Posts Tagged ‘other’

US Minor Holidays And Occasions

March 3rd, 2010

Hereunder is a list of minor holidays and occasions in the United States. Some of them are virtually unknown, and others are quite obscure.

April Fools’ Day – (April 1): the day for practical jokes (only before noon in the UK). Its origins are obscure, but it bears a resemblance to an ancient Roman festival for the goddess of nature.

Arbor Day – (last Friday in April): devoted to trees and their preservation. It is held on December 22 everywhere else in the world.

Armed Forces Day – (third Sunday in May): a day to honour the US armed forces.

Citizenship Day – (September 17): replaced Constitution Day in 1952 by presidential proclamation.

Daylight-Saving Time: was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, but became the Uniform Time Act in 1966. It is not observed in Hawaii, the Eastern Time Zone of Indiana, most of Arizona (except on the Navajo Reservation), American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

Election Day – (Tuesday after the first Monday in November): presidential elections are held in years divisible by four and elections for all members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate in years evenly divisible by two.

Fathers’ Day – (third Sunday in June): was first celebrated in West Virginia in 1908, but this uniquely American holiday was not made official until 1972.

Flag Day – (June 14): was first observed in 1877, which was the centenary of the adoption of the modern design. Truman passed the Flag Day Bill in 1949.

Groundhog Day – (February 2): on this day the groundhog looks out of his burrow. If he sees his own shadow there will be six weeks of Winter to follow, otherwise Spring is just around the corner.

Halloween – (October 31): All Hallow’s Eve is the day before the feast of All Saints. It began as a pagan custom honouring the dead and a celebration of Autumn. ‘Trick or Treat’ is purely American with no historical foundation.

Kwanzaa – is a secular observance by African-Americans to commemorate their African heritage. It begins on Dec.26th when a candle in a candelabrum is lit every day for seven days. It was first practiced by Maulana Karenga in 1966.

Mothers’ Day – (second Sunday in May): was thought of by Anne M. Jarvis of Philadelphia as a way for children to pay tribute to their mothers. It received presidential proclamation in 1914.

National Maritime Day – (May 22): was initiated in 1935 to commemorate the SS Savannah’s first successful transatlantic voyage by a steamship in 1819. It is also a day of remembrance of merchant mariners who died in defense of their country.

National Teachers’ Day – (Tuesday of the first full week in May): is when students are meant to honour the teaching profession.

St. Patrick’s Day – (March 17): has been borrowed from Ireland where it is their national saint’s day.

St. Valentine’s Day – (February 14): was originally to honour two saints martyred by Emperor Claudius (214 – 270), but has been devoted to lovers since the Middle Ages.

Susan B. Anthony Day – (February 15): Anthony (1820 – 1906) worked for women’s rights and suffrage.

United Nations’ Day – (October 24): commemorates the ratification of the UN Charter in 1945 by the then five permanent members of the Security Council.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

Hybrid Cars and Conventional Cars

February 21st, 2010

Today, the question on everybody’s mind is, what is the real difference between a hybrid car and a conventional vehicle? They suppose that there has to be some good reason why people are wondering whether hybrid cars are worth the money and checking their wallets and savings accounts to see if they can afford to buy a hybrid car.

There has to be a good reason why some other people wouldn’t dream of spending their the money on a hybrid car because they feel their conventional car gets them to wherever they need to go just fine. Here are some of the reasons why a person may choose a conventional car over a hybrid car.

Hybrid cars are more expensive than conventional cars: because hybrid cars have a complex internal design, they do still have a pretty hefty price tag. On the other hand, conventional cars, which have gotten more efficient in design as the years have gone on, are quite affordable these days. Many people are selling their old conventional cars in favour of newer, more efficient versions.

In fact, they are so inefficient, in comparison, that some people even give their old cars away. However, since a large percentage of the general populace has never owned a hybrid, there aren’t many people selling used hybrid cars yet. Therefore, a person wanting to buy a hybrid would probably have to purchase a new one from a car dealership.

