Put the Pennies Back in your Pocket

Here are some simple tricks for getting the most out of the money you fill up your gas tank with.  Since gas is getting more and more expensive, we have to think of ways to economize.  If you want to save a gallon of gasoline, then you are going to have to cut approximately 22 miles of driving from your week.   Here are ten of the easiest ways to save:

1.  Try the technique of “virtual meetings”.  This would be the perfect thing for your home business.  You can hold meetings with your clients at online collaboration sites.  You may want to consider creating a digital catalog instead of a printed one.  Try sending invoices, bills and proposals electronically.

2.  When you do have to use your car, slow down.  When you speed up, this uses more gas;  It ws just on the news that legislators are considering lowering the speed limit on Interstates to 60 mph.

3.  Even those who run their own business from home have errands to do.  Try combining several errands so that you only leave the house once.  If you can, park in a cental spot and walk from one place to another.

4.  Shop online.  Save your trips to the stores and try to do other errands online, too.  You can do banking, buy stamps and pay bills online.  If you need to shop for clothing, you have your biggest department store at you service online on the Internet..

5.  Drive a small car.  Do you own SUV or a fuel efficient sedan?  If you have any long trips to make during the week, always use the smaller car so you will save on gas.

6.  Ride a bike – Instead of having to drive everywhere, lace up your sneakers.  You may as well get some exercise while you are saving on gas,

7. Consider installing a GPS.  When you put one of these navigation systems in your car, it will enable you to find the shorter and the most efficient route when you have to leave the home to take care of other business.  You may already have a cell phone that has GPS technology.  Great!!

8.  If your job allows you to work from home, ask your boss whether you can pick one day when your coworkers and yourself can telecommute to save on gas.

9.  Check out any station that offers gas rebates.  It has become increasingly popular for small businesses to use gas-rebate credit cards. These give back to the spender a certain  percentage of what is spent at the gas pump.  They can be a very good deal as long as you pay your bill on time.

10. Stay on top of maintenance: Make sure that you keep your tires properly inflated.  This can save 8 cents a gallon on gas.  If your tires are under-inflated they will get much hotter and waste gas.  Replace you current gas cap with one that locks.  If it has a faulty seal, this can waste up to $50 in gas each year to evaporation.  Keep your air filter clean. You will save about 10% or about 28 cents per gallon.

More ways to save:

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If you want to live in the same style you did even a year ago then you need to learn how to save gas. When getting to your job and getting around becomes a priority you really need to focus on how to save gas. Gas costs over $4 a gallon …

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Ergonomics – The Science of Comfort

Have you ever sat down in front of your workdesk, and clicked away at your computer for hours only to feel clammy and inhibited by your environment?  Chances are, your present office chair is not as ergonomic as it could be.  How does one go about finding the perfect office chair for sitting in front of your computer for long periods of time without suffering from chronic use injuries?  No one is in need of an ergonomic office design like a graphic designer.  If you are thinking about sprucing up your atmosphere, and feeling truly at home while at work, then use the following tips to find the perfect chair that will accentuate your work environment.

Before you can attempt to find an office chair which suits your comfort needs, you need to understand what exactly ergonomic means and why it is the most important criteria for choosing an interactive item like an office chair.  Ergonomic refers to the propensity for a given item to maximize ease of use while enhancing productivity and maximizing safety.  Since your office chair is where your entire body negotiates the effects of gravity while you spend hours in front of the computer, it is absolutely imperative that you utilize an office chair that offers the maximum ergonomic attributes, or put more simply-comfort.

If you are wondering what makes one chair more comfortable than another, you must understand that there are a number of factors and variables at work which will lend or subtract from the overall ergonomics and comfort of a given office chair.  One of the most important of these aspects is spinal support.  Back support is quite possibly one of the most important aspect you should be concerned with when selecting an office chair.  Since your back deals with the brunt of gravity and stress while you are sitting, it is only fair that you give it help negotiating the effects of gravity.  Many chairs have lumbar support which is built to conform to the lumbar spine.  The lumbar spine is your lower back and is the most often sited location of chronic pain in desk workers. 

Once you have found a chair that offers exceptional back support, you should look for a chair which offers arm support.  If your arm rests line up with your natural plane of keyboard use, you will be absolutely stunned at how little stress you feel on your arms, wrists, and shoulders when spending long bouts at the keyboard.  Some chairs offer completely adjustable arm rests.  Another factor which lends itself to the overall comfort of a chair is obviously seat angle and padding.  Seat angle is responsible for distributing your weight comfortable across your buttocks and underthighs.  Do not underestimate the importance of a well balanced chair in this respect.

Finally, overall structure quality and materials are a must for an exceptionally ergonomic chair.  While you can get away with a lazy boy and a laptop at home, when you are in the office you need something that lends itself to your absolute comfort and efficiency.  More expensive is not always more valuable.  Good luck in your search for an ergonomically enhanced office chair.

More posting on ergonomic chairs: 

Points For a Good Posture – Getting an Ergonomic Chair For Office …

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 Creating a website isn’t as easy as you might think.  Even a small mistake in planning can dramatically decrease your success and can drive away traffic at an alarming rate.  Most of the advice you read on the Internet is about how to design a good site but it seems just as important to know what not to do.

Here are some tactics you’ll want to avoid.

#1 – Don’t Use Hard to Read Text

The whole purpose of your website is to provide information to readers.  If those readers arrive at your site but have to struggle to read your text, they won’t stick around for long.

We’ve all seen websites where someone wanted to be creative by using a swirly script or thought it would be a great idea to put red font on a yellow background or something like that.  Even if you think those elements look great on your screen, don’t rely on what you see on your computer to tell you what other people will see when they reach your site.

Make sure you also stick to common fonts, such as Times New Roman, Courier, and Arial.

#2 – Don’t Assume Your Visitors are Using IE

IE is Internet Explorer.  Once upon a time, Internet Explorer dominated the browser market by controlling a whopping 95%.  That’s all changing.  Today, more users are switching to IE alternatives, such as Firefox and Opera.

Why does that matter to you? Well, different browsers might display your web site differently.  Other browsers might not display your site at all!  If you only make sure your site is working correctly on one type of browser, then you could be alienating millions of potential customers or visitors.

Make sure you test your site on as many browsers as possible.

#3 – Don’t Use Pop Ups

Pop ups might seem like a great way to send advertising messages at your visitors or to encourage them to sign up for your free newsletter before they go but pop ups are really just a waste of time and energy.

For one, most browsers come up with pop up blockers so your visitors will never see the window.  If they do see the window, they will undoubtedly find it annoying and will make a note not to return to your site.  The worst case scenario is the pop up will make them feel vulnerable to spyware, viruses, or privacy invasions.

The bottom line is there is never a good reason to use pop ups on your website.

#4 – Don’t Increase Load Times

When someone reaches your website, they have to wait for your pages to be visible in their browser.  This, of course, is known as load time.  Load time is influenced by some factors you can’t control, such as the type of Internet connection being used by a visitor to your site.

However, you do have a great deal of influence over other factors.  For example, Flash can be fun and creative on a site but it will slow down the load time even on a high speed connection. If your visitor is still using dial-up then it will take minutes longer for your page to load.  Chances are they won’t be there when it finally does.

Remember to keep things simple.  Avoid Flash and don’t bog your site down with a lot of graphics.  The goal is for the site to load quickly.

Content management system – Acquia is a software company that provides value-added software products and services for the social publishing system.

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