Cloud Computing For Small Business – Why You Should Care and Why Your CPA Does

Upon getting information about an upcoming school science fair and the need to consider a topic of interest, many students will typically have no idea where to get started. While the science fair is typically a common occurrence in any school at any grade level, there are different types of topics that should be taken a look at depending on the age of the student. After first taking a look at the many different categories of science projects, you will be able to locate a suitable choice of topic to take to the next level.There is a wide variety of categories that fall under the types of science projects that can be chosen for a school science fair. These include biology, chemistry, physics, microbiology, biochemistry, medicine, environmental, mathematics, engineering, and earth science. While you may not have yet learned very much in any of these categories, don’t be afraid to see what each one entails. Taking a good look at your interests will allow you to focus on the right direction to take.Many resources are also available for those who are unsure as to the topic they are wanting to use to create their science projects. If you take a look at the topics that fall under the biology category, you will likely notice that there are topics that deal with plants, animals, and humans. For those who are in 2nd grade or 3rd grade, an interesting topic may be to determine if ants are picky over what type of food they eat. While this topic might not be of interest to an 8th grader, it is certainly something in the biology category that an elementary school student would enjoy.Along with the biology category, a high school student may want to take a look at diffusion and osmosis in animal cells as this would be a more appropriate topic for the grade level. A student in 6th grade would be more advanced than an elementary school student, but not as advanced as a high school student. At this middle school grade level, a topic of how pH levels effect the lifespan of a tadpole may be of interest.Whichever resource is used to locate a topic for science projects, it is always a good idea to consider the grade level of the student prior to making a selection. It is always assumed to be best to have a project at an appropriate level in order to keep the attention of the student and provide a fun and enjoyable learning experience.

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How Digital Cameras Are Causing The Demise Of Film Photography

The versatility of digital photography is relegating the long-established film format into the category of fine art and maybe causing the demise of film cameras. Further evidence of this are recent announcements by major camera companies, such as Pentax and Nikon, who are ending their production of nearly all their film products. There will always be the traditionalists, however, who will still prefer this system of recording images, but for many, who have made the conversion, digital is an exhilarating and revolutionary new world. Digital technology gives us new ways to use and share photos quickly.Digital photography is not necessarily better at producing photographs; in fact top film cameras are still considered to create better images than any corresponding digital camera. However with the speed that digital capability and capacity is progressing, even now it’s just a matter of opinion of what format is better.Although a relatively new medium to the majority of consumers, digital photography brings with it autonomy and the ability to practise creative ideas. Similar to most things in the modern world instant gratification is a major selling point and digital delivers this. The ability to edit and delete photographs almost instantly inspires many, whereas film, on the other hand, is a long drawn out and awkward process before it provides results. To some, however, this is an essential part of film photography.Traditional photography has been practised for nearly two hundred years and for this reason alone it is doubtful if it will disappear completely. Skilled film photographers have become so because they have discovered something that works for them and, mainly for decidedly personal reasons, have no intention to change their standpoint just for the incentive of progressive technology. This gives grounds for believing that traditional photography will be kept alive.With the ability of the average consumer, however, to display, print, store, edit, transmit, and document their photographs, the digital camera has changed the field of photography forever. A more diverse group of people are being given the opportunity to participate in the pleasure of capturing memorable occasions and a new world has opened allowing people to learn the skill a good deal faster than traditional film photography.The popularity of photography has not decreased since the early days of it’s development and it gains new converts every day. However, the digital age has seen an unprecedented boom in this art form and with digital cameras improving every day and new technology being developed the trend seems never ending.Rather than grieve for the demise of film photography we should embrace the rapid development of digital photography, which is the dominant form even now, but is still producing yet further transformation with the exciting, continuing advancement of digital cameras.

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How Your Family Can Live in Your Home During a Kitchen Remodeling Project