Both a hybrid car and a conventional car make use of a similar type of battery: a hybrid car and a conventional car both use lead-acid batteries that have enough renewable stored energy to turn over a small electric motor. These batteries are what are called “gear reduced”. That means that they can turn over this electric motor at approximately 300 rpms, which generates enough torque to turn over the engine. It is this process that starts the main petrol or diesel engine.

But even though a hybrid car uses a lead-acid battery, its battery that works to drive the car’s electric engine is constructed differently. This kind of battery is known as a deep cycle battery and it can be compared to the batteries that are used to power golf carts.

That’s the major difference between hybrid cars and conventional cars. However, one person might decide to buy a hybrid car because it makes them feel more secure. For example, if a person buys a hybrid car, they can feel safe because their car will be less likely to run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere and yet another person might choose to buy a conventional car because the price of petrol doesn’t really figure with them all that much.

However, a conventional car provides security as well, although of a different sort. With a conventional car, an owner can be sure that they can always go to a scrapyard, when they need to replace old parts for their car. On the other hand, those with a hybrid car will probably have to face some pretty pricey repair receipts if something goes wrong.

However, the final decision is up to you. There are risks involved with both types of cars. But those who like to try out new things might just consider splurging out on a hybrid car.

If you are interested in the working parts of New Hybrid Vehicles, please visit our website on http://new-hybrid-vehicles.com

Developing A Promotional Strategy

February 8th, 2010

Even if you were to invent something earth-shattering, you would not make any money from of it if you left the invention on your desk. The only way you can profit from it is by selling it and in order to accomplish this, you have to inform people that it exists, that it is for sale and where they may get it from. In other words, you have to advertise it.

The US Patents Office has issued thousands patents for products that never made it and many of those did not make it, not because they were not excellent ideas, but because their inventors did not know what to do with them. A business is more or less the same as a new invention. It has to be advertised, unless it is situated in the middle of the only street in town.

Having already started the business, it is to be expected that, you have already worked out your target market and evaluated the need for your products or services. Now you have to convert those potential customers into satisfied customers and this is where your promotional strategy comes in.

A promotional strategy is nothing more than a for reaching your intended market, which is of course the people most likely to require your services or products. At its simplest, your promotional strategy might consist of just hanging a sign over your door and relying on word of mouth from satisfied customers to circulate, so doing your advertising for you.

In some cases, this is indeed all the advertising a business needs, but the circumstances are not that common really. It works, if you are operating in a very small town or if your product or service is unique or very specialized or if you enjoy a long-standing good reputation. On the other hand, normally, customers require more facts to go on before they will be attracted to your business.

Therefore, the objective of your promotional strategy should be to get in touch with the greatest quantity of potential customers by the most economical use of your means, which may include money, personnel and facilities. This means that you have to divine the channels of communication most used by your potential customers and try to get a message to them through those. This is normally constrained by a budget.

Advertising involves the purchasing of time or space in the media you have chosen in order to market your business to your intended market. You then have to decide which form of advertising you are going to use: institutional or product advertising. Institutional advertising markets the firm’s name as in: ‘Larry’s Boot Shop – The Best In Town’, whereas product advertising is more specific and might read: ‘Nike Walking Boots – 30% off at Larry’s. Offer Finishes Soon!’

Both types of advertising can be effective and lend themselves better to some media than to others. Institutional advertising is better carried out on shop signs, sign-written vans or windows or promotional calendars, that is, static, long-term, business name advertising and product advertising is better done by newspaper, magazine, radio and TV, where one-off special offers can be promoted.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching promotional wall calendars. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

Make Your Own Electricity And Save Some Money

February 8th, 2010

There is nothing more frustrating right now than the way the economy is going. It is not a surprise to you when I tell you that we are in an economy that really needs to save up a lot of money, but what is the best way to do that? By far the best and easiest way to do this is by making your own electricity. By the time you are done reading this article you will have learned three incredible and popular ways to save money on electricity.

1-Solar Power Electricity

I am sure by now you have heard of something called solar power electricity. This works by using the sun’s rays to power your house. This might sound really cool at first, but there are a few problems. It cost a lot of money to install and maintain it and it can be very unattractive. Another down side is that you become very dependent on the sun, if the sun is not out you will not get electricity. That means that during the night when there is no sun you will not be able to generate electricity.

