The cheque for April netted approximately $200, May $185 and June $175. Although this seems like an unlikely trend as summer progresses, there are many factors that could affect the sun’s exposure to the panels. June could have been more cloudy and rainy. Humidity and air pollution are also factors and this summer has been a muggy one.

I was hoping to achieve an average of $200/month through the year and this puts me a bit behind my target. Winter days are shorter and although the air is typically drier and cleaner, I anticipate winter revenue will be less. More to come.

• What if… you were able to access your bookkeeping to do the things you want to do, when, where and how you want to do them – review, create, analyze, print, whatever – all in real time from any internet connection.
• What if… you could choose your own level of bookkeeper assistance while learning, through hands-on experience, programs and procedures with the on-line support of qualified professionals.
• What if… your financial reports were available on demand with reconciliation periods  – quarterly, monthly, weekly, or even daily – at your discretion.
• What if… you could have all this on your own Virtual Private Network for a small monthly fee.

VPN Accounting…
Bookkeeping on your terms.
 

For the metrically challenged, one meter is approximately ten percent longer than one yard. A 25 yard pool is excellent for aerobic training and a target of 50 yards on 45 seconds is realistic.

A workout of fifty lengths of fifty meters on fifty seconds (50 50’s on 50) is an excellent long-range target. When done continuously, the 2500 meter set requires 41 minutes and 40 seconds to complete. In the sporting world, a four-to-one ratio is often used to compare jogging to swimming. For example, a 10 kilometer fun-run (~6 miles) is approximately the same as a 2.5 kilometer swim (~1.5 miles).  Obviously, 50 50’s on 50 is a significant achievement.

Raising the bar slightly, on my fiftieth birthday I swam consecutively fifty lengths of fifty meters on fifty seconds (50 50’s on 50 at 50). I wish that I could say that my heart rate was 50 beats per minute too, but it was not.

While air has significantly different density characteristics than water, many of the same aerodynamic principles apply. A swimmer should try to sense water resistance (back pressure or “differential pressure”) to maximize propulsion efficiency and return-on-effort.  Turbulent water is resistant water and this fact can work for or against the swimmer. In addition to being aware of vortex creation and activity, swimmers can attempt to “borrow energy” from the vortices created by pushing against turbulent water.

Increased vortex activity (beside, behind and ahead) will affect speed and performance.  Water does not react well to inefficient movement and energy is easily shed through uncontrolled motion, which leads to wild and unpredictable eddy activity. Stoke optimization is extremely personal; body shape, pull style, undulating motion and kick activity will create a collection of vortices that will be unique to each swimmer. Optimization requires intense focus and fine-tuned sensitivity. 

Michael Phelps’ rigorous training routine no doubt included water resistance sensitivity and reduced-drag optimization. Watching his races is highly recommended and greatly encouraged, but keep in mind that his body shape is one-in-a-billion and that what works for him will not work for everyone. Fitness swimming is more about science and efficiency rather than body shape and power. We all know what having big feet means.  That’s right… big shoes. And Michael Phelps’ shoes won’t be filled again for quite some time.

Ten 5′ x 3′ panels are wired into an inverter, which converts DC solar energy into 220VAC, and feed an export meter located on the outside wall of our house, adjacent to the import meter. The “series” system connects both meters directly to the 200 amp electrical panel in our basement. Thus far, the inverter indicates a variable range from zero (no direct sunshine) to 1780 watts (mid-afternoon), which I assume is OK for an early-spring day.

A bright, mid-afternoon, summertime sun should generate approximately $1.50/hour for two or three hours per day. My first job in 1972 was pushing carts at Loblaws and it, too, paid $1.50/hour for a few hours per day. Solar power production is certainly not a fountain of cash flow, and the ten-year-plus return on investment is hardly exciting. But it still beats pushing carts.

More details to follow!

It is extremely unlikely that an investor would utilize only one of these investment styles on its own. Every individual is unique and brings to the table a variety of interests, skills, and expectations that ultimately define their own strategy. This variety of creative possibilities (combined with gambling overtones and general discontent with professional money managers) has attracted unprecedented numbers of individuals to on-line portfolio management.

Traditionally limited to the realm of RSPs, investors are opening personal and corporate accounts to maximize their return on effort and time invested in market study. The new TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account) is a spectacular vehicle for stock investment as they are sheltered from capital gain taxes, which are in excess of 40% when applied personally.

