Camping tips and tricks

College Parents Guide to the 8 Types of Student Loans

Last year at this time, we were frantically looking for information on the different types of student loans.  Unfortunately we could find bits and pieces on various websites, but nothing as complete as we needed.  This gave me the motivation to provide for others what we couldn’t find. You will, after reading this article know exactly what the 8 different types of student loans are and if you should pursue them or not.  Now, let’s start reading.

Student Loans: 8 Types

* Federal Stafford Loan (2 types: subsidized-unsubsidized)
* PLUS Federal Loans (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students)
* Perkins Loans
* Bank Loans
* State Loans
* Additional Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
* Loans from other sources
* College Board Extra Credit Loan

You can start looking for the various types of student loans that fit your needs but you can’t apply for them until you have successfully submitted your application to FAFSA.  You will receive a Student Aid Report and that is what your lenders will base your loan on. Once FAFSA sends you your Student Aid Report (SAR) then you can start looking for the best student loans available for you and your child..

1.  Subsidized Stafford Loans - no doubt the most popular loan available today. The reason is simple- both undergraduate and graduate students have access to these government loans and they guarantee them.

***Student Loans Secrets***
These rates are for subsidized loans to undergraduate students.

  * 6.0% for the 2008-09 school year
  * 5.6% for the 2009-10 school year
  * 4.5% for the 2010-11 school year
  * 3.4% for the 2011-12 school year
  * returns back to 6.8% for the 2012-13 school year.

My wife recieved this loan, but they didn’t give her enough so she had to find another loan from Discovery Student Loans.  Our son was not granted permission for a subsizided loan and he had to get the unsubsidized loan.

One other point of interest that you need to know is that each year you will need to re-apply to FAFSA for your loans.  January 1st is the day you can submit your applications and it is first come first served.

2.  Stafford Usubsidized Federal Loan - if you do not receive a subsidized loan you’ll almost always receive one of these.  They can be long term loans but you will need to make monthly interest payements.  With our son we set up a automatic withdrawl from our checking account for 10 dollars that covers the interest and a small amount of the principal.

***Student Loans Secrets***

Students who are working while attending college, negotiate with your lender to make monthly payments and round up to the nearest tens. If your interest is 8 dollars a month pay 10 dollars which shouldn’t be that hard.  Any time you can pay on the principal the better.

3.  PLUS Federal Loans - this loan is for parents who want to pay for their childs college education and receive some tax benefits. Even if you have poor credit this might be the loan for you.  Other benefits of this loan include low interest rates and the ability to receive the entire amount of the college education.

***Student Loans Secrets***
You can negiotate repayment of your PLUS loan. Chose from graduation date repayments or start 60-90 days after the loan money.

4.  Perkins Loans - students will find out quickly that these loans are limited, but if you are having financial difficulties this is the type of loan you should look for.  You can expect competitive interest rates that are low.

***Student Loans Secrets***

Federal Perkins Loans are reported to your credit bureau.  Do it right and you will have an excellent credit rating.  Default or late on payments will spell trouble.  Be very careful.
 
5.  Bank Loans - search hard because you might be able to find a stafford loan through a bank, but be ready for some stuff rules and regulations.  Most students turn to banks loans only after they have been turned away by the government.

***Student Loans Secrets***

Banks might limit their loans to full time students and repayment options will be limited.  However you might find some incentives on re-payments of your student loans.

6.  State Student Loans - you will need to visit your local bank to pick up an application.  Most states offer a guaranteed student loan but the banks will adminsterd your funds.

***Student Loans Secrets***

These types of student loans are usually more expensive to borrow from when you compare them to federal loans.

7.  Additional Unsubsidized Stafford Loan - These types of student loans are determined
by the federal guidelines and are reserved for borrowers who fall into the “independent
category.

8.  Other types of student loans - look at all your options and discuss these with your fiancial aid advisors at school.  Military dependents, corporations and businesses will offer student assistance. Don’t be araid to ask.

Additional Website Bonus

There is one place that will pay your tuition fees if you can repay them within a year.  Affiliated with around 2000 universities, Academic Management Services offer student asstance, but be ready for some expensive rates.  These funds should only be used in dire emergencies.

As you have read, each of the top 8 types of student loans offers a variety of options for those of you who need help and support.  The federal government is your best option but if you don’t quality you now have several options available. 

I can’t stress the importance of submitting to FAFSA in January of each year. Once you receive your SAR then you can get down to business and find the type of student loans that meets your needs.

Kris Hogaboom
http://www.articlesbase.com/loans-articles/college-parents-guide-to-the-8-types-of-student-loans-710049.html

Cutters are a natural fit in any decorated apparel business. The advantages they offer are numerous, including:

They work with a huge array of materials, including vinyl and film, and you can get a full-blown system, including supplies, for as little as £2000.

