Technology and Gadgets

Slow Internet: causes and 5 solutions that do not fail

Posted on by Connell

The Internet is an essential service for humanity today, it is as necessary as drinking water or electric light. We work, communicate and have fun on the Internet until we come across a slow internet.

When the internet goes slow is when our worst nightmare begins, whether at work or at home, having a slow internet is synonymous with wasting time, delays, unfinished jobs, deliveries that do not arrive on time, games that you can no longer play, or stop communicating with people you need.

Beyond academic studies  on slowness on the internet, today we will see with simple explanations  why the internet is slow , and we will teach you how to perform a series of tests or verifications to know the reason for that slowdown of your network , as well the best tips to optimize the internet and its speed to the maximum.

So if you have questions like, how to solve the problem of my slow internet or also other queries like why my internet is slow? you are lucky because you have reached the right place. Let’s start, and follow our links one by one.

The first thing we have to determine when we are faced with a problem of having a very slow internet is to determine which operating system we use, because different operating systems may have different solutions.
Many times the slowness in the network depends a lot on whether our computer or PC is good or badly optimized, so the first step will be to optimize our Windows PC or Mac OS.

Then the first step is to click on the image of your operating system and follow the instructions there on how to optimize your PC.

Select the OS on your PC:

Microsoft Windows

Apple MacOS

Slow Internet in Windows 10, 8 and 7

The first thing we want to tell you is that having slow internet is not a problem that is going to happen forever. Everything has a solution in computing, and the slowness you have in your network can be solved.

If you use Windows, the first advice that we will give you is to prioritize keeping your PC clean and in good condition at all times, as it is vital for certain tasks such as connecting to the internet to go fast at all times.

So our first tip is to read the following article: Clean PC , from there you can see simple techniques to keep your PC clean and working well in every way.

Are you still slow internet? Then follow these tips below that will lead you to detect the cause of having slow internet and are surely the root of the solution to your slow network.

1. Control the operation of your PC

We always emphasize that to have a fast and trouble-free internet is vital to have the PC well clean, adjusted to the maximum so you do not have slow internet.

Our slowness when navigating or sending emails can be due to many reasons, some of them may be:

The Windows registry is full of useless records of programs that you no longer use. To solve it is vital to do a cleaning, which we explain in detail in the article: Clean the Windows registry.

You have many add-ons installed in your browsers like Firefox, Opera and Chrome. Ideally, remove any extensions you do not use will only make everything go slower.

You do not have almost disk space on your hard drive, and this makes everything go slow, not just the internet. For this, we recommend you read this post where we talk about how to delete all that uses a lot of space and does not work: clean the hard drive.

You do not have much RAM on an old computer, and the processing of any action goes slow, so does the browser. Lack of resources like CPU or RAM is very common, and in old PCs opening the browser can be a nightmare if you do not have ram.

Fortunately, all PCs and notebooks can easily expand RAM and CPU. Keeping the computer in good condition is very important if we look for the cause of slow internet, so start at this point to start.

2. Remove malware and viruses

Today with the proliferation of malware and virus infections is tremendously easy to infect with a malware or virus.

Viruses and malware often use your internet connection to send spam emails from your PC, send attacks to other computers, and other illegal activities.

These things do nothing but use your internet and are often the cause of having slowness when using the network or wifi.

The ideal thing is always to be well protected against malware and viruses, so our advice is to do a complete scan of your PC.

We recommend reading this article: Remove malware and viruses, from where you will have exact instructions to control the presence of viruses, malware, spyware and more on your computer.

You can also explore the Free Antivirus article for windows, where you will find many options for free antivirus solutions for Windows so that you can free yourself of any bug that you have in your operating system.

A tip that never comes too much: always remember to keep your anti-virus and anti-malware database up to date, because if you have it outdated it is likely that there is the problem.

Having a database of your updated anti-virus and anti-malware is the best tool to combat any type of infections.

Also if you use a trial antivirus, make sure that the trial period has not expired and you have your computer unprotected.

3. Monitor the use of the Internet connection

Many times we feel that the internet is slow, and after researching a little we realize that the person responsible for slowing is not your PC or smartphone, but other people.

