The Top 5 Reasons to Insulate Your Home This Summer
For homeowners who have been considering adding home insulation - this summer is the time to do it.
1.) Last Chance for the Energy Tax Credit - This is the final year that homeowners are eligible to receive an energy tax credit for adding home insulation. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides for significant tax credits for energy efficient home improvements made during 2009 and 2010. Consumers who make these home improvements can receive a tax credit of up to 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,500. To qualify, the primary purpose of the insulation must be to insulate. For example, adding aluminum siding to your home does not qualify as insulation. There must be a manufacturer’s certification and the insulation must be expected to last five years or carry a two year warranty. Most importantly, the insulation must be placed into service before the end of 2010 to be eligible for the tax credit.
2.) Increase Your Home’s Resale Value - Installing insulation can make your home more desirable to potential buyers. In this housing market, sellers are looking for any advantage. According to an Energy Pulse Survey (2006), 86 percent of Americans would choose one home over another because of superior energy efficiency.
3.) Lower Your Energy Bills - According to the US Department of Energy’s Office of Building Technology, the most effective method of reducing energy bills is adding home insulation. Without sufficient insulation, heating and air conditioning systems have to work harder because your home is leaking air, which leads to excessive utility bills. When homes are properly insulated, it takes a lot less energy to heat and cool them.
4.) Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Proper home insulation reduces your energy consumption, thereby reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Homeowners can stop wasting energy with attic insulation or whole house insulation and air sealing. According to the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA), insulated buildings in the United States reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 780 tons each year.
5.) Comfort - Create a cool, quiet and healthy home environment for the summer. Insulation not only keeps your home at the desired temperature, but also provides acoustical insulation. Enjoy your home with family and friends without the interference of barking dogs and lawnmowers. High quality foam insulation can also improve the air quality in your home because there are no fibers or loose matter and it will not support mold growth or bacteria. Keep the cool air inside and the noise and allergens outside to truly enjoy your home this summer.
About The Author:
Erin Shaughnessy is a freelance writer of articles about consumer advocacy and political issues. Look for future articles regarding insulation contractors and home insulation types. http://www.UsaInsulation.net/
Why a Home Solar Panel Will Save You Money and How You Can Get One for Free
What is a home solar panel how can it save you money? In short, solar panels are a viable and eco-friendly option for homeowners who want to heat and cool their home efficiently using the sun’s rays. Homeowners may even desire to power solar appliances using the energy captured and stored with solar panels.
A more detailed description of a home solar panel would also include the following facts. A solar panel is constructed from several solar cells or photovoltaic cells arranged in several arrays to create a panel. These solar cells soak up sunlight, which is then converted into energy via an electrically connected grid, which provides power and heat for your home. Many homeowners utilizing solar panels are enjoying the benefit of receiving funds from their local power company instead of the other way around.
Solar panels are best positioned on flat roofs and angled to the south. However, it’s possible to make efficient use of the sun’s energy with a home solar panel system that is within roughly 1,000 feet of your humble (or not so humble) abode.
Types of Home Solar Panels
If you’re looking to invest in a home solar panel system for your home, you currently have at least three from which to choose. Who knows what the market will produce as the research on renewable energy moves forward.
Homeowners can choose from a 12-volt solar panel system, a do-it-yourself solar panel system or a thin film solar panel system. Each of these options features something different for the homeowner, so be sure to conduct research on each solar panel system prior to making an investment.
What Are the Benefits of a Home Solar Panel System for a Homeowner?
The first thing every homeowner wants to hear is how a solar panel system is going to save money. Saving money on energy costs is definitely one of the most attractive benefits of installing solar panels into your home.
How much will you save? Of course, the amount will vary depending on the geographic location of your home and consistent weather conditions, but some homeowners estimate they are saving around 50% on their energy bills each month.
Yes, the initial outlay of funds to install solar panels on your home may seem daunting, but you’ll quickly see your investment pay off.
Where to Find Affordable or Free Solar Home Panels
One way to save money on solar panels is to build one yourself. \”Do it yourself\”, or DIY solar panels are becoming more popular as more people are now looking to save money on energy costs AND save money. This can be a fun project that is not as difficult as it sounds, if you have some patience and willingness to follow instructions. You can even find used components to build a solar panel for free or a very low investment.
Speaking of financial benefits, there are some significant financial incentives available through your local and federal government for homeowners looking to ‘go green’ with home solar energy systems. Solar power grants are often available for homeowners too, some of which can help you to fund the entire cost of your system.
Another attractive benefit of a solar panel system is that you would likely have some power in the event of a power outage in your area due to severe weather conditions or a power grid failure. Full power isn’t likely, but there is a good chance you’d have enough solar power stored up to provide some light and heat for your home.
And of course, one of the great benefits of using solar energy is that instead of paying your electric company, they will pay you! Yes, with a solar power system you may produce more than enough energy for your own use, and so your utility company will pay you for the surplus power.
Solar energy is clean and pure. There are no negative side effects associated with using solar power inside or outside the home. Solar power allows us to enjoy a smaller “footprint” on the environment as well, which means a cleaner and healthier world for future generations (perhaps even your own grandchildren!)
Some homeowners are opting to go completely off the grid and sustain their every energy need via solar energy. However, most homeowners simply desire to have a method of supplementing their energy needs and that’s where solar panels can save you money AND help the environment!
About The Author:
M.S. Rochell is the editor of http://www.Go-Green-Solar-Energy.com/ which offers education and inspiration on the benefits of going green with solar energy, DIY solar power, and affordable solar energy solutions. Visit our growing library of home solar panel articles and for our free Solar Panels eBooks.
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The Definition of Renewable Energy - Present and Future Outlooks
The definition of renewable energy is dependent on the term renewable. An energy source that naturally replenishes is considered renewable. Unlike fossil fuels which take millions of years to form, wind, rain, water and sunlight are self contained and naturally replenishing, thus renewable.
Many people think solar energy, the most popular form of renewable energy, is a new concept. The truth is solar panels were used as far back as the 1920s to heat water in lieu of more expensive electrical heating systems.
Renewable Energy Past to Present
When fossil fuels were unearthed, much of the previous solar energy use was abandoned for the cheaper, more reliable fossil fuels. As these fuels began to have an impact on the environment and their levels diminished, a resurgence of the renewable energy sources occurred.
Today, wind farms, solar electrical plants and solar thermal plants are used to power entire towns and cities.
