american express business travel: November 2012

Saturday, November 10, 2012

How We Paid Cash For Our Tiny House

Posted by Steven on November 9, 2012 //

by Letty Smith

For me to thoroughly explain the drastic lifestyle and financial changes we made in order to build and live tiny I will start by introducing you to my family. My name is Letty and I was born and raised in Alaska. Matt is a Georgia boy but was transplanted into Alaska with the US Army. We met in 2005 and were married forty-five days later. We have two precious boys we adopted after being placed in our home as foster children. Michael is now 7 and Javis is 5. They have been bringing joy to our lives for over three years now. We also have a dog named Hank and Boris the cat.

In August of 2012 we made a nearly 2,800 mile journey with our tiny house from our home in Alaska to our current city of Medford, Oregon. We left the day after Matt graduated from the Medex physician assistant program. He received a job offer that just couldn?t be turned down and I was very ready for a change in climate!

A few years ago we had a conversation about buying a little house on a trailer but we did not have the finances and were in the middle of our adoption. I?m not sure what sparked Matt?s interest in it this time, but in November 2011 he brought it up again and I ran with the idea! We have been living in our tiny house since June and absolutely adore this lifestyle.

Prior to our tiny house adventure we were living in an averaged sized home. Our monthly bills were $3,395. This amount was just a few dollars below our income. We were getting by but had absolutely nothing in savings to begin building. I won a $5,000 scholarship through our local newspaper so we decided to use this as a down payment on our tiny house. My brother is a builder and also owned the perfect trailer for us.

The first phase was going to cost us $8,500. To make up the rest from the scholarship I was going to sell everything! Like seriously, everything. For some reason Matt went along with this! I started with furniture, then went through clothes, kitchen items, appliances, jewelry, toys, garden and craft supplies. We kept 5 complete pairs of clothing, a set of dinnerware and a towel each. We kept a few books and the boys each filled a small box with toys they wished to keep. Things that were special to us we gave to friends and family as gifts. Items that were left over we donated. Luckily, we had just enough money to finish this phase.
We were then out of money. The largest bill we had is our home mortgage. So we rented out our house. We were blessed with the opportunity to house sit for friends for over three months. When they returned we stayed in my mom?s RV. We were in a friends yard until we found a campground host position. About a month before we moved we parked in another friends yard and we finished the rest of the house, except for plumbing.

Without having the bills associated with living in hour regular home we had the ability to have about $2000 extra each month to work on our tiny house. We were able to save more money by doing a lot of work ourselves, with the help of friends. People donated time and even supplies to make our crazy dream become a reality. The interior cedar siding was from our fence that fell over at our house. My friend had extra flooring he was willing to give us at no charge. I traded Matt?s handgun for exterior siding, cabinets, a ladder and the counter top. Another dear friend helped me build the lower kitchen cabinets, toilet and a pocket door. The plumbing and electric were hired out to family friends as well.

Here is a breakdown of our costs for building our tiny house:

Trailer $3500
Floor, Framing and Roof $5000
Windows $800
Roofing $1600
Electric/Lighting $700
Plumbing $600
Door $300
Appliances $1000
Paint $200
Storage/Cushions $400
Beds $200
Fabric $100

TOTAL COST $14,400 (including labor and supplies)

Our the main level is 7?16,our loft 7?9 and the kid loft is 7?6 for a grand total 217 sq ft. We used a ton of used/reclaimed items however I still feel that a tiny house can be built for a relatively low cost, like we did. Keep in mind we built in Alaska where things are way more expensive than the lower 48. We did not use as many high end or green materials as some people do but I still think our home is wonderful! I wanted to share our story to show that if a family of four on a tight budget can make it happen for a reasonable price, so can you! Even if you do not plan on building, a change in lifestyle will certainly help you save.

You can learn more about the Smith?s family tiny house story, you can visit their website here.

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Category : Blog

Source: http://tinyhouselistings.com/how-we-paid-cash-for-our-tiny-house/

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Comet collisions every 6 seconds explain 17-year-old stellar mystery

Friday, November 9, 2012

Every six seconds, for millions of years, comets have been colliding with one another near a star in the constellation Cetus called 49 CETI, which is visible to the naked eye.

Over the past three decades, astronomers have discovered hundreds of dusty disks around stars, but only two ? 49 CETI is one ? have been found that also have large amounts of gas orbiting them.

Young stars, about a million years old, have a disk of both dust and gas orbiting them, but the gas tends to dissipate within a few million years and almost always within about 10 million years. Yet 49 CETI, which is thought to be considerably older, is still being orbited by a tremendous quantity of gas in the form of carbon monoxide molecules, long after that gas should have dissipated.

