How acoustical foam improves soundproofing

Objects with mass are the only way to effectively prevent unwanted noise from entering or exiting your home studio or home theatre. Sound absorbing objects are necessary to dampen the sound waves and interrupt their transmission. Some common objects used include installing a second wall, heavy curtains, soundproof windows, and fabrics such as wool. Acoustical blankets can be attached to the walls, creating the same effect.

How acoustical foam works

This material is used to help the sounds within a studio, not to soundproof the room. It is often used by people creating a home studio or home theater for better sound within the room. For best results, it must be spaced properly. Spacing of at least two inches away from the wall is the best for increasing absorption. A wood frame is most commonly used for attaching the foam.

Foam works best for absorbing high and mid frequency sound waves. Low frequency sounds are more difficult to absorb. These products are rated based on the lowest frequency they are capable of absorbing. This range is based on the thickness of the foam.

Thicker foam is more absorbent and more effective for a wider range of sound waves. These products are available in thicknesses ranging from one to four inches. The thicker the foam works with lower frequencies. Look for this information before buying. You will find the price is affected by the thickness of the foam. This is due to material and production costs, which are higher.

Different Types of Soundproofing Foam

A few materials are used in acoustical foam. The most common are polyurethane, melamine and fiberglass. Compressed fiberglass is most often used by professionals. This material has a class 1 rating for fire safety. The higher the safety rating, the more expensive the product. Buy the best quality products you can afford. Look for a class 1 rating. The extra expense is worth your peace of mind.

Polyurethane is the least expensive type on the market. Unfortunately, most products made with this substance have the lowest rating for fire safety, a class 3 rating. In some areas, polyurethane won’t pass safety inspections. If you must use this material, make sure you have sufficient fire exits in the room. Better yet, save your money and wait until you can afford a better quality product.

These products are sound absorbers and are used to muffle sound waves in the insulation. Foam used in soundproofing is porous. This helps the foam absorb the sound waves. The more porous, the more efficient the product will be for sound absorption.

Foam is applied in various ways, depending on the product. The most common and easy to use is foam in the form of sheets, similar to attic insulating products. This can be cut to the size you need with scissors. Some varieties can be sprayed or blown in between walls, ceiling tiles or flooring. Foam under thick carpeting is sufficient for floor insulation.

Safe use of acoustical foam

Acoustical foam is rated for fire resistance. Cheap polyurethane foams are not fireproof can be hazardous in the event of a fire. Polyurethane has an added drawback in a fire. This foam releases dangerous fumes into the air during a fire. Inhaling these fumes is more dangerous than inhaling the smoke from the fire. All fire resistant products produce these fumes, as a result of chemicals used to make the fabrics fire resistant.

Melamine is used as a foam substitute; it is ceramic based. This material is used in class 1 ceiling tiles. It has high sound absorption properties and works well as soundproofing material. Melamine bends and curves easily, making it very workable for custom fitting necessary for some situations. This product is significantly more expensive than polyurethane, costing as much as double.

Commercial grade products are usually made with compressed fiberglass. This material is made with sand and doesn’t burn. In terms of safety, this is the best. Just about all products made with fiber glass have the highest rating in terms of safety.

What a few good heros taught me about bodybuilding

:
Copyright 2006 Marc David

Posted on a Bodybuilding Message Board:

Hi everyone I'm 15 and was wondering what I can take for my muscle to grow? I have heard of muscle boosters or something like that so I was just wondering if there was anything like that that I could take in order for my muscle to get huge.

I might be thinking of steroids.

Answer:

Stop! What the HECK are you thinking? Why are we always looking for the short cut to the biggest gains while still being able to watch T. V.? I guess the word "hard work" isn't something you really need to do if you know some handy-dandy SECRETS to building muscle.

Clarence Darrow, a famous trial lawyer, once said:

"As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man (or woman) objected and no man (or woman) rebelled, those wrongs would last forever."

Listen closely! The term 'lifestyle' means ON-GOING and NEVER ending. A shortcut has no place in bodybuilding and certainly no place in getting into the best shape of your life.

So what?

I can already hear the voices now like waves crashing against a rocky wall "why should I care?" Or the other one "what's in it for me?"