These materials can be applied to cotton, cotton/polyester blends, nylon, 100% polyester, leather, canvas, wood, and metal. And in addition to apparel, you also can decorate accessories and extras such as umbrellas, helmets, cd bags and coolers. It’s just a question of picking the right material for the substrate.

You have complete design control, allowing you to do things like custom fit long names on small jerseys, change fonts and colours, and so on.

You’re not dependent on a supplier’s schedule; you make designs when you need them. If you run short of a vowel or a number one or mess one up, you make one more.

Depending on the cutter you purchase, your new equipment may allow you to make a digital transfer of things like corporate logos, a left chest, or full-front design, which allows you to enter a host of new markets.

In addition to teams, you can expand your markets to include local community projects, uniform wear, and all kinds of corporate businesses.  

And when you figure that somebody is going to be making healthy profits doing that business — well, it might as well be your shop, right? In the long run, this kind of market and decorating versatility can only help your business. With that in mind, here’s a look at what you need to know about buying a cutter.

Understanding the Basics
Cutters are available in two types: friction-fed, which includes roll cutters and sheet-fed cutters; or flat bed.

Most friction-fed cutters aren’t designed to handle twill, although there are a couple of significant exceptions. Typically, flat-bed cutters costs around £4000, can do the job extremely well. The ability to handle twill and appliqué means your shop also has to add a sewing or embroidery machine.  And you need to be aware that flat-bed cutters can’t be used with roll materials. Many shops that do both have a friction-fed and a flat-bed cutter.

In either case, the cutter hooks up to your computer (generally not included as part of the purchase); much like you’d connect a printer. You’ll also need a heat press and materials to feed into the cutter. You send a design from the computer to the cutter, which then cuts it from the material — which you then weed (to remove unwanted material) and heat seal to a substrate.

Some suppliers offer packages that include the cutter, a heat press, and materials. In all, expect to spend roughly £2,000 and up for all the required equipment, including a good heat press and supplies — a low price given all the capabilities you’ll be adding to your shop.

Software. Cutters usually come with the software required, either in standalone form or as a plug-in for graphic arts programs such as CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator. Essentially, the software acts as a driver for the cutter. While it’s a plus if you know graphic arts programs, you can happily get by without that knowledge; with some other software available that automates many of the functions, that would normally take more knowledge. Still, having the flexibility of a full-fledged graphic arts program really expands your capabilities and what you can do for your customers.

There also are CAD-cutting design programs that offer a wide range of predesigned templates geared to the team and sports market. Customers simply choose the typeface, design, colours, and layout they like best, and these are plugged into the template, and out comes a professional-looking design ready to be heat sealed. Another option is to rely on suppliers who offer artwork services. They will clean up your customer’s artwork and vectorize it so it’s ready to output to your cutter. (Cutters work only vector artwork, not bitmap or raster images.) Most clip art companies also offer thousands of mascots and images that can easily be imported into your CAD cutter programme and incorporated into a design.

Material. Materials come in sheets and rolls. One big advantage of roll goods is you do not have to stand there and feed sheets into the machine. You can load up a roll, which will then continuously cut until the job is done. There’s also no limit to the design’s length, since the roll is continuous. Rolls generally come in 38cm and 50cm widths.

Cutters also can do sign vinyl, which is usually a self-adhesive material; film, which is a heat-applied material used for apparel; sand-blast material; magnetic material for making refrigerator magnets and magnetic vehicle signs; and, in some cases, transfer paper. This means that not only can you offer the school football team numbered shirts; you can print up the team’s season schedule on magnetic material and sell it to teams and fans who want to put it up on the fridge.

As an alternative to vinyl, certain select suppliers also offer polyurethane materials, or PU which is more environmentally friendly. It is actually thinner, looks better and feels softer than vinyl. Furthermore, the PU product “loves itself” and you can, therefore, stick more layers together. An important feature of PU is that a two-colour, two-layer design will feel like just one layer However, some customers may prefer the thicker, shinier look of traditional vinyl.

For markets such as dance, fashion, and safety, you’ll find a multitude of film options, including foils, glitters, metallic, fluorescents, and reflectives. Reflective materials, which have recently become available in a variety of colors, are popular for safety where visibility is crucial, for example, for school children walking with backpacks. Now children can be safe and make a fashion statement at the same time!

Size. Cutters come in many widths — anywhere from 20cms to 160cms. Of course, the cutter’s cost increases accordingly, from about £700 to £10,000. Generally, though, expect to spend roughly £1000 to £1,500 on a quality cutter.