2-Electricity From The Win

If you have ever heard of solar electricity I am sure you have heard of wind powered electricity. This has been around for a very long time, it was actually one of the first ways to generate electricity. You purchase a wind turbine and put it somewhere near your house. When the wind blows it will spin the turbine, when the turbine spins you will get electricity. This will become very problematic because you will be extremely dependent on wind to generate your electricity. If there is not much wind there is no electricity.

3-Magnetic Power Generator

This is the coolest and newest form of alternative energy and has been proven to be the best. The magnetic power generator is the cheapest out of all of them and is not dependent on the weather at all. It simply uses the earths natural magnetic pull to generate a person’s home. Another great thing about the magnetic generator is that it is small and can be put anywhere, most people like to put them under the sink.

Do you want to learn how to Make Your Own Electricity and save money on the important things? If you do then just Click Here

Apocalyptic Dates Coming Soon

February 7th, 2010

Predicting the end of the world has almost certainly been going on since man began thinking, whenever that was. It is warned about in Revelations in the Bible, so that must be about 2,000 years ago.

Nonetheless, it is the predictions of Nostradamus that are the most well-known and most abundant. Some biographical records of Nostradamus’ life state that he was afraid of being victimized for heresy by the Inquisition, although neither prophecy nor astrology fell under their jurisdiction. He would have been in danger only if he had practiced magic to back up his predictions.

In fact, his contact with the Church as a seer and a physician were always very good. His short imprisonment at Marignane in late 1561 came about merely because he had published his 1562 Almanac without the prior consent of a bishop, contravening a recent royal decree.

Here then are a couple of the prophesies of the ending of the world and the annihilation of mankind.

December 21st, 22nd or 23rd 2012 are all possible dates for the ending of the world according to the ancient Mayan Calendar.

2012 has been determined by some to be the first potential date for the passing by of Planet X (Wormwood) and the demise of the world, as mentioned in Revelations, although this is fervently debated by Biblical experts and astronomers alike.

2012 is also the year given by Nostradamus as the possible demise. He gave three possible years for the apocalypse: 1994 and 1998 so this is his last opportunity to be correct.

2010 is the year so says the Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn.

In 1143 St Malachy prophesied that there would be only another 112 more Popes. The current Pope Benedict is the 111th. He also predicted that the final Pope would be known as Peter of Rome, so we will have to wait and see for this one.

2017 is the year specified to the Sword of God Brotherhood by the Angel Gabriel.

November 13th 2026 is the date according to a 1960 edition of ‘Science’ magazine. The author alleged that this would be the day that the planet’s human population would ‘reach infinity’.

2033 is held by many to be the 2000th anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ and a possible date for his return, which would signal the end of our Earthly period.

4,500,000,000 AD is the approximate date at which the Sun is due to explode and in so doing, destroy the inner solar system including our World. Nobody knows, but unless we wipe out ourselves first, this latter date is probably the most accurate and scientific date for the destruction of the planet.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with custom wall calendars If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

About Honda Hybrid Cars

January 5th, 2010

Most of us have heard of the various Honda cars on the forecourt today. You can include in this range of cars, the Honda hybrid cars. These hybrid cars include the Honda Accord Hybrid, the Honda Civic hybrid 4 door car and Honda Insight, which is a two seater. These are not the only hybrid cars in Honda’s stable, there are other ones but these are the most popular models.

You will find that Honda hybrid cars are available in different versions of their popular regular Honda cars. The Honda Civic hybrid is one such hybrid car that is much in demand. This four door compact vehicle is one that you can choose either as new or as a second-hand car.

The hybrid Honda Civic has a 5 speed manual transmission drive. This particular Honda hybrid car is known as an assist hybrid car. The Honda Civic hybrid is the only hybrid vehicle to have won a top award for the best international engine.