A Blueprint for your Success:

* The more you know, the more educated you become from a cast of reliable sources and PASS that information on to your friends...

* The better off this industry will become...

* The FASTER you can AVOID mistakes...

* The FASTER you can make better LONG TERM progress!

FACT: According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens(NIDA):

"As part of a 2002 NIDA-funded study, teens were asked if they ever tried steroids—even once. Only 2.5% of 8th graders ever tried steroids; only 3.5% of 10th graders; and 4% of 12th graders."

Add to this an article I read in the May 2004 issue of Flex magazine by Tom Prince. He profiled his career in a very thought provoking article called "When the Posing Stops."

Tom Prince went on to explain his steroid use, his mad as a hatter like rush to the top, and eventually the pain he endures and his eventual kidney failure to reach a peak. The descriptions of his crumbling shoulder socket and the pain he must be in made me as sick as a dog.

At the time of the article, Tom Prince was 34 years old! He said:

"I will probably die younger than normal, 65 or something like that, but 65 is better than 35."

STOP and ask yourself this key question:

Are the youth of today any different then me 16 years ago when I was looking at bodybuilding magazines and wanting to be ripped and muscular? In my mind, I was willing to take all kinds of supplements and do whatever training program I could to look like those guys in the magazine ads. They were my HEROS and inspiration.

Thankfully I didn't go down that path.

Just last week, my friend (Yes I really have spoken on the phone with him several times) Tom Venuto sent out a issue asking people to take a look at the natural bodybuilders all over the Internet for inspiration.

Tom Venuto wrote:

"There ARE heroes and role models to look up to today, and you will find them in the drug-free bodybuilding movement."

He's RIGHT. In fact I know an older gentleman, Scott Hults, who's a big fan of natural bodybuilding and has done wonders in this sport to educate himself and others around him that taking shortcuts isn't the way to go and that hard work can pay-off at any age. If I can be in as good of shape as Scott when I'm older, I'd be lucky.

Think about it.

Toss this idea around, if you want to get better at something, you should do everything in your power to make the exercises HARDER, not easier.

Clearly you can see by now shortcuts simply don't come without a price. If you are one of those people who wants to make working out and building muscle or losing fat easy as cutting thru a banana cream pie, you'll never reach the goals you've set.

Richie Smith, a personal trainer with more horsepower in the gym then a Bugatti Veron, said "When you are child, your parents tell you to keep your hands off the stove—they tell you not to put your hand into the flame, because if you do, you'll get burned. If you’re serious about bodybuilding, you have to un-learn what you were taught as a child. When I train people, basically I'm telling them to put their hand right into the fire and keep it there. I have them train into and beyond the pain zone. That's what makes you grow."

Are you beginning to see how building muscle and changing your body is work but it's fun? Building your body isn't like FedEx ... it simply, positively DOESN'T happen overnight. But one could also say ... it's human nature to avoid hard work.

Tom Venuto wrote in his natural bodybuilding blog, "Most people are on a constant search for the path of least resistance. A drug, a supplement, a 'breakthrough technique' a new machine, a shortcut in exercise form—anything and everything they think will help them reach their goals with less effort and in less time. This is typical human nature. Unfortunately, this is also faulty thinking and you will NEVER become a champion with this type of attitude.

You can clearly see what I'm saying is certainly true...

If I could give you a training strategy that is GUARANTEED to increase your muscle and burn more fat, would you be interested?

Audi q7 still bearing the classic touch

The Audi Q7 was first unveiled for an exclusive group of journalists. However, it was a closed-door affair that turned out to be quite a successful one with several people from Audi of America joining in to answer any questions regarding the new Audi Q7. The new Audi Q7 is built on the very same platform that is also used by the Volkswagen Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne. It also holds a wheelbase that is quite longer than the Volkswagen Touareg by almost six inches. This kind of wheelbase then provides the Audi Q7 an overall look that exudes a sleek and stretched look.