Alternative energy communities are also popping up throughout the world with Canada being the first country to boast of an entire community based on solar energy. Technology is constantly changing and the future definition of renewable energy is also changing.
The Future of Renewable Energy
Everything that moves creates energy. This fact applies to wind, water and sunlight which are the most commonly used renewable energy sources. However, the movement of man is also being viewed as a source of renewable energy.
Speed bumps that harvest kinetic energy are one concept currently being tested by New Energy Technologies. The “bumps” are actually an inversion of the typical motion inhibitors. These flat panels sink slightly into the ground when a car passes over. The bump is created by the difference in height between the road and the lowered panel.
Under the panel, 2000 watts of instant energy is created for every passing car. With 1000 cars passing over the speed bump every day, 2,000,000 watts or 2000 kilowatts are produced every day.
Over the course of a month, that number jumps to 60,000 kilowatts. That is enough electricity to power 60 average homes for an entire month!
This type of kinetic energy harvesting is not limited to speed bumps. In Israel, roadways are being tested that collect small amounts of energy as cars pass over the special roadway surface.
The amount of energy is small, at an average of 400 kilowatts per kilometer (0.6 miles). While this does not seem like a lot of energy, if the entire United States interstate system were converted to kinetic energy harvesting material, the 75,000 km would produce 30,000,000 kilowatts of power. That is one very new and innovative definition of renewable energy!
The world is just beginning to see the potential kinetic energy has as a renewable source of electricity. Tokyo is installing flooring that harvests energy from daily subway visitors. Dance clubs are utilizing the energy created from movement on the floor to harvest energy.
Even asphalt is being considered as a prime material for harvesting thermal energy in desert climates where roadways can reach temperatures hot enough to fry an egg.
There are an abundant supply of new and innovative renewable energy solutions available to help us to transition our world to more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions. Even today there are many new technologies that can help us to heat our homes, recharge our batteries and light our yards using clean, green energy sources.
About The Author:
M.S. Rochell is the editor of http://www.Go-Green-Solar-Energy.com/ which offers education and inspiration on the benefits of going green with solar energy, DIY solar power, and affordable solar energy solutions. Visit for more on the definition of renewable energy, and to receive our free Affordable Solar eBooks.
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The Future of the Office Photocopier Industry
Since Xerox first invented and sold the first commercial photocopy machine companies and organisations have paid for use of the machine on a cost per copy basis. This has traditionally included full maintainance and toner supplied under a service agreement. In-fact the office photocopier is unique in the fact its one of the only pieces of equipment that comes without a warranty from new. But photocopier expert Online Connect UK claim all that is about to change. Here’s what they have to say.
The photocopier has evolved completely from an ink or wet xerographic process to dry toner analogue machines and now to digital photocopiers. But the industry is stuck in the past, at a time where the photocopier or Xerox Machine required constant maintainance and broke down frequently. As the technology has evolved so has reliability improved and service costs fallen but that benefit has failed to be fully passed on to the consumer.
One of the easiest ways to explain is to compare photocopiers to the television industry. 30 years ago the average television broke down twice a year and being a television repair engineer was a full time living. Large companies such as Granada rented out televisions and there were even coin operated televisions. However the technology changed, not only did televisions become affordable but they became much more reliable. If I look today for Television Repair in Yell in my town I get one listing, where once I would have had 20 or 30 listings (albeit in the hardcopy yellow pages!). The same thing is about to happen to the photocopier market.
With digital technology we are now dealing with not a photocopier but a printer and scanner. The scanner part of the photocopier is very reliable and the only weakness comes from the printing and feeding of originals. With printers customers have come to expect reliability and customer changeable units. Digital Photocopiers will follow the same way. Recyclable units will replace the need for a service contract on the copier and copiers like printers will come with a warranty and the main parts will be changeable by the customer themselves.This has already been achieved in printers and the photocopier industry will eventually follow.
Consumer buying behaviour is now changing as well. Where once a photocopier was sold by a local dealer now people look to buy online off the internet. With suppliers such as Online Connect a wider choice of manufacturers is available and it will be reviews by the consumers themselves that will most influence purchase habits. The hard sale office photocopier salesperson will become a thing of the past. It’s now for the copier industry to deliver what the customer wants. They want reliability, they want an end to service and cost per copy agreements and they want cheaper prices. And so they should. The manufacturer markup on most photocopiers is 500 - 1000% and easy to change units that exist already on printers with a warranty would negate the need of expensive cost per copy agreements.
In general, digital photocopiers now act as MFP’s (Multifunction Printers) with scanning and photocopying as no longer the primary purpose. Slowly the idea of the paperless office is becoming a reality and both printing and copying is falling. This is partly happening because of the changing workforce. When email first came in I can remember people coming to the office and printing out all there email before they read it. Now people largely due to the internet are used to reading off the screen but it has taken time. Online Connect UK think it will be the customer that determines the speed of change within the photocopier market as they vote with there feet and ultimately it will be the companies and manufacturers that recognise and embrace change that will survive.
About The Author:
Jennifer Robinson writes for OnlineConnect.co.uk an office equipment and document management solution provider that specialise in the sale and rental of photocopiers for business and organisations. Visit there website http://www.onlineconnect.co.uk/
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Webmasters: There Is Nothing To Fear About PHP But Fear Itself
I remember when I first started on the Internet as a webmaster. I remember I was so scared I was going screw something up, I was scared to death to install scripts into my website.
My First Experience With Online Script Customization
In those days, I had a mailing list with more than 2000 people subscribed to my newsletter. I remember thinking that people may think I was less professional, if I keep my mailing list on Yahoo groups. I remember that I had the bright idea to operate the mailing list from my domain. My web hosting company offered mailing list software, within my web hosting account.
Because I had the ability to operate my own mailing list from my server, I decided that I should move my Yahoo groups mailing list to a mailing list on my own domain. That was in 1999, the year that I had purchased my first domain name.
My very first experience with Perl scripts was when I was managing my mailing list. I recall that there was some customization that I desired to do within the coding for that script. I read the documentation for that mailing list software, and the programmers make it sound so easy…
I read the documentation several times to make sure that I understood what I was trying to do. I recall that in Perl scripting, a comment tag is denoted by the #, in front of the comment.