Unless you’re only going to use the cutter for hobby work, you should avoid anything less than 38cms wide. A 60cms width is considered a standard minimum size for a sporting goods dealer doing team shirts.  

Other Cutter Considerations

When shopping for a cutter, there are some other features to be aware of. They include:

Memory. Look for cutters with an adequate buffer memory as. This allows the unit to quickly download designs from the computer to the cutter.

Down force. Find out how many grams of force the cutter has. Some have about 150 grams of force, while others have about 450. Depending on the material you’re cutting, more down force may come in handy. You must have sufficient down force to cut heavier materials like twill, for example. So make sure your salesperson is aware of all the materials you anticipate cutting.

Optical eye. This is a relatively new feature available on cutters but one that can save a tremendous amount of time increasing productivity. A cutter with an optical eye sets up registration points and, with the software included, allows you to quickly set up contour lines around even complicated designs. It then quickly and precisely cut around any design.

If your cutter has an optical eye (this should cost from £1,400 - £2,000), you can then add a low-cost inkjet printer, and cut out full-colour designs for dark garments.  With an optical eye on your cutter you will not have to worry ever again about using scissors to laboriously cut away the white border around your designs. Just print the designs on transfer paper using the inkjet printer, use the cutter to contour cut the printed image, and use the press to heat seal the image onto the garment. An optical eye also allows you to contour cut items such as window stickers.

Presets. For each type of material you cut, the machine must be programmed with the specifics of that material. If you’re going to switch back and forth between vinyl and film, for instance, it’s handy to have a cutter that has a number of presets. This way, you simply push a button and the unit is ready to handle that material.

 

Warranty. Some suppliers offer extended warranties at no additional cost, so be sure to ask what type of coverage is included. Also, ask if the supplier will offer a free loan machine to use to keep production going should your equipment need servicing.

Training. Using a cutter requires only limited training, which you can get online or in person. In fact, many training programs take only an hour before you’re up and running. Find out whether the supplier offers in-person or virtual training, or both — and at what cost, if any.

Speed. Find out how fast the cutter operates. Most suppliers measure in terms of cms per second. A speed of about 38cms per second and higher is good. Keep in mind that more complicated designs will sometimes require a much slower speed.

Cut quality. Take a close look at the manner in which the cutter does its work. Are the cuts clean and smooth, or are they ragged? Watch the unit in action, and carefully examine samples produced on the machine.

With these considerations in mind, you’re ready to start shopping for a cutter for your business. It’s almost as if you’re purchasing not just a piece of equipment but a new employee who can handle an amazing array of tasks. With a cutter, you’re no longer limited by anything but your imagination.

Printer/Cutters Close Up 
While a cutter has an incredible amount of versatility, a printer/cutter unit ups the ante by adding printing capabilities to the mix. A single unit can output full-color images—usually using inkjet technology—and do contour cutting all in with the same machine.

Using such a unit makes it easy to create customized signage with UV-resistant ink, and do digital transfers for apparel and other items—and it can still do everything a traditional cutter can handle. Of course, such capabilities come at a cost: Prices start at about £6,000 and reach £10,000 and upwards.

Target can be contacted at www.targettransfers.com or call +44 (0) 1376 326351.

 

Martin Borley
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-ideas-articles/boost-profits-expand-markets-with-a-digital-plotter-cutter-724675.html

It is my first time going on a hiking trail and I want to know what kind of gear I will need. Help!

Thanks.

It’s a 3.5 mile linear trail.

Check the bottom link for the 10 essentials.

You will need sturdy shoes that are broken in. A day pack with a hydration system would be nice. And some people like to use a hiking pole. You might like to bring a camera and binoculars. Always carry a whistle in case you get seperated from your group. I always carry a canister of pepper spray (for just in case).

Above timberline, bring one more clothing layer than you think you’ll need. Two rules: Avoid cotton (it dries slowly and keeps moisture close to your skin), and always carry a hat. A windproof, water-resistant fleece jacket can help you withstand ornery mountain conditions.

Rain gear for protection against not only rain, but also wind, cold, and even insects.

Always carry plenty of water and stop often to drink.

You can make your own trail mix with nuts, raisins, banana chips, and chocolate bits. The combination of sugar, fats, and potassium tastes great and provides quick energy, long-lasting calories, and replacement electrolytes.

Prepackaged first-aid kits for hikers are available at outfitters, but you can customize your kit with your favorite blister treatment and ointments for common outdoor ailments (a topical antihistamine, for example, to take care of itches and rashes). Don’t forget the lip balm and sunscreen as well as bug repellent.