The Audi Q7 is a sport utility vehicle. This vehicle has proportions that when combined work out very nicely providing a strong look. The vehicle contains and features headlights, tail lights, rear view mirrors and door handles that exude the traditional look that is considered to be simply an Audi. The Audi Q7 SUV has a grill that goes well with the vehicle’s painted horizontal strip and as well as the adopted standard dark gray that is quite standard for Audi’s vehicle lineup. Compared to the other models in the Audi family, the chrome strip around the grille for the Audi Q7 is considered to be quite narrow thus assisting greatly in making the grille of the Audi Q7 look a less overpowering.

It could be noticed that the Audi Q7 has the very same classic proportions that Audi Avants have. This includes a high shoulder line, a narrow window area, a sloping roofline that moves towards the rear of the Audi Q7, and an angled rear window. These all combine to provide a classy look for this sport utility vehicle. Basically, the taillights of the Audi Q7 are very much like the Audi Avant with its tips forming top corners of the license plate opening. Other than that, the Audi Q7 also has a rear bumper that has two long and thin reflectors mounted on it. This rear bumper holds the added assumed function of being turn signals or rear fog lights.

Setting the Audi Q7 apart from the Volkswagen Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne is this vehicle’s optional third row seating. The center row for this sport utility vehicle has the ability to fold back down and slide forward, thus giving ample and easy access to the rear seating. It also contains a middle row that has the capacity to slide forward and provide more legroom for the rear seats. As for the third row, this entire row of seats could fold flat on the floor when it is not utilized. This gives more cargo area in the rear. The Audi Q7 also has an electronic control for this third row.

For impressive collections of Audi parts, customers can visit Auto Parts Online. This online store holds the latest in innovative and stylish Audi parts. Auto Parts Online is where customers can order genuine Audi parts and accessories at wholesale prices. Auto Parts Online supplies superior and highly durable Audi parts currently available.

5 proven ways to waste advertising money

1. Yo Yo Advertising

My friend Dottie can precisely predict her sales peaks and plummets accurately...and no, she's not into fortune telling. Experience has proven that March, April, and May will bring a lot of money to her account, while September and January will put her in the slumps

Sound familiar? Have you too been caught in the vicious cycle of high and low sales volumes? Why? Most of us tend to advertise heavily while things are slow - in a desperate attempt to get customers through the door, but back off when things are hopping.

If you're looking for an even-keeled market, develop a steady marketing plan. Steady advertising produces steady growth...and steadily climbing profits!

2. Single Shot Advertising

One shot ads, rarely get results. Most customers are just like you, they don't jump on the band wagon the first time it passes by. They often need to see your sales material several times before they actually make the move to walk through the doors.

Follow-ups are necessary for success. We're not just talking about prospective customers now...even your loyal customers need to be cultivated for sales. How many times have you thought about making a purchase, but just never followed through with it? Sure, we all do it. Sometimes it takes a little pressure to get us to part with our hard-earned money. Make it a point to spend time building relationships with both new customers and your faithful following.

3. MonkeySee, Monkey Do Advertising

How many times have you seen the same advertisement ideas written with just a little different twist? If you're surfing the Web you've come across plenty of the aped ads! Yeah, you can predict what the next paragraph will cover, because you've seen it so many other places.

Sure, copy cat ads can be effective for a little while, but the results will quickly die down as others join in the copy mania. If you're looking for REAL and LASTING results, be original. Do what only you can do, forget about what everyone else is doing. Be you. When a competitor does have a good idea, improve on it. Don't follow in his footsteps...step out and lead the way to more effective advertisements.

4. Wild Shot Advertising

Ready, aim...yeah aim before you advertise! Don't be caught up in wild advertising that gets your message in front of a lot of people who have absolutely no interest in your product or service.

Target your market...and get better results for your investment. Finding the target market that has a specific need you can fulfill takes a little time and research, but you'll feel the effects when you hit the bullseye!

Think about this...there are advertising venues that your competition is overlooking. What about postcards? These high impact marketing tools are often overlooked. Yet, they're the perfect low-cost way to generate prospective customer interest. Keep an eye open for overlooked marketing gems, and get one up on your competition!

5. Me, Me Advertising

What is it that consumers are looking for? ...Exactly, something that is going to benefit them. They really aren't interested in the facts about your product...they want to know how it will impact their life or lifestyle.