After three days of preparation, I opened up the Perl configuration file to customize how my particular mailing list operated. Once I opened the file and found hundreds of lines of code, I have to admit, I was deeply intimidated by the task that lay before me…
After seeing the code, I went back to the documentation and started reading again… I was so scared that I was going to screw something up that I felt I needed to make absolutely certain that what I thought I was doing was actually what I should be doing…
I was scared I was going to screw something up, and I was intimidated by the process…
To be honest, it took me more than one week to comment out three lines of code and to un-comment another eight lines of code, because I was so uneasy about what I was doing…
I Can Fix Anything I Break
Finally, I took the attitude that I could not screw up anything too bad… I took the attitude that if I broke something, then I could fix what I broke… That was the real turning point for me when dealing with computer scripts…
I figured that so long as I remembered what I changed, I could fix anything that I broke…
So, I kept good records in a notepad on my desk, documenting every change I made and where I made it…
Customizing Existing Website Scripts
For the first couple months, I only played with other people’s Perl scripts… If I found something that I wanted my website to do, I would go find a Perl script that was designed to do that task for me… Then I would install that script on my server and customize it if I needed to do so…
Customization of Perl scripts was painful and slow, because I would have to look for sample online that would show me how to do what I wanted to do… Then with a sample in hand, I would try to make my website jump through the hoops I wanted it to jump through…
In my case, I spent a couple years customizing other people’s scripts for my websites… In those early days, I only played with Perl scripts, because that is what I was familiar with… I had heard people talk about how easy and efficient PHP was, but it was unexplored territory for me, so therefore, I remained intimidated by PHP and stayed away from it for much too long…
In the spring of 2005, I was looking for a particular solution that I could only locate in PHP scripts… Literally, I was forced to step outside of my comfort zone and to start looking at code written in PHP…
Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone Into PHP
Using online tutorials for PHP, such as those found at PHP.net, I got to speed really quickly on PHP…
My first impression of using PHP for online programming was that I could do one line of code in PHP for ever 20 lines of code in Perl… Of course, that could only be “my impression” of the difference between the two programming languages, because I was never really skilled in Perl to begin with…
After customizing two or three scripts in PHP, I realized that PHP was a really intuitive programming language… I realized that writing scripts in PHP would be much easier for me than writing scripts in Perl…
In the summer of 2005, after having written from scratch three or four scripts in PHP, I took the plunge…
To that date, my entire website had been written and developed in Perl… I spent the summer of 2005 converting all of the primary operations of my website to a PHP format…
I spent roughly 30 days programming in PHP format, bringing my website finally into the 21st century…
It is a decision that I have not regretted…
Compared to working with Perl, I find programming in PHP to be an absolute joy…
Overcoming One Problem At A Time To Find Solutions
Over the years, I have taught myself to program for the Internet, one step at a time, only writing the code that I needed to write to make my websites do the tasks that I wanted my website to do…
What I’m telling you is that I am not the most proficient programmer on the Internet, but I can program anything that I need to program. When I needed to create a script that enabled me to auto submit to Twitter, I spent two hours studying the problem, then one hour creating the solution…
When I needed to adapt my Twitter script to enable me to auto submit to similar sites, I spent 30 minutes coding a solution… Mind you, before sitting down to write the script, I spent one week researching the solution…
After having gone through the process, I can assure you of one thing…
I purchased a half a dozen scripts, written by other programmers, to help me understand the process of submitting content - via PHP script - to the social media websites…
I can assure you, from personal experience, that most of the PHP scripts in the marketplace that have been designed to enable you to submit content and social media websites, are just plain garbage…
In almost every case, the scripts that I purchased did not even do what they were advertised to do… In fact, most of the scripts available online that you can purchase today that claim they will help you submit content to social media and social bookmarking websites require you to manually place all content, one site at a time…
At the end of the day, I wasted $100 purchasing scripts that taught me absolutely nothing… and strangely, I wasted that money purchasing scripts where the social media websites listed no longer existed… What I mean to say is that one script was advertising that it had 120 social media websites built into its scripting… But while trying to register at those sites, I quickly figured out that more than 60 of those sites were no longer in business…
I researched and analyzed more than one dozen social bookmarking scripts… I was absolutely stunned that many of those websites were not even written my own language… The scripts that pull together the ability to submit a web page to more than 100 social media websites rely upon German, French, and Far East websites to give their scripts the appearance of offering good value…
In my particular case, I wanted to only submit content to English-speaking social media websites… After all, I only speak English… I don’t want to be in the minority, putting English-language tweets in foreign language websites… Much in the same way that I don’t want to see a bunch of German or Chinese in my Twitter public timeline…
I found the available solutions for social media marketing to be lacking, therefore, I had to create my own solution to do this for me…
As A Webmaster, You Must Learn To Overcome Your Fears
But the point of this story is not to say that I’m a programmer with some awesome scripts; it is meant to say that as a webmaster, you must be willing to overcome your fears, to do what needs to be done for your website, or you must be willing to hire someone to do that for you…
There are also tools and tutorials online that will teach you how to do custom PHP coding for your websites… Even if you don’t want to do the coding yourself, you can often find code online that will help you do what you want your website to do…
Some of the best resources online for learning how to program in PHP are:
For example, if you wanted to build a custom contact form for your website, there are tutorials that will teach you how to do so… If you’re intimidated by the process of learning how to do it for yourself, you can even find existing scripts that you can customize to serve your own needs… If you just don’t want to have to look at the code, then there are others who are willing to do that coding for you…
I have programmed entire websites before, but most people do not need someone to build an entire website for them… Rather most people are happy with the website that they currently have; they just wish they could add specific functionality to that website… That is what I do today… I create specific scripts to solve a specific problem, then I sell those scripts to other people…
I have found real job satisfaction in knowing that I can give people the added functionality that they want for their websites…
Answering The Call For Custom PHP Scrips, One Problem At A Time
People do not want a complete website overhaul, and I cannot blame them… But when the web designer built the website, he or she may have excluded an XML Sitemap… Those folks knock on our door, and we create XML Sitemaps for them…
If you want to learn how to build you own XML Sitemaps, you should visit:
\” target=\”_blank\”>http://sitemaps.org/protocol.php
But, if you want to avoid the headache of doing that, then you should consider using our services at the website shown below…
If you simply want to add a small script to your website that permits your visitors to social bookmark your web pages, then you should go to:
\” target=\”_blank\”>http://www.addthis.com/
But, if you want a more automated approach, you should consider purchasing my script for doing that at the website shown below…
If you want to add a free PHP contact form to your website, then you should take a look at:
\” target=\”_blank\”>http://www.ibdhost.com/contact/
However, if you want something customized just for you, then you owe it to yourself to visit the website shown below in my Author’s Resource Box…
The Only Thing You Have To Fear Is Fear Itself…
After ten years of online programming, I can assure you that the title of this article is correct… The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…
The tools and resources you need to have to be able to learn how to do your own PHP coding is available online, if you are willing to invest yourself to that end…
You just have to be willing to open the source code of the files on your website and to learn your way around the code… Once you have overcome the fear, online programming with PHP really is not that hard…
You can teach yourself how to program for the Internet, or you can hunt down people who are willing to do the programming for you…
About The Author:
If you need a custom PHP script coded for your website, or if you need help installing a script that you have purchased or otherwise acquired, my co-workers and I will be happy to take care of it for you… We also do XML Sitemap installations… Visit our website at: http://99dollarwebservices.com/ to learn more… I am Hartford Rhodes, and I look forward to helping you do things on your website that until now, you may have only dreamed about…
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5 Great Ways to Save Time with Enterprise VoIP Integration
The 3 main goals of today’s business are
Here you can learn 5 savvy ways to achieve these goals by integrating IP telephony in your enterprise IT infrastructure.
