, grow or change.

Before I get angry comments by those who might find these remarks slightly antagonist, I am NOT disparaging the nonprofits for trying. Good things do come from visibility and advocacy in this way.

It just does not look like any of those good things include money, and I wanted to know why.

To be clear on this subject I recently underook a (very unscientific) research project of online fundraising by United States based nonprofits. I searched Web 2.0 portals designed to help nonprofits raise funds online. Here is a list of those I identified and used in this study:

Causevox.com (Beta)

Changingthepresent.org

Connecttocharities.com

Crowdrise.com

Donorschoose.org

Firstgiving.com

Fundrzr.com

Give2gether.com

Giveo.com (Beta)

Globalgiving.com

Independentcharities.org (givenirect.org)

Jolkona.org

Jumo.com (Beta)

Justgive.org

Mtdn.com (MakeTheDifferenceNetwork)

Networkforgood.org

Pledgie.com

Razoo.com

Sixdegrees.org

Tuttidare.com (Beta)

Yourcause.com

In addition to these, I discovered four more sites currently in beta to be launched this year (2011), including one called 'Supporter Wall' - I presume to model itself after Facebook Causes.

This list is in no way exhaustive, nor as I said scientific, so all you data wonks, do not get all geeky on me.

Some observations

Most of these vendor developed online fundraising sites have a short life history, from 2000 to the present. One site started and closed within a few years (Make the difference network). Firstgiving.org, which also has a UK version called Justgiving.org, and Network For Good have the longest history with the years 2000 and 2001 claimed as launch dates on their sites.

When a gift is made through one of these fundraising portal sites to your charity, the gift is held in a donor advised fund owned by the company. Despite the web address extension of.com on some of them, most of these vendors have a 501C3 status organization as an affiliate, which handles the contributions, for tax relief purposes. When a gift is made to your charity, the tax receipt is from the vendor's 501C3 organization, not from your charity. Of course you are encouraged to send a thank you, but the receipt is not from you to your donor, it is from Network for Good. This may mean something to some donors who want to be 'counted' as having given to your cause, but for most they may not notice. The distribution of your gift from this donor advised fund is not instantaneous-most are scheduled as a once or twice per month distribution. These donor advised funds are usually managed by investment firms. No information could have found on where the interest from these temporarily held funds goes. I would imagine they might be part of the revenue stream for the portal vendor. In one interesting case, the corporate officers of a certain portal vendor were found to also be the principals of the investment firm that manages that particular ports donor advised fund.

The big gorilla, based on longevity and reach with nonprofits is Network for Good. They have an interesting B2B model that probably helps with their revenue stream for operations. Many of the newer and beta sites listed above, indicate that they use Network For Good to process and manage their contributions (as the 501C3 donor advised fund), for which a "grant" of 4.75% is paid to Network For Good, usually by the charity receiving the donation. It raised the question, "Then how are these particular portal vendors earning money?" Probably through data analytics marketing, like Facebook, and through ad sales. If you are not paying for a service, you are not the customer, you are the product.

One interesting site is the Independent Charities of America (ICA) site at givenirect.org, which offers individuals the ability to create a personal foundation, to which they can invest an initial low amount of $ 250, all contributions being tax deductible and dividends can be made at the donors convenience with only 5% of the money in your donor advised fund needing to be distributed annually. The site does not have a social networking capacity or connections with charities, although it links to an outside source for charity information. Beside ICA, the other vendors reviewed are set up to offer multi-cause, multi-organizational opportunities, most of which (but not all) require a charity to be a registered IRS entity, with a position on Guidestar or BBB. Only two that I reviewed allowed anyone to raise money for anything - personal causes (a new boat ??), medical bills, weddings, etc.

I then reviewed the number of nonprofits each fundraising portal vendor had reported as 'registered' on their site or the number of charities which they had distributed funds to in the year 2009, as well as the total amount of money raised through their portal. As expected those vendors who were.org or had listed the.org affiliates who managed their funds, were easier to find data on, getting it directly from their 990's off of Guidestar. The few corporate sites had limited data available for review. Of those portals where data on number of charities served and amount raised could be found, the avg raised per year / per charity through their online portal revealed the highest amt was just about $ 30K per charity on avg. and the lowest was $ 470. In going back a few years, spikes can be seen that I can only absorb correlated with global disaster funding, for which online giving seems the go to measure.

Let's pause for a moment here.

If the Network for Good is eleven years old, has a breadth of experience and professional technicians leading its efforts, has a global reach, and it can not help the nonprofit to raise more than $ 30K per year on avg ... what's wrong with this picture? A good annual appeal direct mail campaign would be more successful.

Ruminate on this for a minute and we will review the fees charged to charities for this privilege.

In the list reviewed, fees range from a low of 3% per transaction to a high of 15%. One site took no fees but required a $ 9.oo per project fee from the charity. Some sites also required credit card processing fees on top of transaction fees. Some sites asked the donor to consider covering these costs for the charity. All told, the fees charged are, as with everything, buyer beware for charities when it comes to choosing to engage in online fundraising using these portals.