While you can get details about the various models of Honda hybrid cars from the Honda dealers’ websites on the Internet, you might want to visit the showrooms in person. This will furnish you with a better understanding of whether a hybrid car will suit you. Having looked into this information, you can then decide which Honda hybrid type is best for you.

So, you can make sure that you are getting a good deal Furthermore, speaking of money, you may want to check out the price of other cars that catch your eye in the hybrid Honda car line. For those who like the appearance of the hybrid car from Honda, you have a choice of a previous year’s models or the new batch of Honda hybrid cars. Since there are lots of data you need to scrutinize, when it comes to purchasing vehicles, it is probably best if you have the questions you need answered dealt with by a qualified Honda dealer.

By doing this, you can be sure that you have chosen a Honda hybrid which is not only affordable but is also able to meeting your requirements. The hybrid cars that you can buy will provide you with lots of benefits both in the long term and the short term in terms of keeping your fuel costs down.

Since there are many different cars, you can always be assured that you will find one that you like. The trusted Honda hybrid is the absolute choice for the discerning hybrid car owner.

If you would like to know more about the technology of New Hybrid Vehicles, you should visit our website where there is tons of offormation on http://new-hybrid-vehicles.com

categories: hybrid vehicles,automobiles,trucks,SUV,environmental,technology,hi-tech,oil,fashion,science,innovation,leasing,outdoors,other

Calendar – Which Calendar Do You Mean?

January 2nd, 2010

In the West, we tend to think that there is only one calendar, but there are dozens of them around the world. And what is more, there were probably hundreds of them previously. All defunct now either because ours is more precise or because theirs did not fit in with our commercial way of life.

But that does not mean to say that people do not still use those old-fashioned, defunct calendars. Oh, no! Governments have given up their old, traditional national calendars, but in general, country folk still use to them, even if they can no longer obtain a printed version. I cannot go into all the calendars here, but I will mention five or six of them.

Lunar Calendar – There is some indication that early man used marks on bone to record or indicate the passage of time 25,000 years ago, almost certainly calibrated by the Moon’s phases. A calendar can be created based on the lunar cycles; it creates a year of twelve months (the word ‘month’ is from the word ‘moon’), but only 354 days, which is, eleven short of the time it takes the Earth to revolve around the Sun. The Chinese still use a variety of the lunar calendar but they resolve this issue by inserting extra moths every now and then to bring ‘time’ back into alignment with the Sun.

Solar Calendar – The ancient Egyptians were the first people to employ a Solar Calendar, although it could justifiably be called a stellar calendar. The new year began for them when Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky, rose in the same place as the Sun. This more often than not co-incided with the flooding of the Nile. This calendar was of 365 days; twelve months of thirty days and five holy days. Therefore, it was only one quarter of a day off the true year. However, this meant that slowly but surely, the new year did not concur with the flood. Scientists have worked out that this calendar was adopted in either 4241 BC or 2773 BC.

Julian Calendar – In 46 BC , Julius Caesar realized that a number of parts of the empire were using different calendars, so he ordered the dating system to be unified. Sosigenes came up with a calendar of 365 days with an extra day every four years. Therefore, in 46 BC, the longest year on record, Caesar added days to the year to bring it back into alignment with the seasons. 46 BC was 445 days long! The immensity of the Roman Empire ensured that this calendar was the defacto calendar of the Western world.

Julian Day Count – In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII instituted a new calendar, but the year after that Joseph Justus Scaliger developed a system of counting days, not years. It starts with 1 on January 1st 4713 BC. On this date the Julian and the lunar calendars and the Roman tax dating system all coincided; something that will next happen in 3267. January 1st 2001 was Julian day 2,451,913

Gregorian Calendar – from at least 730 AD, it was spotted that the year from vernal equinox to vernal equinox was short of the 365.25 days in a year. This had the consequence that the date of Easter was moving back. So he dropped 10 days from 1582 by jumping from October 4th to October 15th and proclaiming that century years would only be leap years if they were divisible by 400. Consequently, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was. This is the calendar we still use today.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

categories: calendars,time,astronomy,science,education,organising,environmental,recreation,hobbies,time,solar system,outdoors,other,uncategorized

The Energy Crisis And Hybrid Cars

January 1st, 2010

It has been said that not enough people are doing all they can do to fight against the energy crisis. Hybrid cars can help, but probably not enough people are driving them. Here are a few things related to the energy crisis and how hybrid cars can help.