1. Process Your Client Requests Timely With Maximum Effectiveness
A) Would you like to receive messages from all possible sources (emails, faxes, voice messages, instant messages etc.) in a single inbox available 24×7 from both your e-mail client and by phone?
A unified messaging and voice mail service, integrated with your e-mail client and fax-server, is a solution that you need to:
B) If you have to answer too many calls a day, and some client calls even stay unanswered, then you can improve your customer servicing with queuing/skill-based routing (SBR) software or a software-based attendant console, integrated of with your CRM and ERP solutions.
This approach will permit you to:
You can also automate up to 80% of your client request processing with a voice portal or an IVR service, integrated with CRM and ERP software. This way, you’ll
2. Reduce Your VoIP Network Maintenance Efforts And Expenses
Enterprise VoIP network chores are rather simple, but because of the standard user interface complicity, you have to entrust these tasks to highly skilled administrators. A VoIP network management solution, integrated in your IT infrastructure, will provide you with:
3. Save Your Staff Time On Inner Communications
By integrating HRM software with your corporate address-book you can automate phone number management and address book update processes. Thus your address book will always contain actual contact data, and you’ll save your staff time wasted searching for it. You can also implement an address-book IP phone application to make contact data available right from employee IP phones.
Moreover, you can deploy a presence XML-service that will allow your staff to manage their own status and check the others availability before making a call. This way you’ll accelerate your employee daily communications too.
4. Speed Up Call-Accounting Daily Tasks And Cut Telecom Costs
With integration of a call-accounting solution with your accounting/billing software you can:
So you’ll get a tool to improve productivity of your accounting staff and reduce employee telecom costs.
5. Improve The Quality Of Your Collaboration With Long-Distance Colleagues, Clients And Partners
Audio/video conferencing software is excellent to hold meetings with multiple local and remote employees. But if you want your clients, partners and remote employees, who don’t have this software, to participate in a conference session, then you need to integrate it with widespread 3rd party
Note that, if your conferencing software is integrated with your e-mail client (IBM Lotus Notes, MS Outlook etc.), you can plan a conference call and gather the participants automatically, thus, saving your time and efforts.
Conclusion
By integrating IP telephony with your enterprise IT infrastructure, you can:
which will allow you to build your business quicker and easier.
About The Author:
You can learn how to empower your enterprise with VoIP in the book, \”The Connected Enterprise\”, here http://bcs-it.com/books/connected-enterprise/ The free e-book, just as the article, was written by Alexander Anoshin, the CEO of BCS-IT, who specializes in VoIP integration.
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Evaulating Medical Gas Costs In Your Dental Practice
Medical gas is a standard expense item in most dental practices. What most dental practitioners do not know is that there are wide variances in pricing depending on the source - perhaps as much as 30% to 40%.
Are you purchasing from a local industrial gas supplier? Or are you buying from a major medical gas distributor? Does your supplier manufacturer the gas they are providing or are they a reseller? Most dentists have not evaluated the source of their medical gas in relation to its expense.
Since the average dental office spends $1,200 to $1,600 annually on medical gas, Oxygen and Nitrous Oxide primarily, a practice would be well served to evaluate this expense. With a proper assessment of your business requirements, annual savings of $400 or more can be developed depending on your volume.
There are many factors that must be evaluated for an accurate assessment since some of the expense is variable and other portions are static.
The factors that influence medical gas expense are:
Product Cost
If you are a high volume user, then the product replacement expense and fees associated with delivery will be more important. Low volume users will find that tank rental charges can become the more significant variable depending on how many tanks you have and what the sizes are.
There are two sizes of tanks used in dentistry for both Oxygen and Nitrous Oxide. There is the small cylinder, called an E-cylinder, and there is a larger tank called an H-cylinder. The smaller cylinders are wheeled from chair to chair on an as needed basis. The larger cylinders are generally grouped in a storage room and the medical gas is piped to each patient location. The cost of product refill is proportionally higher with the smaller tanks because of economies of scale associated with the cylinder re-charging.
Small cylinders are best suited for dental practices with low volume requirements. Since delivery fees and often tank rental fees are constant with service for both small and large tanks it is more economical to utilize large tanks if the volume of gas usage is high. Also the cost of the product refill becomes more important with large volume users as price differences are multiplied.
Tank Rental
A monthly tank rental is charged when the supplier retains ownership of the tanks.
Medical gas suppliers like to rent tanks to their customers because there is very good profit in rental. Retail prices vary widely but a large H-cylinder tank can be purchased for somewhere between $160 and $250. And some dentists do purchase their tanks to avoid the rental fees that will often pay for a tank in 2-4 years.
Delivery Fees
Fees with delivery can vary widely. All suppliers charge a delivery fee. Many charge a hazardous material handling fee (not really necessary for dentists), an administrative fee, a gasoline surcharge, product surcharges (when their product expense rises) and many other creative charges. These delivery fees should be examined and even challenged if not necessary because they can quickly become a large percentage of your expense.