When we say other people, we mean that if in a house there are 5 people, all with notebooks and 1 mobile, we will have a total of 10 devices connected.

And if some of them ask for or send large amounts of data, they are likely to take all of your bandwidth and there to make everyone notice that the internet is slow.

Sharing internet can cause slowness in the network , so it is vital that you talk to everyone so that no one abuses the network resources.

If by chance you use a Wi-Fi network, ideally you read the article Wifi slow, because it can give you the solution to any connectivity problem you have on your wireless network.

Another thing you can do is measure the speed of the network against your ISP, the so-called speed test or ADSL Test, with you will find out if the person in charge of your slow internet is your internet provider.

4. Do you have slow navigation? Optimize your browser to the max

Many times there is the talk of slowness on the internet, but what is wrong is not really the internet, but something in particular of the browser or browser that you use.

For these occasions where you have a bad configuration of the software that you use as a browser, or if you have any add-ons, add-ons or extensions, optimize that particular software.

If you use Internet Explorer we have written an excellent guide to Accelerate Internet Explorer, it will help that the browser that brings Windows by default goes faster than lightning.

If you use Mozilla Firefox, it is best to follow the tutorial: Optimize Firefox, to leave it as fast as never before.

And if you use Google Chrome, there is usually no need to optimize it because it is today the most optimized and fast browser in the world.

5. Optimize the Internet with automated tools

Optimizing the PC using a tune up software is usually a good alternative to performing manual actions such as configuring the advice-by-advice system manually, or configuring private browsing, or hiding the IP, or optimizing the browser are all manual tasks that carry time and patience.

Fortunately, there are ways to optimize the internet to the maximum to get all the juice to our contract of ADSL or Fiber Optic.

There are pieces of software that allow you to accelerate not only your PC but also accelerate the internet, if you want to see all the details, click on this guide: Programs to accelerate Windows.

Fashion

10 fashionable tricks, which will surprisingly help out at the most suitable moment

Posted on by Connell

Every day, we are faced with a number of tasks that need to be addressed, and clothing is the very last thing that should bring discomfort. However, some problems with it can lead at the most inopportune moment.

We share with you 10 tricks that everyone should know.

1. Stains from deodorant

This problem, perhaps, is familiar to everyone who uses antiperspirants. After the shower, you applied the product to the skin of the armpits, waited for it to dry out and put on a black or navy blue T-shirt or blouse. And that’s bad luck! In some places, white stains from deodorant remained on the clothes, which, as luck would say, are not easily removed! What to do?

Do not panic. Do not rub your spot with wet hands or resort to more serious therapy. It is enough to take a pair of jeans (or a slice of denim fabric) and rub a stain. Traces as did not happen! Visit this content for modern russian clothing.

2. Vintage things

The last few years in vintage fashion: faded shirts, “old” jeans. You can make a fashionable T-shirt yourself.

It is enough to soak it in a liter of water, where 100 grams of salt has been previously dissolved. Leave a T-shirt in this mixture for 3 days, then wash in the usual way and dry. You will get not only a stylish but incredibly nice t-shirt.

3. Remove smells

In vintage shops or, as they are called, seconds you can find truly stylish, high-quality and inexpensive things. One drawback is the smell.

To get rid of any unpleasant odor from your clothes, prepare a solution of vodka and water. Pour the mixture into a container with an atomizer and spray onto clothing. A smell as did not happen!

4. Smoothing the collars

Quickly give your shirt or dress a neat look with a hair iron. Smooth out their collar, and you will not need an iron!

5. Say no to molting!

Woolen things or things from angora are very warm and right decision for a cold winter. One minus – they can terribly shed, so that by the end of the day on your skirt or pants get a lot of hairs. But this can be avoided.

Place the sweater in a bag with a zipper and put it on for 3 hours in the freezer. Now the sweater will stop shedding!

6. Eliminate scratches

Even the most expensive bags are prone to scratching the skin. Do not rush to grieve. They can be eliminated.

Take a little moisturizer and a cotton swab. Rub the cream into scratches and allow to soak.

7. We buy jeans

If you want to buy jeans and you have little time to try on, try this advice. “Your” jeans fit perfectly in the neck. Do not believe me? Check for the already available jeans!