Let me start off by assuring you that your family is not alone in this situation, especially when it comes to being without your kitchen for a few weeks. However, there are solutions and steps both you and your contractor can take. It is of the utmost importance for your contractor be willing to work with you along these lines.Here are some of the ways we worked out solutions for families to stay in their homes, be able to cook and wash dishes etc. while the kitchen work is going on. Keep in mind, you will have to make some sacrifices, but you can also make it a fun time for the family.If you have a room close to or perhaps the back wall butts up against the kitchen, there is a way to set up a temporary cooking area in that room using your existing range, a ventless hood fan, some of the cabinets your are removing and a microwave. After your new kitchen is complete about the only thing you will have to do in this room is some patching and painting of the walls, but that is a small cost if it can help all of you survive the kitchen remodeling project and stay in your home. You can always factor in the cost of the temporary setup into the cost of the kitchen project.Some people choose to live in a motel for a few weeks and others go stay with friends or neighbors, but for those who want to still have access to all the other areas of their home and sleep in their own beds at night, making these small adjustments are not only worth it money wise but also in keeping the whole family happy.If you have a dining room, family room, den or even a bedroom that is close to the kitchen, preferably on the back side of one of the kitchen walls, then you have tackled the first step. The first choice would be to do this on the back wall of the kitchen where the oven/range is located, but it doesn’t have to be that wall, it just helps make things easier. You can still use this method in a room that is further away, but it may cost a little more to set up, mainly do to wiring issues, but it still can be done.Which ever room you decide to use, you will have to move at least some of the furniture out of the room temporarily. You can even store the furniture in the garage during the remodeling project.If you have a standard free standing range, and if you are a do-it-yourself person, you can take a couple of the old kitchen base cabinets and set them on the wall of the room you have decided to use along with the range. Usually you put the range on the wall close to where it was located on the wall in the kitchen and then set a cabinet on each side of it. You would then want cut off a couple pieces of the old countertop, if any of it was able to be saved, and place them on the cabinets. If you are not able to use the old countertops, you can always buy some plywood or particle board and use it for the tops. Keep in mind that this is just a temporary situation.You don’t have to attach the base cabinets to the wall, unless you feel you need to. Once you put some things inside these cabinet, the weight will hold them in place. They may move a little, but not enough to cause any problems. However, if you want you can fasten them to the wall with a couple of screw, but make sure you find the stud location when fastening them to the wall. An inexpensive stud finder will work great for this. If you don’t have one have your contractor locate them for you.Next if you don’t already have a ventless hood fan or an under cabinet microwave with a ventless fan built in from your existing kitchen, you can purchase one from your local home improvement center and even keep it for the new kitchen. Take one of the upper cabinets that is no taller then 24″ and that is about the same width or wider then the hood fan, usually a 30″ cabinet will work. Next install the cabinet with screws, above the oven. The top of the cabinet should be set at 84″ off of the floor. Remember to locate the studs and this is especially important for the upper cabinets. You don’t want to take the chance of them falling down. You should use a screw no smaller then a 2 1/2″ long. 3″ drywall screws work great.You can use a laundry room or a nearby bath to wash the dishes. You can even have a laundry sink installed in the garage if you do not have one there already and use it for the dishes. Having a laundry sink in the garage will come in handy for all types of chores inside and out, so for the small cost, it could work out to be a wise investment. However to have one installed permanently, you will need to have water lines and a drain installed, if these are not there already.Keep in mind that it may not always be possible to locate the oven/range on the back side of the existing kitchen wall. In that case which ever wall you would choose, the electrician would have to either run the wire he is going to use for the new oven and allow enough to run to the temporary location, or use what is already there if it is long enough to reach the relocated oven/range. If the electrician is going to run new wire to the new oven location, make sure that you figure in the length of what you will need and any additional length to run to the temporary oven location so that when it comes time to wire up the new oven, the electrician can cut off the excess wire without having to run a second new wire. This will save you money.If you have a built in oven and a separate cooktop, then you will need to locate those on the wall, but I would put the tall cabinet that held the wall oven in the corner, mount a base cabinet with top next to it, install the base cabinet that had the cook to next to it and another cabinet and countertop next to that. Remember that these cabinets may or may not be screwed into the wall where studs are located. I do recommend on the tall wall oven cabinet that you do screw that one into the wall. The reason is that when you open the oven door, pulling it down may cause some movement in the cabinet.You can also set a microwave on the counter in the temporary kitchen area or on a table or cart. You just need to get creative and make what you already have work. Plus, if the room is large enough, you may be able to put a small dining table in the room as well.As far as the additional cost of setting up the temporary room, it will depend on how much of the work you can do yourself. If you can move all the cabinets and set everything up and all that has to be done for you is the wiring, you will save a lot of money. To have the wiring done you are probably looking at somewhere between $150.00 to $300.00 to have the work done. You may also need some plywood or particle board for temporary countertops which should run you about $40.00 and you can even have your local lumber yard or home improvement center cut the wood to size for you, unless of course you can cut the plywood yourself.The only other costs would be to purchase some painting supplies, including paint, if you do not already have it, some brushes, drop clothes and other painting supplies that should run you over $50.00. Remember, if you had to stay in a motel even for one week, it will cost you much more then this and the inconvenience it will save your family, well you really can’t put a price tag on that.There is another thing that you may need to have done. If you have carpet in then room you are going to use for you temporary kitchen, you will want to protect it. You can either have it professionally removed and the re-installed after you complete the kitchen or take some 1/2″ or 1/4″ plywood, and lay it on top of the carpet where the cabinets and appliances will be temporarily located. You can cut the plywood to fit yourself or ask you contractor or lumber supplier to cut it to the size you need. The extra plywood should cost you no more then about $50.00. If you decide to leave the carpet, make sure you cover any exposed sections up with drop clothes or plastic. Remember you will be cooking in this room.If the room has hardwood or laminate flooring, then you should buy a roll of rosin paper from your local home improvement center or flooring supplier and lay in down on the entire floor before you begin setting up the temporary room up. Make sure to tape down all the seams and edges with masking or duct tape. This will help protect the flooring from getting scratched up. If you have tile, you can use the plywood if you want or place the items on top of the tile. The tile is very durable and should not be problematic. However, if you are like me, I take extra precautionary methods to avoid any potential problems.Also remember to take a plastic tarp and tape and seal off the entry way between the existing kitchen and the temporary kitchen, so that the dust from the work being done while the kitchen is being remodeled, stays in the work area. I recommend doing the same with any opening between the kitchen and the rest of the house if possible.If you take these measures, it will cost you a little more money, and may have to walk further to get to the sink to wash the dishes, and wash them by hand, and you may have a couple of rooms in your house crowded with some extra furniture for a few weeks, but being able to stay in your home during the remodeling project will be well worth it.

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