It is my first time going on a hiking trail and I want to know what kind of gear I will need. Help!

Thanks.

It’s a 3.5 mile linear trail.

Check the bottom link for the 10 essentials.

You will need sturdy shoes that are broken in. A day pack with a hydration system would be nice. And some people like to use a hiking pole. You might like to bring a camera and binoculars. Always carry a whistle in case you get seperated from your group. I always carry a canister of pepper spray (for just in case).

Above timberline, bring one more clothing layer than you think you’ll need. Two rules: Avoid cotton (it dries slowly and keeps moisture close to your skin), and always carry a hat. A windproof, water-resistant fleece jacket can help you withstand ornery mountain conditions.

Rain gear for protection against not only rain, but also wind, cold, and even insects.

Always carry plenty of water and stop often to drink.

You can make your own trail mix with nuts, raisins, banana chips, and chocolate bits. The combination of sugar, fats, and potassium tastes great and provides quick energy, long-lasting calories, and replacement electrolytes.

Prepackaged first-aid kits for hikers are available at outfitters, but you can customize your kit with your favorite blister treatment and ointments for common outdoor ailments (a topical antihistamine, for example, to take care of itches and rashes). Don’t forget the lip balm and sunscreen as well as bug repellent.

I will pay good money, I’m doing a thru hike of the Appalachian mountains and looking for gear. I’ve checked ebay, pawnshops, every websites around. Just curious if anyone had some extra they wanted to get rid of. I’ll pay good money.

ebay is a good place to go once you know what you’re looking for. the hard thing about finding used gear is that what 90% of people use for camping isn’t entirely suitable for thru-hiking.

with a little bit of research, you can definitely find cheap gear. i suggest you do your research at whiteblaze.net. the forums get pretty catty, but they have excellent articles on a wide range of thru-hiking subjects, including gear (even cheap gear). they’ll have gear lists on there already, and i’d suggest you duplicate one of those.

not to mention that used gear is already beat up. i can tell you from experience that whatever gear you have is going to take a beating over 2200 miles. a fiberglass tent pole is neither easy nor cheap to order from the Trail.

assuming you’re headed NOBO, you’ve only got 5-6 weeks before you need to be taking off, and you’re looking for major pieces of gear now???

I will pay good money, I’m doing a thru hike of the Appalachian mountains and looking for gear. I’ve checked ebay, pawnshops, every websites around. Just curious if anyone had some extra they wanted to get rid of. I’ll pay good money.

ebay is a good place to go once you know what you’re looking for. the hard thing about finding used gear is that what 90% of people use for camping isn’t entirely suitable for thru-hiking.

with a little bit of research, you can definitely find cheap gear. i suggest you do your research at whiteblaze.net. the forums get pretty catty, but they have excellent articles on a wide range of thru-hiking subjects, including gear (even cheap gear). they’ll have gear lists on there already, and i’d suggest you duplicate one of those.

not to mention that used gear is already beat up. i can tell you from experience that whatever gear you have is going to take a beating over 2200 miles. a fiberglass tent pole is neither easy nor cheap to order from the Trail.

assuming you’re headed NOBO, you’ve only got 5-6 weeks before you need to be taking off, and you’re looking for major pieces of gear now???

2010 March 20 Fanling to Tai Po HONG KONG

Duration : 5 min 23 sec

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Filistin Yolu Taşlı - http://timeturk.com/Gazze-konvoyuna-sald%C4%B1ran-M%C4%B1s%C4%B1ra-tepki_107681-haberi.html

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AFP) — A British convoy led by MP George Galloway with medical relief for Gaza was pelted with stones and vandalised in the Egyptian town El-Arish on Sunday, an organiser said.

The convoy, which set out from London last month carrying relief supplies valued at one million pounds (1.4 million dollars), arrived in El-Arish, about 45 kilometres (28 miles) from the Rafah passage to Gaza, on Saturday.

"It's an absolute disgrace," convoy organiser Yvonne Ridley told AFP. "The power was cut. During cover of darkness members of our convoy were attacked with stones.

"Vandals also wrote dirty words and anti-Hamas slogans," she said. "Several people in the convoy were injured in the attack."

A security official told AFP that during a power cut, which is a frequent occurrence in the town, children had pelted the convoy with stones.

The convoy is expected to head to Rafah on Monday …

Duration : 11 min 50 sec

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http://ezinearticles.com/?Camping-and-Cooking-With-Aluminum-Foil&id=3341984 How to video on camp cooking with foil. Blog has many

Duration : 2 min 1 sec

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Tips on ultralight to lightweight backpacking gear
http://www.back-packing-info.com

Duration : 3 min 54 sec

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