8. Beeswax

Bee wax not only moisturizes the lips, dry areas of the skin and eliminates pain. It can also come in handy in everyday life. When buying rags or siphons, apply a wax base to their fabric base. To wax is better absorbed into the fabric, use a hairdryer. So they will not get wet if suddenly you fall under the rain.

9. We return the shine of lacquer shoes

Lacquer shoes look beautiful and stylish. But very often it quickly loses its shine right after the purchase. To restore the old look of the shoes, spray on it the usual glass cleaner and wipe with a cloth.

10. Remove stains of sweat

Before washing the white in places where there is a chance of the appearance of yellow stains from sweat, apply a little lemon juice. Then wash the thing in the normal mode. You will be surprised, but after washing the thing will be like new

 

Technology and Gadgets

Best Way To Optimize Your Pc

Posted on by Connell

After a while, it is normal for Windows to become slow and you need to optimize the PC. The good thing is that to accelerate a PC you do not need to be a technician or advanced user, you just need a little patience following our advice.

Those users who have an old PC of several years is normal to notice some slow when opening the computer, it can be for several reasons, lack of cleaning, virus presence, or very poor hardware in relation to the system demand operating.

If you are asking questions such as:  What is optimizing the computer?  or other questions related to optimization such as: How to improve the performance of your PC?  or what is done to optimize the hard drive? and How do you clean your computer? How can I optimize Windows 7? … Then you are in luck because from Tecnomagazine we will explain how to achieve it step by step.

Optimizing the PC should be something to do later that it is in optimum state, that is, without errors.

That is to say, if the Windows operating system you run must be fine, ie, you should not have errors in the hardware (such as a hard disk failure, or bad RAM), nor the hard disk to content buffer (hard disk full) or running with outdated driver drivers.

Let’s begin to see how well our PC is, follow these tips step by step:

  • Tip to optimize Windows: Clean your PC
  • If you use Apple, you can see how to do it from this article: Mac slow.

How can I optimize the pc?

Unlike what you may think, optimizing the PC is not a difficult task, it can be done even without being a computer technician or advanced user, much less a programmer. All you need to do is read our PC optimization guides step by step, following our instructions.

Optimizing PC is possible by following these simple tips:

  • Use a PC Booster for the performance of your PC.
  • Accelerate Windows with a Windows Tuning
  • Extend hardware components
  • Keep Windows Infection Free

Let’s see what are the steps to achieve each of these goals in order to Optimize PC easily and quickly, without jeopardizing the data of your operating system.

1. PC Optimization Tip: Use tuneup software

To achieve the task of optimizing pc is necessary to install what is called a tuneup software, also known with other names like pc optimizer and pc accelerator. What is a pc booster or tuneup software? These are programs to accelerate the PC and more than anything, they focus on the great goal of optimizing Windows.

These useful tuneup programs make life easier for you to speed up your computer and get the most out of your PC with a single mouse click. It is one of the easiest ways to optimize the PC in these years where ever more PCs come more complex and users just begin to learn how to use the new operating systems like Windows 10.

With software tuneup programs even automatic optimization tasks, applying the calls “best practices” to achieve the goal of accelerating the computer with a click .

You can see the best additional programs and tune up software from this article: Programs to Speed Up Windows.

2. Speed Up Windows

There are many ways to speed up Windows, both automatically and manually, using some tricks to optimize the PC without complications.

If you want to accelerate it manually what you will need is a lot of time and also to have enough experience managing computers, that is, to be at least a computer technician with advanced knowledge of Windows and operating systems.

If you are going to take the risk of doing it manually, we suggest you always make backups of all the important information you have, this can be done by copying files to an external drive, or by generating a backup using a restore point.

If you want to know more about how to optimize the PC, we recommend to follow the complete guide from here: Optimize Windows.

3. Extend hardware components

One of the things that we sometimes forget when we are in the process of optimizing the PC is to think of the simplest and fastest (although not the cheapest thing), that is to say: to improve the hardware .

Through the amplication of hardware components, we can add more resources to have a fast PC. The recommended hardware components to add are RAM and if your CPU is not soldered to the motherboard, also a better CPU .