Service Requirements
Last, but not least, service must be considered. Is the source for your medical gas reliable and dependable? Do they promptly respond when your gas inventory gets low? Better yet, do they check with your office on a regular basis to see if you need service?
About The Author:
Written by Chick Cowan. Becoming a United Dental Alliance Member is quick and painless, with no cost to join. Save up-to 40 percent on over 40,000 dental products. More information can be found at http://www.theuda.com/
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Internet Marketing - Why 2010 Will Be A White Knuckle Ride For Web Marketers
Next year may just prove to be one of the most challenging times for pursuing online or Internet marketing on the web. It may just be a watershed moment for many marketers struggling to keep abreast of all the different factors which have come into play in recent months. Most of these changes will stem from two main sources for potential upheaval: the first being the New FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Guidelines regarding Testimonials and Endorsements and the second being \”ALL\” the recent changes within Google.
Actually, we already have the new FTC Guidelines which came into effect on Dec. 1st of 2009, but how these new rules are enforced will play out in the coming year as test-cases are brought to court. Basically, these new rules call for absolute disclosure and full transparency regarding Testimonials and Endorsements when a product or service is being offered for sale. Any business (monetary) relationship between the endorser and the company must be made known to the potential buyer. Obviously for those in online or affiliate marketing this could have a great impact if these new rules are strictly enforced. Just imagine all the website owners and bloggers who slap a few banners or affiliate links on their sites to cover hosting or operating costs… will they now have to disclose all these business arrangements?
For professional affiliate marketers and the companies/products they’re promoting, these new guidelines could cause potential headaches and/or legal ramifications since a general blanket disclaimer on their sites will no longer be suffice. To help solve this problem, many of the major companies are now placing an \”affiliate\” tag on all their banners and making it obvious a business relationship exists with its affiliates. In addition, many online marketers are placing additional disclaimers, affiliate seals and in other ways making it known certain links are indeed affiliate links and a relationship does exist with the product and/or services being promoted.
With these new guidelines, another big issue is email marketing, one of the major marketing techniques of most online marketers. Will a full disclosure be necessary for every email sales pitch? Savvy web marketers know the key to increased sales is in the \”follow-up\” and the \”cookie-ing\” of potential buyers; how will the new Guidelines affect this very effective marketing practice? How all these new rules or guidelines play out will make next year a very interesting one for marketing on the web.
Despite this, perhaps the greatest cause for upheaval in the coming year will be Google. There are countless reasons why Google will be a major game changer in 2010 for online marketing. Ever since Bing and more recently the potential Bing/Yahoo competition, Google has gone into complete overdrive, implementing new changes and debuting new programs like there was no tomorrow.
First, we have Google Caffeine which Google is introducing (full force) early in the new year. Google Caffeine, which is a major overhaul of its search engine, will no doubt cause many a marketer some sleepless nights as the total fall-out becomes evident. Other Google updates in the past (Florida Update comes readily to mind) have wrecked havoc on many top ranking sites, but this time Google is doing things a little different and have even given webmasters a beta version of the new search engine. Still, rightly or wrongly, many online marketers are bracing themselves for the full impact of Caffeine, will it mean smooth sailing or a stomach sickening roller-coaster ride for marketers and webmasters?
Second, we have the introduction of \”Real Time\” search which will be featured in Google’s SERPs. This will make the social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace… much more important. Again, the implications for online marketers could be enormous since many can now reach the first page through a different route. Will it also mean more \”Real Time\” spam? But more importantly, will it mean a greater marketing opportunity for the online marketer who exploits it?
Third, we are seeing Google moving more and more towards \”Visual Search\” with the introduction of Google Goggles for mobile phones. Just take a picture and you get the Google results instantly - no typing, just point and click. Just envision countless clueless teenagers or more importantly helpless shoppers suddenly being empowered with knowledge and wisdom. Could do more for education since the invention of the printed word and the info-commercial combined. Talk about scary! But will the implications for web marketing be just as revolutionary and enlightening?
Fourth, Google has made it known through its spokesperson Matt Cutts, that site-loading times will be a ranking factor in the new improved Google. Also, proper and correct page coding will also be more important if you want your site to be at full advantage. Broken links will be a big \”No-No\”, while linking out to important related sites a big plus. All this is only logical, Google’s main product is and has always been its search results, anything which improves those results and provides a more pleasing experience for the Google user should be front and center. Obviously, one way for Google to stay on top, is to provide the best search results to its users.
Fifth, in order to please the end-user, Google is also moving more towards \”Personalized Search\” which will make SEO and ranking in the top spot for your chosen keywords a total nightmare for many professional SEOs and online marketers. If everyone can choose their own top results, isn’t SEO more or less, a lame duck? Again, the ramifications of personalized search will further play out in 2010, but will professional marketers like what they see?
Finally, while no one would argue Google is King of the Hill when it comes to online search, will all these new changes strengthen or weaken Google’s grip? Will the combined Bing/Yahoo be able to give this giant some much needed competition? Or will Google’s main competition come from an unlikely source, such as big name multi-national corporations who are moving their operations online. Can these big-name keyworded domains start directly pulling in the majority of the web’s traffic, making all search engines secondary? As people become more web savvy, will they go directly to what they’re looking for on the web, bypassing the search engines altogether - including the mighty Google? Such a scenario could have greater consequences for the affiliate marketer since a direct line to a company’s site or product will obviously mean less sales for the online marketer, who really works in coordination with the search engines, either through organic search or PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising in these same search engines.
Overall, the new FTC Guidelines and recent changes to Google, will make next year one of the most interesting times to be pitching anything online. Throw into this the full effect what a combined Bing/Yahoo might bring to the table, and you have the recipe for a tumultuous white knuckle ride, until the dust finally settles and marketers make adjustments like they always do. So hold on, because things will probably get a little hectic for many web marketers before we see the light at the end of the tunnel.
About The Author:
The author is a full time online affiliate marketer. His livelihood is derived from and depended upon search engine marketing and daily monitoring of targeted keywords, mainly within Google. He runs numerous sites, including: Internet Marketing and Internet Marketing Tools.
Copyright (c) 2010 Titus Hoskins. http://www.bizwaremagic.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
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Are You Paying Too Much For Traffic? Increase Clicks 40-Fold With This PPC Strategy
In any business, if you can reduce your effective advertising expenses, you will increase your profits. Many business owners will opt to push the additional savings into more advertising, and if you are utilizing the information described in this article, you could feasibly increase your paid traffic by 40-times, with the exact same advertising budget.