I do not know about you, but if I had to pay $ 199 per month for my charity to be listed and an additional 3% per donation, plus credit card transaction fees, not to mention the back office costs of staffing for management, gift processing, stewardship etc. I would want evidence of a significant return on my investment. * Side note- now on these portals did I find any pitch to support the financial value proposition of charities using such a site for fundraising.

Back to our review. Given the advent of Facebook, Myspace, Friendster, LinkedIn and other social networking sites into our culture, I expected to see a lot of these vendors offering a social networking aspect to their services. And they did not fail me, although they are not as advanced as I would expect, nor as would be beneficial. While 1/3 have no social networking aspects, 1/3 have what I would term a simple or basic social networking component to their sites, while 1/3 use existing Facebook links and - yes - Causes, exclusively. Some include a game of collecting or placing badges on current social networking sites like Facebook, twitter etc.

All of those vendors reviewed offer or require a pitch page that charities use to highlight their organization or their project or, in two cases, requests for funding for very, very specific needs: pencils, books, etc. This allows the donor to get most of the info right on the vendors portal without having to bounce off to the charities site, although most offer the option of placing a link to your organizations homepage on your pitch page.

Donorcentric? Many of the sites offer intent options to the donor during gift processing, but not the majority. This is, in my humble opinion, a great defect in these portals. It undermines what we in the industry know about donor giving- that it is specific to the interest of the donor, NOT the need of the organization. I guess they rationalize this, by considering the potential for massive volume of possible donors- like throwing **** against a wall and knowing some of it will stick. Some limit the gift intention choice for the donor by project as defined by the charity. The newest contender Jumo.com (by Chris Hughes the co-founder of Facebook) does not currently offer donor intention option, but it is in beta and soon could.

One other * missed * opportunity by these portals in being donor-centric, is in offering to the donor (or requiring of the charity) gift use reports for each donation. Very few offer this option, although some do require charities to show evidence of their project completion as defined on their pitch page. Donor intention is a very hot topic and something that quite often will keep donors from contributing, out of fear that their gift will not be used as intended. Currently, there is no system to screen for that through the checks and balances surrounding nonprofits in the US. The annual tax audit nonprofits are required to have only ensure that accounting methods are followed accurately and that the gift intention was followed when depositing and allocating the money, not necessarily that the gift was then used to purchase the product or build the building. Would the benefit and value of required gift reports bring more donors to the online system of giving?

Conclusions? These vendors are well intentioned and I applaud them for trying. Most of these portals are built on direction from nonprofit industry experts, but they fall short of being technologically cutting edge. Others are developed by tech rock stars, who may have no personal experience or inside knowledge of how a donor thinks, feet or acts, or what best practices exist in raising money from individuals for a charitable group. All portals are directed toward the relationship between the portal vendor and the charity - and all but ignore the needs of the donor!

Online fundraising needs to continue to be examined and iterated. How are we currently using social media to raise funds as part of an overall revenue budget and to what end results? How can online fundraising better mimic and support our real world relationship building efforts with our donors? Is there a niche for online fundraising that we have not even yet? I do not believe we are there yet with any of this - online giving results we are currently seeing are unremarkable. We need to keep shaking it up, iterating and evolving to determine what 'IT' is that might make this a productive and supportive tool in our arsenal as fundraisers.

How to Understand Microphone Preamps

Looking at a mixer you notice there are several strips known as input channels with identical buttons on each strip. A microphone preamplifier is basically a stand alone input strip and when you buy a recording console you are pretty much committed to the sound quality of each strip because they are all the same. That is where a microphone preamp comes in, a microphone preamps main duty is to boost a microphones low signal to a line level that is more usable for any device you are recording too. There are plenty of variety, design, features and sound quality that allow you to mix and match different preamps for your recordings.

The common features you will find on a microphone preamp is gain control, which allows you to adjust the strength of the signal being picked up by the microphone, be careful because too much gain can cause distortion and not enough gain can bring noise into the recording . Some microphone preamplifier's come equipped with EQ (equalizer), which can cut or boost certain frequencies. A helpful side note when mixing, try to cut frequencies that you do not need first before boosting frequencies.

A compressor is another feature found on some microphone preamplifier's. Compression squishes the dynamic rage of a signal, then boosts that signal so that the quiet parts of a recording is louder, for example, during a loud part of a song you can still hear the quiet acoustic guitar that you compressed. Be careful because once you use compression on your records you are committed to that compression because It is very hard to remove compression once you are editing.

Microphone preamps are also a great choice for systems based around a digital audio workstation which does not require a big console but can use a few quality preamps, which can be connected directly into an audio interface or sound card. When thinking about purchasing a microphone preamp remember that it is purely a personal choice on what you choose just make sure they come with the features you require. Microphone preamps are a very cost effective way of experimenting with your recordings, so have fun.