That yes, you must first ensure that the new component is fully compatible with the motherboard that you use, you should consult with a computer technician.

Once you know they are compatible, the next step is to purchase them and then install the hardware on the PC to get that performance improvement you so badly need.

As a basis for having a fast PC, today we recommend having at least 8GB of RAM, Quad Core i5 or i7 CPU, and an SSD hard drive , which are much faster than traditional SATA II hard drives.

That if, if you are replacing your SATA disk for an SSD, remember that first a technician or yourself will have to backup everything and reinstall Windows on the SSD disk from scratch, then restore the backup of your data.

In some cases where 32-bit operating systems are used, it is possible that Windows limits the resources, ie you will not be able to use all the RAM you have, for example if your computer has 16GB, it will only recognize you 4GB.

Ideally, it is then to have Windows 64-bit to have the highest hardware compatibility, making the most of the RAM, graphics cards, disk space and all installed hardware resources. Modern operating systems allow you to maximize compatibility with all the money you’ve invested in arming your PC.

4. Keep your PC free of infections

Something vital to optimize the PC is to have it totally free of infections caused by malicious software, that is: viruses, spyware, adware, malware and other kinds of malicious programs such as trojans, backdoors, keyloggers, etc.

You can see how to completely eradicate these threats from the following articles: Remove Malware  and the list of 10 best antivirus for Windows .

How can Mac Optimize?

If you are lucky to have your Apple Mac computer while having excellent hardware components and a fully optimized operating system, you may also sometimes get slow.

Therefore we recommend the following guides and manuals to clean and optimize Mac computers:

  • Mackeeper
  • Clean the Mac

So remember, if you have both a PC with windows, and one with a Mac, you’ll be able to accelerate initially and then keep your PC performance tops all the time if you do not forget the fundamental steps we’ve described here.

 

Health and Fitness

How Insomnia Is A Treatable Medical Problem

Posted on by Connell

Millions of people suffer from Insomnia every year. It is a common sleep disorder that affects individuals of any age particularly elderly people. The most obvious symptom of Insomnia is being unable to fall asleep or maintaining the sleep duration. Furthermore, encountering with depression and anxiety are two other signs that are particularly associated with Insomnia.

What Are Signs and Symptoms Of Insomnia  

Insomnia is a medical condition that refers to “disturbed sleep.” It can cause you to find difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep. Furthermore, there are lots of other signs and symptoms that are associated with Insomnia and can leave negative impacts on your everyday life. For example, insomnia can cause you difficulty in concentrating and focusing on your daily tasks. These negative effects also include mood swings, irritability, depression, anxiety, daytime fatigue and sleepiness etc.

In addition, many people with Insomnia experience tension headaches in which they feel like a tight band around their heads. Sometimes, the sleep disorder also contributes to difficulty in socializing and gastrointestinal symptoms. Insomnia also causes other signs such as the person with the sleep disorder may wake up with not feeling refreshed or fully awaken. Also, there can be daytime sleepiness and tiredness throughout the day. Furthermore, insomnia leads to problems in concentration as well focusing on tasks.

How To Diagnose Insomnia  

There are several ways to diagnose a person with Insomnia. First of all, the sleep specialist will inquire a series of questions about patient’s medical history and his/her sleeping pattern. If necessary, the doctor will examine the patient in order to look for any possible medical problem that is also causing the patient to experience insomnia. In addition to above ways, psychiatric checks will also be considered to determine the possible cause of the sleep disorder. Though there are various efficient treatment options available, reaching at the correct diagnosis is quite difficult in most cases. Diagnosing insomnia requires several tests in addition to long-drawn assessment studies which usually cause people with the sleep disorder avoid for asking professional help.

How To Help People With Insomnia 

Fighting insomnia is possible with medical, behavioral and even simple home remedies. However, those who have been experiencing the symptoms for more than two weeks or have started feeling disoriented, irritated, groggy or even lost must opt for professional help to treat their insomnia. Depending on the condition and severity of Insomnia symptoms, your doctor may recommend the usage of mental and physical relaxant medications. For example, Etizolam is one of the best medicines that are good at treating the fear-provoking symptoms of anxiety and Insomnia.