Take a look at your ad copy, and ask yourself what are you portraying...facts or benefits. Multi Level Marketers have this all figured out. Rather than tell you they have a business to offer, they spend a lot of time promising you freedom to work your own hours, countless vacations, summer homes and a host of other things you've probably already dreamed about at some point. Hey, don't knock it...the MLM industry is a steadily growing element in our economy.

Don't bore your readers with the facts...attract them with exciting elements that will fulfill their needs or desires.

Are you getting the results you've been looking for? Take another look at your marketing strategy...are you making the same mistakes many marketers unknowingly make. Hey, real success may only be one change away!

How-to-be-genuinely-happy

Genuine Happiness Comes from Within

Life isn’t the sweetest candy. Sometimes, when I feel like the world is just too heavy, I look around and find people who continued to live fascinating and wonderful lives. And then thoughts come popping into my mind like bubbles from nowhere – “How did their life become so adorably sweet? How come they still can manage to laugh and play around despite a busy stressful life?” Then I pause and observed for awhile… I figured out that maybe, they start to work on a place called ‘self’.

So, how does one become genuinely happy? Step 1 is to love yourself.

My theology professor once said that “loving means accepting.” To love oneself means to accept that you are not a perfect being, but behind the imperfections must lie a great ounce of courage to be able to discover ways on how to improve your repertoire to recover from our mistakes.

Genuine happiness also pertains to contentment. When you are contented with the job you have, the way you look, with your family, your friends, the place you live in, your car, and all the things you now have – truly, you know the answer to the question “how to be genuinely happy.”

When we discover a small start somewhere from within, that small start will eventually lead to something else, and to something else. But if you keep questioning life lit it has never done you any good, you will never be able to find genuine happiness.

I believe that life is about finding out about right and wrong, trying and failing, wining and losing. These are things that happen as often as you inhale and exhale. Failure, in a person’s life has become as abundant and necessary as air. But this should not hinder us from becoming happy.

How to be genuinely happy in spite all these? I tell you… every time you exert effort to improve the quality of life and your being, whether it is cleaning up your room, helping a friend, taking care of your sick dog, fail on board exams and trying again, life gives you equivalent points for that.

Imagine life as a big score board like those which are used in the NFLs. Every time you take a step forward, you make scoring points. Wouldn’t it be nice to look at that board at the end of each game and think to yourself “Whew! I got a point today. I’m glad I gave it a shot.”, instead of looking at it all blank and murmur “Geez, I didn’t even hit a score today. I wish I had the guts to try out. We could have won!” and then walk away.

Genuine happiness isn’t about driving the hottest Formula 1 car, nor getting the employee of the year award, earning the highest 13th month pay, or beating the sales quota. Sometimes, the most sought after prizes in life doesn’t always go to the fastest, the strongest, the bravest or not even the best. So, how do you become genuinely happy? Every one has his own definition of ‘happiness’. Happiness for a writer may mean launching as much best selling books as possible. Happiness for a basketball rookie may mean getting the rookie of the year award. Happiness for a beggar may mean a lot of money. Happiness for a business man may mean success. So, really now, how do we become genuinely happy? Simple. You don’t have to have the best things in this world. Its about doing and making the best out of every single thing. When you find yourself smiling at your own mistake and telling your self “Oh, I’ll do better next time”, you carry with you a flame of strong will power to persevere that may spread out like a brush fire. You possess a willingness to stand up again and try – that will make you a genuinely happy person.

When you learn to accept yourself and your own faults. You pass step 1 in the project “how to become genuinely happy”.For as long as you know how to accept others, you will also be accepted. For as long as you love and know how to love, you will receive love ten folds back.

Again, throw me that same question “how to become genuinely happy?”. I’ll refer you to a friend of mine who strongly quoted - “Most of us know that laughter is the best medicine to life’s aches and pain. But most of us don’t know that the best kind of laughter is laughter over self. Coz then you don’t just become happy… you become free.”