But before I can show you how to reduce your advertising expenses and increase your traffic, it is important for you to learn about proper keyword research.
When playing the search engine rankings game, it is important to know what people are \”actually typing into the search engines\” in an attempt to find your business…
Food For Thought
Think about this, if you were going to take a vacation to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and you needed to find accommodations in Ft. Lauderdale FL, what would your first search keywords be?
Would your first search be the generic search phrase, \”travel\”?
If you answered, \”Certainly not\”, then you and I are not much different…
Why would anyone type in the generic keyword \”travel\”, when they know specifically what they want, before doing the search?
They wouldn’t, would they?
Some people will abbreviate the \”Fort\” in Fort Lauderdale; others will not abbreviate. The same applies to the state information - some will abbreviate; others will not. Some web searchers will eliminate the state information, because they assume that Google will know \”which\” Fort Lauderdale they mean. (In the case of Fort Lauderdale, that is reasonable to believe. But search for something like \”Paris\”, and you might discover that 23 U.S. states have a town or city named, Paris, along with the country of France.)
People will search for a range of spellings for the locality, and then they would add niche-specific keywords to their search, utilizing words like:
Expand Your Thinking
Chances are that even if you sat down to generate a list of keyword phrases that people might use to find your business in the search engines, you will get stuck in the \”keyword rut\” that bogs down so many other webmasters… The \”keyword rut\” that I speak of is the one where we get a certain set of words and types of words stuck in our heads, and that prevents us from exploring the wider range of what might be available.
Even the best keyword research tools fail to show us the full-range of related keywords - keyword research tools tend to only show us the keyword phrases of a \”similar root word\”. For example, if you type in the word \”hotel\”, you can get vastly different results from the Google Keyword Research Tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) and the WordTracker Keyword Tool (http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/).
Just to prove my point, I ran the keyword \”hotel\” through both keyword search tools. Google’s Keyword Research Tool performed better than the WordTracker tool, but WordTracker does provide better estimates of search-volumes outside of the Google universe.
While not all-inclusive, I wanted to show you a list of suggested keywords that I was expecting to find using both tools. Behind each Keyword, I indicate in parenthesis which tools provided those suggestions to me…
About The Author:
Bill Platt has been providing article distribution services since 2001 at http://thePhantomWriters.com/ Utilizing his nearly one decade of article marketing experience, Bill Platt created a free ebook titled, \”Article Marketing: Beyond the Basics\”, which will teach you why many people fail with article marketing, and how you can turn your articles into profitable and productive advertising tools. Get your copy of this article marketing ebook that has been receiving rave reviews. Download it for free here: http://thephantomwriters.com/ebooks/advanced-article-marketing.html
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The Uses and History of Interior Wood Columns
The history of interior columns follows that of exterior architectural columns, as each was initially a structural necessity. Beginning in ancient times, the use of both exterior and interior columns was pervasive as the large interior spaces required for public functions related to government and religion were restricted by the load that a beam could safely span between two supports. In order to expand interior dimensions and maintain a sense of openness, interior columns or pillars provided the best solution.
Present day Western architecture is the culmination of an evolution that traces its roots to classical Greece and beyond Greece to the Middle East. The limited amount of wood available in these areas compared with the abundance of stone led to the use of stone as the primary material for columns from this period. The intense labor required for quarrying the stone and hewing it into support shafts or columns was accommodated by the presence of large numbers of slaves in these societies. It is interesting to note, however, that one organic material was abundant: reeds. Reeds were oftentimes bound into round columns. The composition of hundreds of reeds bound into a column provided an excellent distribution of weight that could carry loads equal to stone columns under many circumstances. The early use of reed columns remains with us today as it is generally thought that the fluting of columns is an artistic reflection of the shadowing originally observed on reed columns.
It is to the Greeks that we owe what is now considered the concept of classical orders. These include the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders. The orders are hierarchical and begin with the simplest - the Doric - and conclude with the most elaborate: the Corinthian. A column, which is essentially a rounded shaft or pier, is composed of three parts: a plinth or pedestal at the base on which rests the shaft that is surmounted by a capital. It is the capital that provides the clearest indication as to which of the orders is presented. In classical architecture, the entire remainder of the architectural ornamentation is tied to the specific capital. This is to say: an ionic capital will have its own set of proscribed motifs for the cornices and pediments as compared to the cornices and pediments designed to compliment a Corinthian capital. Further, within traditional design, a method for combining the orders is available through a vertical observation of the hierarchy. A structure, for example, may use the lowest order - the Doric - on the first level and surmount each of the following levels with the elements from the next highest order.
During the height of the Roman Empire, the architecture of the ancient Greeks was revered for its refinement. Therefore, the architecture of imperial Rome is a somewhat robust reinterpretation of the more delicate Greek style. Following the fall of the empire, however, the vogue for Greek architecture faded into mists of the middle ages. The use of columns continued of course as a practical structural necessity tending to be heavy shafts of stone without any of the delicate ornamentation associated with Greece. But a new trend began to develop: unlike Greece and the Middle East, continental Europe had an abundance of wood, and wood began to be used in place of stone where practical. Although not serviceable in large cathedrals and stone castles, wood provided a better alternative for columns supporting interior galleries in residences and monasteries. Designs that featured wood columns also figured frequently in the construction of rood screens used in sanctuaries to separate the chancel from the nave in churches from the late medieval period.
The end of the Middle Ages - roughly the end of the fifteenth century - saw a gradual revival of interest in all things classical. Included in this was an interest in Roman antiquities as an abundance of ruins was available for firsthand viewing. By extension, the Greek influence on Roman society was recognized and a further search for a return to the pure Greek origins became fashionable in the period now known as the Renaissance. There was no immediate desire to precisely replicate the architecture initially, but by the beginning of the eighteenth century a high regard for the republican ideals of Greece paved the way for the complimentary architecture of Greece as well. Beginning in Italy with the rediscovery of the writings of Vitruvius, a Roman architect from the first century B.C., Renaissance architects such as Andrea Palladio strongly promoted the influence of classical architecture to an eager and receptive public in sixteenth century Italy. The trend spread across the continent becoming fashionable in England through the efforts of influential architects such as Inigo Jones whose work with classical architecture during the first half of the seventeenth century was continued and expanded upon by Christopher Wren into the eighteenth century. This set the stage for a period of devotion to classical architecture that continued without interruption into the middle of the nineteenth century.