In addition, good sleeping habits can also help you deal with insomnia. For example, if you are a mobile user, make sure your switch off your mobile before going to the bed. Also, avoid reading, eating or watching television while you are in the bed for sleep at night. Make sure you don’t sleep for long hours nor take little sleeping duration. Restricting your sleep like decreasing bed time and partially depriving the body of sleep will help you increase tiredness ready for the night and eventually sleep well.

Featured

Fun Facts About Roads in the UK

Posted on by Connell

Whether you love driving or loathe it, some professions involve a life on the roads of the UK. Here are some interesting facts about the road and motorway network of the UK that you might not know:

  • The man who invented tarmac was a chap called Edward Hooley. He noticed a smooth surface outside an ironworks in 1901 and when he asked what had caused it, he was told that a barrel of tar had spilled. The following year, he patented the method of heating tar, adding slag and breaking stones into the substance which resulted in the creation of tarmac that we see on all roads today.
  • The longest motorway in the UK is the M6 which runs from Catthorpe in Leicestershire up to the border with Scotland. It’s an impressive 236 miles long.

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  • The first motorway to open in the UK was the M6 Preston Bypass which ran for 8 miles and opened in 1958.
  • When the M1 was first opened in 1959, it was a lot more dangerous than it is now. There were no crash barriers, lighting, speed limits or central reservation!
  • The country’s first roads were built during the period of Roman occupation between 43 and 410 AD. Famous for their long, straight stretches, these roads were constructed for the transportation of trade goods and the military.
  • Many hundreds of people are employed up and down the country to work on the maintenance and safety of the highways. Britain has over 200,000 miles of roads and motorways that need constant monitoring and upkeep.

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  • If you think potholes are bad in your local area you might not be surprised to find out that potholes account for 33% of all mechanical vehicle problems in the country. This damage is said to cost the motorists approximately £2.8 billion each year.
  • We have had pedestrian crossings on our roads since 1943 but they only started being painted black and white in 1951.
  • Get stuck in rush hour every day? Spare a thought for motorists in London who spend an average of 101 hours every year stuck in traffic jams. The rest of the UK suffer only 30 hours a year. For those who are employed as drivers, this figure will be significantly higher. For Same Day Courier Slough, visit https://www.uk-tdl.com/
  • Do you believe in ghosts? With Halloween fast approaching, you might want to take a drive up the M6 on October 31st as it’s one of the most haunted roads in the country! There are an unusually high number of reported ghost sightings on this stretch of motorway, from Roman soldiers to a crazy woman at the side of the road.
  • If all of the potholes on our roads were joined together, they would make a hole the size of the Isle of Wight!
  • The first ever traffic lights were installed outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. They were gas-lit and had to be manually operated back in 1868.
Featured

Big store layout tricks the top brands use

Posted on by Connell

Have you ever noticed that you often spend much more time in a supermarket or department store than you intended to? Have you also noticed that you spend much more money than you said you would? This is because you have been enchanted by the special tricks used by store layout geniuses – tricks that keep you there longer and encourage you to spend more. Read on to find out how you can copy these tricks.

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The left/right decision

Shoppers tend to want to shop by heading right and going counter clockwise rather than being forced to go the other way. This means shops that adhere to this layout sell more along the way. Shoppers forced to go clockwise speed up and spend less time looking around. Make sure that an attractive area exists to the left when they enter, such as flowers, fruit or seasonal ware. This slows them down immediately, preventing shoppers dashing round the shop and creating an excellent first impression.

Breaks in the aisles

Successful shops have plenty of breaks in the aisles and rows, as shoppers get bored looking at one continuous aisle and are more likely to switch off. Breaking aisles into two or even three separate smaller aisles will help to renew interest in each new segment.

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Angled aisles

Angled aisles improve the visibility of products from the street and upon walking into the store. This is rarely seen in either large or small stores, but those that implement it find it has a positive impact.

The road to nowhere?

It is important that each aisle, row or display ends with the start of something else and not the back of a rack, the door to a store cupboard, or an empty shelf. Refresh customers with a new exciting aisle or display at the end of each one they finish.

Other store tricks of the trade

Layout tricks are just one way in which stores can increase sales. Other options include free samples, demonstrations, and in store media from firms such as https://moodmedia.co.uk/in-store-media/.