"We now believe that 49 CETI is 40 million years old, and the mystery is how in the world can there be this much gas around an otherwise ordinary star that is this old," said Benjamin Zuckerman, a UCLA professor of physics and astronomy and co-author of the research, which was recently published in the Astrophysical Journal. "This is the oldest star we know of with so much gas."

Zuckerman and his co-author Inseok Song, a University of Georgia assistant professor of physics and astronomy, propose that the mysterious gas comes from a very massive disk-shaped region around 49 CETI that is similar to the sun's Kuiper Belt, which lies beyond the orbit of Neptune.

The total mass of the various objects that make up the Kuiper Belt, including the dwarf planet Pluto, is about one-tenth the mass of the Earth. But back when the Earth was forming, astronomers say, the Kuiper Belt likely had a mass that was approximately 40 times larger than the Earth's; most of that initial mass has been lost in the last 4.5 billion years.

By contrast, the Kuiper Belt analogue that orbits around 49 CETI now has a mass of about 400 Earth masses ? 4,000 times the current mass of the Kuiper Belt.

"Hundreds of trillions of comets orbit around 49 CETI and one other star whose age is about 30 million years. Imagine so many trillions of comets, each the size of the UCLA campus ? approximately 1 mile in diameter ? orbiting around 49 CETI and bashing into one another," Zuckerman said. "These young comets likely contain more carbon monoxide than typical comets in our solar system. When they collide, the carbon monoxide escapes as a gas. The gas seen around these two stars is the result of the incredible number of collisions among these comets.

"We calculate that comets collide around these two stars about every six seconds," he said. "I was absolutely amazed when we calculated this rapid rate. I would not have dreamt it in a million years. We think these collisions have been occurring for 10 million years or so."

Using a radio telescope in the Sierra Nevada mountains of southern Spain in 1995, Zuckerman and two colleagues discovered the gas that orbits 49 CETI, but the origin of the gas had remained unexplained for 17 years, until now.

###

University of California - Los Angeles: http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu

Thanks to University of California - Los Angeles for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125196/Comet_collisions_every___seconds_explain____year_old_stellar_mystery_

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Texas pays tribute to ex-football coach Royal

AAA??Nov. 10, 2012?1:39 PM ET
Texas pays tribute to ex-football coach Royal
By JIM VERTUNOBy JIM VERTUNO, AP Sports Writer?

In this photo taken Sept. 1, 2012, former Texas legendary head football coach Darrell K. Royal gives the "Hook'em Horns" hand gesture when was honored before Texas' season-opening NCAA college football game against Wyoming in Austin, Texas. Royal, who won two national championships and turned the Longhorns program into a national power, died early Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, at age 88 of complications from cardiovascular disease, school spokesman Bill Little said. Royal also had suffered from Alzheimer's disease. (AP Photo/Statesman.com, Ralph Barrera) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; INTERNET AND TV MUST CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHER AND STATESMAN.COM

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 1963, file photo, Texas head coach Darrell Royal is all smiles as he laces his shoe in the Texas dressing room after his Longhorns defeated Texas Christian University 17-0 in Austin, Texas Royal, who won two national championships and turned the Longhorns program into a national power, died early Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, at age 88 of complications from cardiovascular disease, school spokesman Bill Little said. Royal also had suffered from Alzheimer's disease. (AP Photo/Ted Powers, FIle)

In this photo taken Feb. 28, 2012 , Edith Royal, wife of former Texas football coach Darrell Royal, right, announces that the family foundation named after her husband, DKR Fund for Alzheimer?s Research, would fund Alzheimer?s disease research in Texas during a joint legislative hearing held at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas. Royal, who won two national championships and turned the Longhorns program into a national power, died early Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, at age 88 of complications from cardiovascular disease, school spokesman Bill Little said. Royal also had suffered from Alzheimer's disease. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Rodolfo Gonzalez) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; INTERNET AND TV MUST CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHER AND STATESMAN.COM

This Sept. 1, 2012 photo shows former Texas football coach Darrell Royal before a college football game in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas says Royal, who won two national championships and a share of a third, has died. He was 88. UT spokesman Nick Voinis on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012 confirmed Royal's death in Austin.(AP Photo/American-Statesman, Ricardo Brazziell) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; INTERNET AND TV MUST CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHER AND STATESMAN.COM

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? The Texas Longhorns paid tribute to former football coach Darrell Royal during their game against Iowa State on Saturday, honoring the man who won 11 conference titles and two national championships in his 20 years leading the program.