Around the beginning of the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the emphasis on classicism in the arts gave way to a new focus on the natural world that was reflected in art, music, writing and architecture. In architecture, this new focus resulted in the dominance of such styles as Gothic revival and Queen Anne, each of which made use of interior wood columns in a variety of ways. Columns appeared as visual keys to the separate functions of large rooms or as ornamental features to draw attention to the opening between rooms. They were occasionally seen in place of the upper termination of a balustrade on a staircase where the handrail would finish into a column that itself would begin a procession of columns across the mezzanine overlooking the staircase and entry hall. Columns were also worked into the built-in features of rooms such as on bookcases and mantelpieces. Although columns had frequently been used during the preceding classical Georgian and Regency periods on mantelpieces, mantel design from that period had strictly adhered to the classical rules of order, viewing the mantelpiece designs as pure architecture. During the mid-to-latter nineteenth century, inventiveness overtook classical adherence resulting in interesting new ways of incorporating wood columns. A primary example is the double-ledged mantelpiece on which the first ledge is supported by columns and then surmounted by a second pair of columns that terminate with a second ledge.
Classical architecture and an emphasis on the use of traditional features such as columns enjoyed another revival toward the end of the nineteenth century, this time driven by the influential French École des Beaux-Arts. The liberal use of columns was now used in an ornamental fashion having been liberated from use as structural necessities due the development of structural steel substructures that began to absorb the actual loads. This style of architecture was considered the unchallenged standard for fine public and residential architecture up to the time of World War I. Following the war, it began to evolve into a neo-classicism or stylized version of true classicism now strongly represented in this country by the Federal buildings constructed after World War I through the late 1940s. In residential architecture - although often challenged by modernist or minimalist experiments - the preference for classical styles in residential architecture dominated national tastes. From simple middle-class suburban homes to the more elaborate residences of the wealthy, the use of interior wood columns for ornamental purposes are frequently observed. Perhaps by design - perhaps inadvertently - the use of interior wood columns reflected one of the ancient precepts of hierarchy in that they were more frequently used in the finer rooms but not so often in the less public areas.
The post-World War II era is now mostly associated in commercial architecture for the full adoption of the glass-encased cube of the International style while residential architecture is now remembered for the emergence of the ranch house. The ranch house, with its practical emphasis on lower ceilings and functional room arrangements, offered little opportunity for the use of interior wood columns. By the late 1980’s, however, residential styles began to reflect a shift in taste away from the clean lines and horizontal emphasis of the ranch with a return to a vertical mass including architectural features that had been familiar in the past. Most popular were reinterpretations of the Craftsman, Tudor-revival, and Queen Anne styles along with other two-story structures that offered an amalgamation of various styles with no particular adherence to any particular one. These new styles of residences also incorporated a return to higher ceilings, a greater amount of interior square footage and - more often than not - open interior floor plans. The high ceilings and open floor plans offered perfect opportunities for the use of interior wood columns as a way of breaking up the interior spaces into separate areas without impeding the overall openness that was so appealing to contemporary homeowners.
This trend in conventional architectural appearance - as opposed to a modernistic feeling - along with the preference for an open floor plan and higher ceilings has continued into the twenty-first century. The most important new component to be added to the mix when compared to trends in the late twentieth century is the emphasis on \”green\” or \”sustainability\” in construction materials and processes.
The use of interior wood columns for both new construction as well as for remodeling projects offers myriad applications at this point in time. The house designer, homeowner or architect may choose either to adhere to the time honored classical guidelines that were popular during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries or to follow the more inventive approach of later periods.
Where full architectural ornamentation is to be used, it is perhaps best to follow the templates worked out centuries ago as the end results will be more harmonious. Although fewer homeowners have the interest and financial resources to construct residences with full interior architectural ornamentation, there are enough to warrant a review of the appropriate options. To decide whether or not to consider a full treatment, the first question becomes one of layout rather than of size. If you can answer \”yes\” to two questions, then the opportunity exists to consider a full architectural treatment for a residence. First: is the structure balanced and symmetrical? Second: do rooms exist as opposed to an open floor plan? If the answer is affirmative to both of these, the one may well consider following the classical approach.
This begins with recognizing the concept of hierarchy. Those rooms - usually three - that are nearest the main entrance to the house will receive the finest and most complete treatment while the treatments become progressively simpler for the rooms farther away from the entrance. The typical arrangement for the three rooms is an entrance hall flanked left and right by a living room and dining room. The typical entrance hall in new homes also includes the staircase. If the hall is rectangular front to back, it provides a perfect opportunity to introduce a pair of columns that imply a difference between the entrance hall proper and the staircase hall without visually reducing the dimensions of either area.
In this situation, the columns may rise from either of two points. Modern trim features reflect the classical elements of ornamented structural necessities. The baseboard corresponds with the plinth; the wainscoting reflects the pedestal. The column may rise from either although absolute perfection requires that it rise from the wainscot or pedestal height. In either case - baseboard/plinth or wainscot/pedestal - one merely turns the baseboard or wainscot into the room in order to create the base from which the wood column will rise. The primary trick of the trade is to ensure that the baseboard or wainscot remain in scale to the room with the remainder proportioned accordingly. A too-skimpy height of baseboard will demean the effect. An example of a well proportioned arrangement for a room with ceilings ten feet tall would be: ten inches for the baseboard; thirty-two inches for the wainscot; fifty-eight inches for the base and shaft of the column; eight inches for the capital; and twelve inches for the architrave, frieze and cornice molding. Rooms of varying height may be apportioned accordingly beginning with about a third of the height given to the wainscot of which approximately a third is used for the baseboard height. The area above the wainscot is then proportioned with about an eighth used for the architrave and cornice with the remainder given to the column and capital.
The diameter of the wood column is taken from the choice of base. If the column is rising from a plinth created by turning the baseboard out, the column should be slightly thicker in order to keep the additional height in proportion: approximately twelve inches for the room we have just described. If it is rising traditionally from a pedestal at wainscot height, something slightly smaller would be appealing - ten inches would be a good choice.