Next time you wander around a popular supermarket, see whether there are any ideas you could apply to your own store to improve the layout. Ideally, you want customers to be impressed upon arrival and be kept interested for long enough to stay.

Featured

Ten ideas for transforming your summer house

Posted on by Connell

As an island nation, the UK has always had limited housing space, leading to high accommodation costs.

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With space at a premium, people are looking for other ways to increase the usable space in their properties. An extension is great, but it can be expensive to have one installed.

For many people, a better option is to create a shed, summerhouse or other structure in the garden.

You could go more unusual with the structure itself, such as by converting an old vehicle or building an adult treehouse like 2017’s “Shed of the Year” as shown in the Telegraph.

There are plenty of companies from which you can purchase your garden building. If you are after summer houses In Northern Ireland, you could consider shopping online at http://www.morrowsectionalbuildings.com.

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Beach

Create your own beach hut with shells and pastel colours on walls outside and inside. Hang a wind chime and perhaps a couple of model boats to complete the theme.

Modern

You can have a sleek, modern building with double glazing, heat and power almost like an extra room in your house.

Socialising

A summerhouse can be a great entertaining area. A corner-style building takes up less space, leaving you with more room in your garden. Fairy lights or candles can take the celebrations into the evening.

English country garden

A traditional wooden summer house perfectly complements an English country garden to help you slip back in time.

Teenage haven

As long as they have electricity and Wi-Fi, the summerhouse can be a great teenage den, keeping them and their friends out of your hair.

Office

Power and heat will ensure you can take advantage of the extra space to create a home office. For those working from home, it allows for some much-needed work/life separation.

Maximise light

Ensure you make the most of any available natural light and use light colours with mirrors to keep the space light and bright.

Concrete

A concrete garden is a far more permanent structure than wood and offers great protection against the British weather.

Kids

Turn your summerhouse into a playhouse for the kids. With toy boxes and plenty of storage, it’s a great way to reduce their clutter in the main house.

Pampered pet

You could even consider turning the space over to your favourite pet as the ultimate kennel!

Featured

Successful Relocations

Posted on by Connell

Employee relocation occurs when a business moves its employees from one place to another. Why this occurs could be down to several reasons. The biggest reason cited by organizations is for the better management of talent. In today’s competitive business world, organizations must have attractive relocation packages to entice and retain talented workers. A positive relocation can attract new talent, help retain current staff through career development and assist with operational logistics        – having the right people in the right place.

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The most important and most expensive asset to a business is the talent of its staff. How creative, productive and profitable they are to the business. When looking to move this workforce, the process must be handled professionally and sensitively or the company risks alienating its staff and struggle with retention issues. A business does not want to be in the position of losing individuals that it has invested in training and developing. Relocation is a daunting task that’s best left to the professionals. For a respected Employee Relocation Company, visit http://www.dtmoving.com/relocation-services

Statistically, employee retention normally drops after a relocation so, all the more reason to make sure everything is handled smoothly. Sometimes employees discover new opportunities in the place they’ve moved to and decide to seek pastures new. Other times, if a relocation has gone badly then there is conflict between employer and employee that ends with them leaving their job. All organizations thinking about relocating should minimize that risk to the best of their ability.

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The process of relocation involves some pretty complex analysis and decision-making. Policies need to be set and overseen by business partners and those in charge. The best employees for relocation need to be identified, issues surrounding tax and immigration need proper handling and financial officers need to keep their eye on the cost of relocation packages.

Relocation policies should be written and if possible included in employee contracts. Such policies will have an effect on new recruits, experienced staff who have been with the company for some years and higher-level employees like executives. If one policy won’t fit all then it’s possible to have different policies depending on which category staff fall into. A newly hired young man or woman might have no family commitments whereas an older employee is likely to have family, a home and community ties. The main aim of this decision-making process is to judge whether the costs incurred by relocation are outweighed by the financial benefits of retaining that staff member or hiring someone new.