Royal, who died Wednesday at age 88, won 167 games at Texas from 1957 to 1976, a mark that still stands as a school record.

Texas ran its first offensive play from the wishbone formation Royal introduced to major college football in 1968. Instead of a run, Texas pitched the ball to Jaxon Shipley, who tossed it back to quarterback David Ash, who passed to tight end Greg Daniels for 47 yards, adding some razzle-dazzle to an old-school formation.

Flags flew at half-staff at the stadium that bears Royal's name and white "DKR" initials were painted inside the burnt-orange Longhorn logo at midfield. Texas players also wore a similar helmet logo, which will remain part of the uniform the rest of the season.

A wreath was placed at the feet of a Royal statue inside the stadium where dozens of fans lined up to take photographs and flashed the "Hook'em Horns" hand signal. Royal's widow Edith attended the game.

Under Royal, Texas won 11 Southwest Conference titles, 10 Cotton Bowl championships and national championships in 1963 and 1969, going 11-0 each time. The Longhorns also won a share of the 1970 national title, earning him a national stature that rivaled that of Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant and Ohio State's Woody Hayes. Royal was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

A public memorial ceremony is scheduled for noon Tuesday at the Frank Erwin Center basketball arena. Royal will be buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, an honor typically reserved for the state's military and political leaders.

University officials illuminated the iconic UT Tower with burnt orange floodlights in Royal's honor on Wednesday night.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-11-10-FBC-T25-Texas-Royal-Tribute/id-50c4fe9895fc4af296ced985767b84ad

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Friday, November 9, 2012

MOBILE VOIP ANDROID APP FROM VOX COMMUNICATIONS IS ...

A hippie video on YouTube has found peace, love and brotherhood in the mobile VoIP app by Vox Communications, which has a new international calling plan that can be downloaded via Google Play. The subscription-free plan called ?Pay and Go? can be topped up with amounts as low as one dollar and enables calling anywhere in the world without paying a monthly subscription fee.

The hippie tells us ?it is the mobile Internet revolution? and you can participate in it too. ?Call your brothers and sisters, because VoX does not require connect fees, credit checks or social security numbers.? The hippie also notes that she is tired of ?the behemoth wireless carriers ripping her off.?

It is an interesting and much needed concept for the international mobile user because with VoX, consumers simply pay for what they use, and don?t have to worry if they don?t use up all the monthly minutes that wireless carriers make you pay for in advance. And since the calls go over the data side of the 3G or 4G network, or over a WiFi connection, a consumer is not charged the expensive international per-minute calling rates that one is assessed from riding over the circuit-switched technology used by the wireless carriers to transmit a phone call.

To help publicize the app, a very entertaining video is now available on their YouTube channel, which is called Mobile VoLTE. We see this new ?Pay and Go? app as another step in the change from consumers buying the bundled data, text and calling plans, to consumers buying data only plans, and then buying apps, such as the VoX voice app, for all their other needs. Why pay monthly fees for a calling plan and voice mail box if you can use an inexpensive app?

The other interesting paradigm shift is that Vox is a replacement for the plethora of printed calling cards. Why buy a country specific calling card if you can download a Vox app? Also, we noticed in a recent filing of a Form 10-Q, that in order to slowly ease the retail stores off of calling cards and onto the app, VoX has an opportunity to replace all the calling cards in an electronics retailer with a VoX prepaid app calling card. A retailer no longer needs to sell dozens of different country or region-specific calling cards. All they need is one calling card from VoX.

A VoX user can subscribe entirely on the phone and choose a U.S. phone number without leaving the interface, which makes the sign-up process more elegant than many competitors. The mobile VoIP paid plans are a low cost of entry for a high quality and reliable mobile VoIP service offering. New subscribers can download the app for a free 60 minute trial and make calls to any country on the unlimited calling list or sign up for the ?Pay And Go? plan for as little as a dollar, literally a ?pay as you go? plan, with no monthly subscription fees.

The VoX Mobile VoIP Android App can be viewed or downloaded directly from Google Play

VoX Communications:

VoX Communications delivers VoIP, mobile VoIP and video telephone service anywhere in the world that has a stable broadband connection. It recently entered the mobile VoIP services and applications arena so that its VoIP can utilize any 3G/4G or WiFi connection. VoX differentiates itself through a unique combination of high quality voice services, flexible back-office capabilities and automated provisioning systems that enable a quick turn-up for app users who are looking for a second mobile phone line or low-cost international calling, without using any voice-plan minutes from their mobile phone carrier. It offers a feature-rich, low-cost, high-quality alternative to traditional wireless phone services.