Refinance tips

Borrowing more money to pay old debt is referred to in finance" Refinance ”. The common acts that many people turn to includes“ Peer Share,”one of the revolving capital loan, paying for credit card’s debt or get cash from credit card to pay for shares. This is only a short-term liquidity solution. In this case interest’s difference and payment due date of capital and interest no longer important. This is not a right mind set for a long run financial health. It is found many cases that refinance without profit can only increase more debt and makes life more difficult.

However, refinance for people who shoulder home loan is important especially during this time when the interest rises. The difference of interest affects installment.

Practically, to refinance home loan is getting money from new loan to pay off old debt : capital interest and various fees to redeem mortgage security. This process should be arranged with the presence of a land officer. Then this mortgage security can be collateral for the new loan and the process of making the loan agreement should also be completed with the presence of a land officer.

All process stated above would be handled by the financial institution that gives you new loan. Therefore you don’t have to worry about the delay of the former financial institution that lent you money because the bank surely carefully calculates everything and do the agreement end of agreement or redeem ahead of schedule, the bank receives full interest anyway. Additionally, if you don’t pay full money according to an agreement, the bank gets redemption’s fees ahead of schedule as the compensation of interest.

Before refinancing, legally, borrower should carefully read through an agreement made with the former financial institution including checking all expenses for refinancing as well as taking tothe former financial institution to decrease the interest. Surelyno bank would want to lose their good customer to other banks. However if customer has problem in repaying and liquidity, it’s impossible to negotiate for lower interest. Nevertheless, customer can refinance to better his liquidity and reduce his monthly repayment.

If customer could solve the problem of legal activity, next process is all about figure the benefit refinancer will get directly and indirectly. If you are thinking about refinancing, please consider 5 basic factors : new interest rate, loan’s condition, expenses in making new loan, cost of redemption prior to schedule and expenses to benefits comparison. Apart from these five factors, you should also consider other factors such as loan balance. If it’s not too much, you should not refinance because of little lower interest rate from the bank, might not worth it.

The jury duty scam

Most of us take summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty that a new ominous scam has surfaced in the last several years. This new “jury duty” scam is the latest in a series of identity theft “phishing schemes”. Fall for it, and whammo, your identity has been stolen.

The first jury duty scam was reported in upper New York State in 2001. Since then it’s been reported in at least 13 additional states, including Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, California, Maryland, Illinois, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington State.

This ‘jury duty’ scheme might best be categorized as a “social engineering” scam and works something like this:

Con artists contact people by phone to assert that those they’ve targeted have evaded jury duty and warrants are being issued for their arrest. When the victims rightly protest that they’ve never received such jury duty notification, the scammer goes after what he really wants, (for verification purposes only, of course) which is his pigeons’ personal and financial information. Under threat of being hauled off to jail unless they succeed in straightening out this terrible mess, many people, (who would otherwise be more wary about what they reveal of their personal data), will find themselves reeling off their birth dates, social security and credit card numbers in an effort to convince their callers that the notification had never arrived, or were never meant for them in the first place.

It’s easy to see how this might work. The victims are clearly caught off guard, and are understandably upset at the prospect of an arrest warrant being issued. It preys upon people’s general unquestioning acceptance of authority and willingness to cooperate in order to extract from them sensitive information.

How to Avoid Falling Victim to ‘Jury Duty’ Scams:

Be assured that court workers will very rarely, if ever, telephone to say you’ve missed jury duty, or that they are assembling juries and need to pre-screen those who might be selected to serve on them. So dismiss as fraudulent any phone calls of this nature. Keep in mind that about the only time you would ever hear, by telephone (rather than by mail), anything having to do with jury service, would be after you’ve mailed back your completed questionnaire, and even then only rarely.

This latest scam reinforces, once again, that you should never give out bank account, social security, or credit card numbers over the phone if you didn’t initiate the call ~ whether it be to someone trying to sell you something or to someone who claims to be from a bank or government department. If such callers insist upon “verifying” such information with you, have them read the data to you from their notes, with you verifying it, rather than the other way around.

And a word to the wise ~ Carefully examine your credit card and bank account statements every month, keeping an eye peeled for unauthorized charges. If you notice anything you didn’t approve, challenge it immediately!

DL Consultants, LLC

http://www. VigilanceandSecurity. com