Factors that might help make a relocation package more attractive include, cost of living adjustments, bonuses and other monetary incentives, destination visits to include spouses, assistance with selling and buying a home or financial help in obtaining pre-mortgage qualification and the reimbursement for shipping and other moving-related expenses. To combat the issue of employees leaving the company after a costly relocation, many businesses include a payback clause which states part or all of the payments must be paid back if the employee leaves within 12 or 18 months.

Featured

Ten advantages of using timber in construction

Posted on by Connell

There is now a resurgence in the number of modular timber frame homes being constructed. Here is a look at 10 benefits of this method.

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A natural material

The fact that timber is a natural material brings several benefits: it’s non-toxic, chemical vapours don’t leak into the property, and it’s safe to touch and handle. It also ages naturally, which enables it to maintain its look for longer.

Sustainable

Timber has been used as a construction material for thousands of years, but its sustainability has seen its popularity grow. The materials used by a timber frame construction company can grow quicker than they can be used, and most timber supply countries have committed to planting more trees than they fell.

Less energy used

Wood needs only a small amount of energy to be turned into timber for construction, and it has the lowest embodied energy of any construction material.

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Carbon store

Timber stores the carbon that it draws from the atmosphere, and this remains there for as long as the house is standing or the timber is being used. If this wasn’t used, the carbon would contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Fantastic insulator

One of the reasons that timber frame construction is increasing in popularity – it’s set to have a market share of 32 per cent by 2018 – is that it’s a natural insulator. This reduces the amount of energy required and fossil fuels consumed, and the timber frame provides more insulating space than a traditional brick building.

Energy efficiency

Wood is also a more effective insulator than steel as tiny air pockets in the structure minimise the heat-conducting properties, creating excellent energy-efficient homes.

Versatile

The timber used by a timber frame construction company, such as http://www.qtfhomes.co.uk, is easy to install, lightweight and only requires regular, simple equipment to work with it. In addition to making construction simpler, it reduces energy use.

Flexibility

The design possibilities available with timber are endless, and the technical and physical proprieties of the material make it an excellent choice for construction.

Quick to build

Timber frame construction is considerably quicker than a brick building, which makes it more cost- and time-efficient and requires less specialist skills.

Long-lasting

Durability is a key benefit of timber, and a well constructed building will last for hundreds of years.

Featured

The history of silicone elastomers

Posted on by Connell

Although silicones have been around in their raw state since the beginning of time, it’s only since the 1940s that the US began to put serious efforts into researching the properties of silicone elastomers. Originally for use during the war, a paste was the first viable silicone product designed to protect electrical sparking equipment in warplanes.

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The building blocks of silicone

Silicon, known chemically as Si, can be distinguished from other organic polymers like latex and rubber because of its mineral element. The word silicone derives from the Latin word for rock ‘silex, silicis’ and naturally exists in a combined form as either silicates or silicon dioxide SiO2 which we also know as silica or quartz. Silicon makes up over a quarter of the earth’s crust, making it the chemical element most abundant behind oxygen.

Stone Age man first discovered the properties of silica for making tools, while the Romans discovered the art of creating glass from sand.

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Sticky messes

By 1823 Jöns Jackob Berzelius, a Swedish chemist had managed to isolate silicone developing techniques which remain in use today when silicones are produced. Henry Sainte-Claire Deville then managed to obtain crystalline silicon in the 1850s.

However, it wasn’t until the 1930s that J F Hyde began to investigate producing commercial silicones and it was Frederich Stanley Kipping the English chemist who named them a decade later. Kipping declared that they were ‘sticky messes’ of no practical use.

Industrial production processes

Scientists at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research drove forward research into silicone synthesis so the material could be produced and used on an industrial scale. The first commercially successful silicone based product was developed in the 1940s by Dr J Franklin Hyde who created a silicone resin for impregnating glass cloth used in electrical insulation. It was these advances that would lead to the kinds of silicones routinely used by silicone hose manufacturer and available from companies like https://www.goodflexrubber.com.

Silly putty and moon boots

Since the 1940s silicone elastomers have appeared as toys – everybody’s favourite Silly Putty – and for coating the soles of Neil Armstrong’s boots that made the first ever footprint on the moon. In 1970, the Post-It was created with a silicone based tape. Silicones have their place in microprocessing technology to prevent overheating and are now everywhere: in contact lenses, shampoos and smartphone covers!