Contact: Paul H. Riss; 212-404-7633 at VoX Communications

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Source: http://www.freepressreleases.com/mobile-voip-android-app-vox-communications-promoted-hippie-video/285295

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Thursday, November 1, 2012

Mitt Romney, First Lady Stump for Votes in Swing State Iowa

The Washington Post reported Monday that Mitt Romney campaigned in Davenport, Iowa, where he told a crowd that he was optimistic about America's future. He said, "I wouldn't be doing what I've been doing if I were a pessimist, all right? This job is quite an undertaking. It's a thrill to get to do what I get to do."

Here are some of the latest developments from the Hawkeye State. Iowa's six electoral votes are being sought by both presidential campaigns.

* First Lady Michelle Obama campaigned in Iowa City, Iowa, Monday, where she discussed Hurricane Sandy. She said that President Barack Obama "has made this storm his priority, and he is going to do whatever it takes to make sure the American people are safe and secure," according to CNN Monday.

* The Associated Press reported Sunday that Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Fort Dodge, Iowa, Thursday.

* Iowa is one of three swing states, along with Wisconsin and Ohio, where GOP supporters have up to a 3-to-2 advantage in local TV ad spending, according tot The New York Times Sunday.

* Real Clear Politics' latest cumulative averaging of polls shows that Obama leads Romney in Iowa by 2.3 points, 49 percent to 46.7 percent (through Monday night).

* Bloomberg News reported Monday that through Oct. 27, the secretary of state's office reported that more than 470,000 early votes have been cast by Iowans, which would be 30 percent of the amount of Iowans who voted four years ago. Democrats lead currently with 44.6 percent of the votes cast, while Republicans have cast 32 percent of the early votes. Independents currently make up 23.3 percent of the early votes.

* The Hill reported Sunday that Stephanie Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager, deemed the Des Moines Register's endorsement of Mitt Romney as not "based at all in reality" on "This Week." She added "It says that he'd reach across the aisle, which he'd do the exact opposite. It's the exact opposite of what he did in Massachusetts."

* Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's communication director, Tim Albrecht, deemed the Des Moines Register's endorsement for Romney as one that "will send absolute shockwaves through this race," as reported by The Washington Post's Right Turn Monday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mitt-romney-first-lady-stump-votes-swing-state-155900987.html

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Synthetic magnetism used to control light: Opens door to nanoscale applications that use light instead of electricity

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2012) ? Stanford researchers in physics and engineering have demonstrated a device that produces a synthetic magnetism to exert virtual force on photons similar to the effect of magnets on electrons. The advance could yield a new class of nanoscale applications that use light instead of electricity.

Magnetically speaking, photons are the mavericks of the engineering world. Lacking electrical charge, they are free to run even in the most intense magnetic fields. But all that may soon change. In a paper published in Nature Photonics, an interdisciplinary team from Stanford University reports that it has created a device that tames the flow of photons with synthetic magnetism.

The process breaks a key law of physics known as the time-reversal symmetry of light and could yield an entirely new class of devices that use light instead of electricity for applications ranging from accelerators and microscopes to speedier on-chip communications.

"This is a fundamentally new way to manipulate light flow. It presents a richness of photon control not seen before," said Shanhui Fan, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford and senior author of the study.

A Departure

The ability to use magnetic fields to redirect electrons is a founding principle of electronics, but a corollary for photons had not previously existed. When an electron approaches a magnetic field, it meets resistance and opts to follow the path of least effort, travelling in circular motion around the field. Similarly, this new device sends photons in a circular motion around the synthetic magnetic field.

The Stanford solution capitalizes on recent research into photonic crystals -- materials that can confine and release photons. To fashion their device, the team members created a grid of tiny cavities etched in silicon, forming the photonic crystal. By precisely applying electric current to the grid they can control -- or "harmonically tune," as the researchers say -- the photonic crystal to synthesize magnetism and exert virtual force upon photons. The researchers refer to the synthetic magnetism as an effective magnetic field.

The researchers reported that they were able to alter the radius of a photon's trajectory by varying the electrical current applied to the photonic crystal and by manipulating the speed of the photons as they enter the system. This dual mechanism provides a great degree of precision control over the photons' path, allowing the researchers to steer the light wherever they like.

Broken Laws

In fashioning their device, the team has broken what is known in physics as the time-reversal symmetry of light. Breaking time-reversal symmetry in essence introduces a charge on the photons that reacts to the effective magnetic field the way an electron would to a real magnetic field.