The U.S. isn’t doing enough really. The USA consumes more fossil fuels than any other country in the world. However, most people believe that all of our energy problems can be solved if we would only look further into the oil deposits in Alaska or if we made full use of the latest discovery of oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hybrid cars make it so that we might not have to use other sources of energy to keep the economy afloat. Hybrid cars don’t cause Americans to use an excessive amount of fossil fuel. Instead, hybrid cars make Americans consume less fossil fuel.

Fuel consumers just accept increasing fuel prices. People used to be concerned that petrol prices are much higher now than they were a few years ago. Now, however, people just take the higher prices in their stride. Furthermore, in the meantime, cars are getting bigger and bigger. Vehicle manufacturers are making trucks and SUV’s, which consume more petrol at the higher prices.

These cars use more petrol, but you wouldn’t believe just how many people won’t give up their petrol-guzzling SUV. Hybrid cars do eventually cost their owners less to own than conventional vehicles do. So there is no need to worry about settling for being over-charged by the oil companies.

Soon there could be an end to the “cheap oil period”. Soon, we could all be in over our heads, because not only will we have an energy crisis, but a peak oil crisis as well. During the peak oil crisis, there will be fuel shortages and natural gas shortages too. The major countries will need to compete against one another for whatever fuel remains.

Therefore, everyone may have some problems, and countries may have to fight for who gets oil and who does not. The peak petrol crisis can be put off, if more people just purchased hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles ensure that people are not always having to be looking for gas. Additionally, there are advances being made in hybrid cars all the time.

The plug-in hybrid cars, for instance, might not even need oil whatsoever one day. So, just in case we do have an energy crisis one day, Americans ought really to be spending the intervening time to finding a answer to the coming oil crisis in the U.S. Hybrid vehicles are the method to avoid the energy crisis, and if countries still want to compete with each other over gas, at least America will know they tried to slow the impending crisis by buying hybrid vehicles.

So, there you have it. The United States’ mass use of hybrid vehicles would make it so that Americans need less gas. But Americans also still have yet to gain from the large amount of money being made from hybrid vehicles. The majority of popular hybrid cars come from Japan. Therefore, Americans need to bring that money back into the country by making hybrids at home and do something about the current energy crisis at the same time.

If you are interested in the working parts of New Hybrid Vehicles, just visit our website on http://new-hybrid-vehicles.com

Some Celebrities That Have Driven Hybrid Cars

December 23rd, 2009

No, it is not true that you could rise to fame and fortune if you went and bought a hybrid car. But a hybrid car is not only a car for the rich and famous but it might be OK for you. Many people are driving hybrid cars these days including some of the most famous people on the planet like your favourite film stars. But the big question is, should you be driving a hybrid car at all?

So, are you driving anything like a hybrid car? Well, if you are not, you can’t rub noses with some of these hybrid car-drivers. These people were very early owners of hybrids cars. You may not see them in a hybrid vehicle when they stop next to you on Rodeo Drive, but believe me, they’ve owned a hybrid car before. Whatever, trust me or not they have been reported as owning hybrid cars before even if they were given them for publicity purposes.

Alicia Silverstone This star certainly isn’t clueless about the environment. She knows that driving a hybrid car has many benefits for the environment. And if the general public doesn’t have the understanding that she has, then that’s just hard luck. Alicia knows that hybrid cars are better for the environment and therefore for everyone. So Alicia Silverstone got herself a hybrid car. So she has helped promote this new technology as far as this article goes, which has to be a good thing.

Ellen DeGeneres Now then, this funny woman not only has a great haircut, but she was driving a great hybrid car even before you probably even knew about hybrid cars and she was probably smiling at you and your gas-guzzler last time she wizzed past you.