Sometimes you will find yourself in a critical situation and a microphone preamp can offer low distortion specs, a special sound, or use of tube and integrated circuit technology, which is why microphone preamps are used. When it comes to the selection of a microphone preamp it is purely a personal choice. The days where there was only a few ways to get a great recording is gone, now you can choose from an abundance of equipment, so it is important to try and test microphone preamps to find the one that will do the job you want.

Monetary Inflation

Monetary inflation is simply an increase in the money supply. It is not measured by the Consumer Price Index but rather by the money supply. "Quantitative easing" is government speak for it. Inflating the money supply usually encourages spending and most government economists see increased spending as a way to keep the economy rolling. A currency that is defined in terms of a tangible substance (like gold or silver) is less likely to experience inflation. Although a rapid increase in supply of gold is possible, such as when Columbus opened up the importation of gold from the new world, it is extremely undesirable in the modern age.

"Monetary inflation" can result in price inflation, but the two terms are not synonymous. The most widely recognized effect of an increase in the money supply is a reduction of the value of each individual unit of money. As each unit decreases in value it results in the destruction of the purchasing power of your money. But while almost everyone sees price inflation when it happens, few people notice the monetary inflation that causes it.

Inflation of the US dollar supply has been an economic reality ever since 1913 when the US Congress created the Federal Reserve. This is because when the Federal Reserve buys US Treasuries it injects newly created money into the financial system. Another way of creating money out of thin air is through the fractional reserve system which allows banks to multiply the amount of money in circulation by only holding a fraction of what their actual liabilities are.

Central banks consider it the cure-all for combating all sorts of economic woes. If there is too much debt, just print more money, this allows the debtor to repay the debt with "cheaper dollars" ie dollars that are worth less than the original debt. This is a form of hidden theft from the creditor and benefits primarily the government as it is by far the nations largest debtor. Money creation is a debtor's greatest ally, making the debt easier to repay.

As the currency supply inflates, you would think, the price of all goods and services should appreciate proportionally, or at least roughly proportionally, as the value of the dollar decreases. But that is not always the case because the flow of money is not distributed evenly through the economy. Thus those who receive the money first get to spend it at the old perceived value while those at the bottom of the food chain receive the dollars later and suffer the most. Then once again, since the government created the new money it gets the most advantage, since it spends it first.

All monetary inflation is political andpetrated by the government (or more precisely the Central Bank). It is unsound for both economic and ethical reasons. All that newly created money has to go somewhere and it often flows toward the next bubble in the making. Monetary inflation is the seed inside all asset bubbles. Thus it wrecks the economy through booms and busts and creates disincentives for savers and creditors. It also causes misallocation of funds by businesses and individuals who perceive their income as growing when in actuality their real purchasing power may be staying the same or even declining. So it brings about wasteful and shortsighted economic decisions.

Getting Into Project Management Within Your Current Organization

If you read blogs and online posts from current Project Managers you will see that most began their career after falling into the job role within a company or moved into a position that was backed up by project management courses. The key strengths a PM are the ability to self motivate, organize and most importantly - lead a team. Natural leaders often find themselves leaning towards management positions and 'accidentally' fall or are encouraged into the PM role.

The first thing you need to do is make sure you do not automatically start looking for PM work outside of the company you currently work for. There are (near) always opportunities to develop your PM skills within the company you work for which is the easiest and simplest option if you're looking to make a change.

Here are some different ways you can utilize your current employer:

- Find the department that deals with projects and think about how you can network with that department. Taking an active role in gaining information about the department and how it relates to the job role you currently have.
- Network across the whole business, speaking to employees in other departments and finding out about other opportunities throughout the company.
- Arrange a meeting with your manager or team leader to discuss if you could be considered for departmental projects coming up. Make yourself available to help and discuss the skills you have that render you suitable.
- Speak to your HR department to see if it's possible for you to find out about up and coming job opportunities through the company.
- Take on extra work - this is the general rule through organizations if you want to prove yourself - look to be proactive and create noticeable change.
- Are you already project managing? A lot of job roles involve project management skills, something you could use to your advantage if you recognize those skills. If you can recognize these skills and develop them, you are then in a position to make informed suggestions on the way projects are managed within your department (make sure you do this within your job role boundaries!).
- Start to think like a project manager reading up on strategy and implementation. Talk to your colleagues and managers with PM terminology in reference to the work you currently do, discussing risk management, time management, resource management and financial management.

Whilst you truly integrate yourself into your company, nurturing your new love for project-management, why not consider some additional education? It's never too late to learn and some companies offer training within the company or subsidized training with a contractual obligation to stay with the company for a set period of time.

If your company does not offer any PM training why not think about asking to shadow a project manager within the company, or look into financing a PM training course for yourself. If you're determined to become a project manager in the company you are in, seeing you invest in a course will no doubt improve your chances of bagging that dream project managers job. The key to becoming a PM is the ability to explore all possible avenues and at all times, have your eye on the end result.