For engineers, it means that a photon travelling forward will have different properties than when it is traveling backward, the researchers said, and this yields promising technical possibilities. "The breaking of time-reversal symmetry is crucial as it opens up novel ways to control light. We can, for instance, completely prevent light from traveling backward to eliminate reflection," said Fan.

The new device, therefore, solves at least one major drawback of current photonic systems that use fiber optic cables. Photons tend to reverse course in such systems, causing a form of reflective noise known as backscatter.

"Despite their smooth appearance, glass fibers are, photonically speaking, quite rough. This causes a certain amount of backscatter, which degrades performance," said Kejie Fang, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Physics at Stanford and the first author of the study.

In essence, once a photon enters the new device it cannot go back. This quality, the researchers believe, will be key to future applications of the technology as it eliminates disorders such as signal loss common to fiber optics and other light-control mechanisms.

"Our system is a clear direction toward demonstrating on-chip applications of a new type of light-based communication device that solves a number of existing challenges," said Zongfu Yu, a post-doctoral researcher in Shanhui Fan's lab and co-author of the paper. "We're excited to see where it leads."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford School of Engineering. The original article was written by Andrew Myers.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Kejie Fang, Zongfu Yu, Shanhui Fan. Realizing effective magnetic field for photons by controlling the phase of dynamic modulation. Nature Photonics, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2012.236

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/CN4E8DgHc7A/121031151609.htm

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Mark Johnson's winter weather forecast

CLEVELAND - Many of you remember last winter as the winter that wasn?t

Snow was an uncommon sight across northern Ohio. The snow total at Cleveland Hopkins Airport was 38 inches. That's literally about half of the normal snow total of 70 inches for Greater Cleveland.?

Akronand Canton measured 30 inches for the season. That's also down from the normal 48 inches of snow in Summit and Stark Counties. Last year, there were only three organized Lake Effect snow events: two in January and one in February. It?s safe to say, snowfall was well below normal area-wide.

As one local snow plower put it:?"We did not have a winter. We usually plow about 15 to 20 times. We plowed six times. We sat around and looked at each other, basically, and hoped that we could find something to do."

As for temperature, we started the winter out mild and ended it downright sultry. A major blocking pattern in Europe and Alaska kept the cold air bottled up elsewhere, and left a strong southerly wind flow across all areas east of the Mississippi River. Any cold air that did drop south into Ohio was quickly banished back north after just a few days. As a result, December, January and February temperatures averaged 4 to 6 degrees above normal.

And then there was March. March turned out to be the warmest since 1910. High temperatures soared into the 80s for several days. Average temperatures in March ended up a whopping 13 degrees above normal.

That warm weather pattern lingered into summer. We had 28 days of 90 degrees or higher at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. That's almost one third of summer. We haven't been this hot since 1988.

The logical question to ask is: Do weather patterns carry over season to season? The answer is usually no.

We had a hot, dry summer here in Ohio. But, already, you notice that fall has turned very cool and very wet. It has been a total pattern change.

So, now it?s time to look ahead to the winter of 2012-2013.

To create a forecast, we, first, must look at ocean patterns. Temperatures of the world?s oceans seriously affect the positions of high and low pressure systems around the world. Water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, along the US and Canadian West Coast.

This is known as the cold phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Last year, we were experience a much cooler Pacific Ocean temperature near the equator. That called a La Nina. This winter La Nina will likely be replaced by a weak El Nino.

Temperatures near the equator will be slightly warmer than normal.

Another important ocean pattern to consider is the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation. Water temperatures are currently much warmer than normal.

Next, we look at winters of the past that have had similar ocean temperature patterns. In this case, 1953, 1957 and 2002 fit the bill pretty closely.

For this upcoming northern Ohio Winter, I can see several waves of Arctic air spilling down from Central Canada. These cold air masses will not be quick to move out, like last year.

In between, we'll see a few days of moderating temperatures as well. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a pretty good mid-winter thaw for a week or so.

Although, every winter has variability, I expect this winter to produce temperatures BELOW normal, on average for December through March across Northern Ohio.

Colder temperatures, of course, provide more opportunity for snowfall throughout the winter. Our Lake Effect snow season should get off to a rousing start by late November or early December, as those cold air masses and northwest winds drop south across the Great Lakes.

I do expect snowfall overall to average near to, perhaps, slightly below normal for our area.

Of course, if any of our ocean patterns change, I'll be sure to update this forecast. In the mean time, find your winter coats and get the snow shovels ready.

Source: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/weather/winter/Mark-Johnsons-exclusive-winter-weather-forecast

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