Robin Williams Funny and sweet, Robin knew when he played the role of Mrs. Doubtfire that he should probably start thinking more like the sensible driver that you would allow to take your kids to and from school, so Robin got himself a hybrid car, and he hasn’t looked back since.

Ted Danson Cheers! Ted knows a fantastic car when he sees one. He was certainly off the beer the morning he decided to go check out the new cars on the forecourt. He got up and bought a car that made a great deal of sense. He was making a good choice when he chose a hybrid car.

Brad Pitt What’s the latest? Certainly, Brad’s gasoline hybrid engine is. He had a hybrid car, so he knows his car isn’t using that much gas.

Prince Charles Why, surely, if it’s good enough for royalty, then it’s good enough for everyone else? That’s how you should think when you drive a hybrid car. You should feel proud, adorned, and envied because believe it or not, that’s exactly what you are when you choose to drive a hybrid car. So enjoy it.

So, how do you feel? Like a million dollars? Well, you ought to if you are thinking of buying a hybrid car and don’t worry, you won’t get your 15 minutes of fame, but you will be making a very bold statement that people will understand and many people will appreciate what you are doing and that will go on for years and years because hybrid cars last for a very long time.

If you need to know more about the technology in New Hybrid Vehicles, you should go along to our website where there is lots of information on http://new-hybrid-vehicles.com

The Hybrid Car and Petrol Prices

December 19th, 2009

The appeal and popularity of the hybrid car have grown exponentially, especially with the growing concerns about high petrol prices as well as worsening air pollution. Here are some useful bits of information that could help you learn more about hybrid cars and how they may help you save money on gas and be somewhat protected from rising petrol.

A hybrid car is the sort of car, or any other vehicle, that makes use of at least two different fuel sources to make it go. Both fuel sources are used together sometimes to help propel the car more efficiently. There are several different combinations of hybrid car possible, but the most common hybrid car so far is the gas electric hybrid.

The gas-electric hybrid car, also called the hybrid electric vehicle or HEV, makes use of a gasoline internal combustion engine or ICE and a quite separate electric motor to power it. While the ICE makes uses gas to make it go, an electric battery is used to store the electrical energy that powers the hybrid car’s electrical motor.

The HEV usually has a petrol engine that is smaller in size and weight than the conventional one used in standard gas powered cars. Use of more advanced technology makes this possible and allows the HEV to have better running efficiency as well as greatly reduced polluting emissions.

Apart from the petrol engine, the hybrid electric car also has a special electric motor built in that not only produces additional power to the car but also acts as a generator when it is not being used. The electric motor acts as a generator, in situations when it is not being used to drive the hybrid car, to help charge the battery for added efficiency.

In a common HEV set up, the car uses its electric motor when being propelled at very low speeds, say, in traffic jams. The gasoline engine acts as a secondary power source when the HEV requires much more power, such as when climbing a hill. The petrol engine also compensates the electric motor with power whenever the car needs it in order to go faster such as when overtaking. The gas and the electric motor can also work in combination at certain instances when needed.

Since the hybrid electric car uses both an electric motor as well as a gas engine, a substantial improvement in car mileage is achieved. A hybrid electric vehicle or HEV can run much longer distances using the same amount of gas compared with a conventional gas powered vehicle.

When the electric motor is being employed, petrol consumption is reduced. This results in quite a bit less petrol being used when going the same distance as a traditional gas powered vehicle. And since the hybrid electric car has a smaller, lighter gas engine, the hybrid car also runs more efficiently because of less engine weight compared to a conventional car’s heavier engine.

The working parts of the hybrid car engine are also smaller and require less energy to move. This efficiency makes the hybrid electric car quite a great option for people concerned with rising petrol prices. Using a hybrid car can help drivers save a substantial amount of gaswhen traveling. Not only that, using the hybrid car can also help in reducing polluting emissions by using less gas while travelling.

If you need to know more about the technology of New Hybrid Vehicles, you should visit our web resource where there is lots of information on http://new-hybrid-vehicles.com

categories: hybrid vehicles,automobiles,trucks,SUV,environmental,technology,hi-tech,oil,fashion,science,innovation,leasing,outdoors,other