Having proportioned the arrangement, one may then turn attention to selecting the particular order. Following the rules of hierarchy, the natural selection would be the highest - the Corinthian order - for the entrance hall. This will not only indicate the capital - the most apparent feature for the order - but will indicate the embellishments as well. The choice of frieze and cornice as well as the door and window trim for the room is keyed to the capital. It is important to note that it is best to follow the full treatment of molding if one is taking this route. This includes embellished over-doors with features such as broken pediments and the inclusion of regularly spaced pilasters that repeat the capital from the columns thereby providing a pleasing rhythm to the space. Half-columns may be used for this purpose as an alternative to the more typical flat-faced pilasters.
An alternative use of columns in a highly articulated entrance hall is their incorporation into the door moldings. One method for achieving this is to provide a ledge over the door with protrusions or \”ears\” that turn outward at either corner. The baseboards turn out with the same dimensions and columns that flank the doors may rise between the two. These columns are scaled down accordingly and are typically five to six inches in diameter when used this way.
Wood columns and other moldings are seldom finished in their natural state in entrance halls but are instead more often painted. Most common at present is trim finished in white that offsets the general color scheme on the wall below the architrave and above the wainscot. This mass of pure white, however, can be blinding if a full architectural treatment is used and it is often more pleasant to use something less robust such as an ecru or biscuit tint. In any case, semi-gloss finish is the best choice for painting wood architectural features as the slight gloss shows the flutings and shadows to their best advantage. At various points in time, the molding features have been painted into colors; the entrance hall at Drayton Hall in South Carolina is an excellent example of this treatment. Marbleizing the shafts of the columns themselves may create another pleasing effect.
As previously mentioned, the rooms that typically adjoin an entrance hall consist of the dining room and living room. To perfectly follow form, it would be appropriate to step the molding down to the Ionic order if the Corinthian has been used in the entrance hall. In either of the two adjoining rooms, the primary option for the use of wood columns is as an element of the mantelpiece. This works best as a variation of the use of columns previously described as door casing embellishment. The baseboard is turned into the room beneath the mantel ledge and turns back to terminate against the marble or stone surround of the fireplace opening. Columns are placed between the ledge and the pedestal created by the turnout. As elsewhere, the capital chosen for the columns will dictate the molding scheme for the remainder of the room.
The desire to avoid the creation of unused spaces in contemporary residences has led to a trend away from the formal living room that is exclusively reserved for entertainment. As the remainder of the typical new house is arranged in an open-plan style, the area that once served as the formal living room is more frequently designated as a home office or media room that affords a level of privacy otherwise missing in the open plan. These office spaces frequently include bookcases that offer an excellent opportunity for embellishment with columns. Although the current trend tends toward bookcase shelving that runs to the floor, the best designed cases have enclosed cabinets that roughly correspond in height to the wainscot level even when wainscoting is not used. The good sense of enclosed cabinets is that furniture may be arranged against a cabinet wall without impeding access to the bookshelves. Shelf spans on bookcases begin to fail or droop when they are wider than forty-two inches. It is best, therefore, when designing a wall of built in cases to take the entire length and divide it into equal widths of forty-two inches or less. Having done this - and having chosen to construct the actual shelving above cabinet bases - one then steps the bases out about six inches further than the shelving, which is typically ten to twelve inches deep. The stepped-out base creates a natural ledge from which wood columns may be arranged in front of each point where two shelving spaces meet. A repetition of appropriately proportioned columns arranged in this manner creates a very pleasing rhythm. This same effect may be achieved where the base cabinets are the same depth as the shelves by turning the cabinet base out in the same manner the baseboard is turned out for the use of columns that flank door openings or for support of mantel ledges.
A home office or media room will lend itself to natural finishes, as the overall setup is reminiscent of a paneled library. The use of beautiful finishes such as walnut or dark oak can be extremely pleasing in this setting. An option that may be used to offset the surfeit of wood in such a room would be to ebonize the column shafts on the bookcases or mantelpiece creating an architectural reference to English Regency or French Empire design.
Although the formalized setting continues to be used in very fine homes at present, the open floor plan remains the standard for most residences. The open floor plan offers all of the spaces traditionally contained within a residential structure but without any of the walls to separate functions such as dining areas or living areas. While the open flow is pleasant, the effect of an uninterrupted space can sometimes be similar to stepping into a gym that has furniture arranged in it - not so pleasant. This is a place where the use of wood interior columns can really solve a problem. The judicious placement of columns in an open plan space can define areas without interrupting the overall openness that many people find appealing. In an open plan, for example, where the dining area is set in a corner near the kitchen area, one can reinforce the dining space by placing an arrangement of columns at the point where the interior corner would occur if walls were in place. It is important to emphasize the word \”arrangement\” as a single column will not quite do the job well. A single column will appear incidental, lonely, or curiously odd. But if a column is placed at the exact corner and then followed with columns that sit at the points where the walls would turn, the effect is sturdy and deliberate. The terminating points of the imaginary walls may be reinforced with half-columns thereby completing the effect without having interrupted the flow or visual expanse of the open floor plan.
As with the traditional arrangements, rooms with open floor plans also lend themselves to the use of columns as ways of giving much needed visual weight to mantelpieces and bookshelves. From the perspective of scale, these may be \”beefed up\” in order to create a substantial appearance in the larger open spaces they occupy.
The uses for wood columns in contemporary open rooms have not been fully exploited and are limited only by the imagination. A few guidelines will help achieve a pleasing use. Always use columns in a manner that is structurally logical. Even though wood columns rarely need to actually support any loads, using them arbitrarily and in places where they clearly do not support anything can create a jarring effect. The use of columns previously described to create a corner in a dining area is perfectly logical. You can create the appearance of necessary support by utilizing an architrave between columns to further define a space. The use of an architrave with an elliptical arch between columns is another excellent way of investing a sense of necessity to the columns. Use care when deciding how to finish columns. They create a great deal of visual interest on their own simply by their presence. Over-finishing them can be too much of a good thing. Remember that columns can be useful in reinforcing height: as a vertical presence, they will guide the eye upward. Finally, although a strict adherence to the corresponding elements of a given order is not required, acknowledgment of the keynote indicated by the capital will result in a quiet harmony that is both pleasant and tasteful.
About The Author:
This article was written by Timothy Revis of Osborne Wood Products, Inc., which offers a variety of wood architectural products and interior wood columns for Cabinet Companies and Architectural Millwork Companies. They offer 10 different wood types and their products are in stock and ready to ship. Their customer service and design team can also work with you to create a custom column to fit your needs. http://www.OsborneWood.com/
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