Start slow, listen to experts, find an area of interest, create a plan. Regardless of your ultimate personal investment strategy, be it a sector focus on dividends or a two-minute candlestick flip, access to the stock market and investment advice has never been better and it behooves you to become educated about what is happening to your money.

For example, a lower-income individual deposits $5,000 into a RSP and ten years later withdraws it at a similar or greater marginal tax rate (i.e. the income at time of deposit is the same or less than the income at time of withdrawal). All funds, including the compounded return, are fully taxable as income at the marginal rate in the year of withdrawal. In a TFSA, the same $5,000, which would have provided little savings in the way of RSP tax relief in the year of deposit, would generate an identical compounded return and upon withdrawal, neither the principle nor earnings would be taxable.

The primary objective in managing a Registered Savings Plan is to put money in at a higher tax bracket than when taking it out. Banks and government neglect promoting this aspect because (surprise!) it ultimately lowers their profitability. They heavily plug the tax-free status of income generated within the plan, however the ability to withdraw funds prior to the mandatory collapse date is equally important.

For example, a RSP deposit is made at a high marginal tax rate (say, $10,000 deposit on $100,000 income) and withdrawn ten years later at a lower marginal rate (say, $10,000 withdrawal on $50,000 income). After a safe compounded return rate of 2.5% per year, the marginal tax rate savings are almost as much as the compounded interest earnings, thereby nearly doubling the tax-free benefit. Leaving funds in a maturing RSP is inefficient and depending on the balance at the age-71 mandatory rollover, taxes could erase all marginal rate benefits.

RSP contributions are not for the young, the old, or the poor; they are for upper income earners to reduce high marginal tax rate liability. Properly managing your money takes time and planning. Consult a professional.

Multinational publishers should embrace this inevitable outcome early, but they won’t. Grandfathered and legacied contracts bound within an archaic and self-fulfilling legal architecture are worth a lot of money. Industry evolution at the upper levels will be slow and painful, just like it was in the music industry ten years ago.

Download FREE eReader Smartphone software here:
www.fictionwise.com/help/ereader-download.htm 

At last check, googling “2012” returned 244 million pages.  The NASA website is good and there are a few voices of reason in forums and blogs, but the fecal content is overwhelming.  Some sites on the subject are very impressive until one discovers that entire sections have been copied shamelessly from Wikipedia.  Some sites open very professionally, presenting technical arguments on difficult subjects, but reading for several pages often leads to references to psychic connections, herbal remedies and paranormal activity.  Other sites are just plain depressing. 

The roller coaster economy of 2009, combined with pseudo-science interpretations and Hollywood feature films, does little to maintain an atmosphere of rationality.  To fill the authoritative void, Fecality 2012 will strive to restore a sense of existentialist calm to an over-the-top ridiculous subject.  Armed with a high tolerance for authors with specialist degrees in BS, MS, PHD (Bull Shit, More Shit, Piled Higher and Deeper), we will examine and dispel the bigger issues at the heart of earth’s upcoming demise.

Fecal Content:
The Sky is Falling  (Chicken Shit)
Failed Predictions  (Bull Shit)
Revelations  (Full of Shit)
Religion  (Holy Shit)
Mayans  (Good Shit)
Space  (Deep Shit)
Principles (Tough Shit)
It Happens (No Shit)

For all 2012 postings, click on Category Fecality 2012 at right —>

So, while you’re waiting for the phone to ring, get busy. There are many POD options (check out print-on-demand on Wikipedia) and most are virtually free. The “P” has morphed from “print” into “publish” and the type of product is not limited to books and calendars. CDs, MP3s and a wide variety of electronic media can be promoted and sold with no inventory requirement (see POD Demo).

Service providers typically charge a fixed price for building the product plus a percentage of the gross profit upon sale, and both of these are at reasonable rates. The product is available to you, the account holder, at manufacturing cost. Sell price and profit margins are totally up to you.

If you can manage a Facebook account, chances are you can manage a Lulu account and a Myspace Artist account too. Creating your profile/image on Lulu is in your control and there are several choices for storefront layouts. In addition to profiling, Myspace offers the songwriter six streamed samples of their tunes. Uploading books, songs, CD covers, MP3s, etc., is simple, menu-driven and logically organized. Linking your URL to a networked storefront/profile/blog creates a practical and powerful marketing package for as little as $10/year.

It is time to get creative with your career. Check out POD demos right here at BIT Services.