Submitted by: Ti Grant Eckert
Lush green lawns are simply gorgeous-but it can take plenty of work to achieve that stunning emerald look. Watering your lawn correctly is absolutely vital to keeping your lawn healthy and green in any climate. Proper watering of your lawn can even help preserve water, as you’ll be using it more efficiently, with less waste.
When and How to Water
You don’t necessarily need to start watering your lawn as soon as the first few warm summer days appear. You’ll actually achieve a healthier lawn, with a more extensive and deep root system, if you hold off watering until your lawn begins to enter a mild state of drought. When your lawn begins to enter this state, the grass will turn a darker shade of green, and footprints made when you walk across the lawn will remain imprinted, instead of the blades quickly bouncing back up.
If you’re able to, watering your lawn early in the day is best. Midday watering is inefficient and may be detrimental to your lawn, as moisture will evaporate quickly at this time. Watering in the evening can help cultivate lawn diseases, as the grass will remain damp for longer periods. However, if you live in a very hot climate, watering during the evening is preferable, as less moisture will be lost due to evaporation, and temperatures will not be cold enough to prevent grass blades drying completely overnight.
One of thee most important points in watering your lawn is ensuring that you maintain an even distribution of water over the entire lawn, and that no spot is either missed or flooded with excess water.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mk8ELQnu-E[/youtube]
The best way to achieve this objective is with a sprinkler system, rather than with a hose. To ensure your system is providing even coverage over your lawn, place some empty cans or other straight-sided containers at various spots over the lawn, and then check how much water each contains after a watering session.
How Much Water?
Thorough, less frequent watering is much more efficient-and healthy for your lawn-than frequent, light watering. A good, heavy watering that penetrates deep into the soil helps to promote a healthy root system, and also discourages the growth of weeds.
In normal conditions, grasses need between three quarters of an inch and one full inch of water per week to maintain that rich green color, and to keep the lawn healthy and actively growing, as well as attractive. In very hot climates, more frequent watering may be needed. Check your lawn for blade ‘bounce’ to ensure your lawn receives enough water.
Remember that this requirement includes both precipitation (rain) and watering. If you receive an inch of rainfall in any given week, you can hold off watering until it’s needed. In addition, it’s important to realize that this one inch isn’t an absolute requirement-your lawn won’t sicken and die if it doesn’t get an inch every week, but too much water in a short time can be harmful. If, for example, you know rain is expected very soon, you can safely hold off watering until after the rain arrives.
How Long?
Each watering of your lawn should provide plenty of water for the active root zone of the grass. The length of time this takes depends on the type of watering system you use, and the type of soil you have. In general, most types of grass need to be soaked to a depth of eight to twelve inches. Some grasses, such as bluegrass, need to be soaked to a depth of six to eight inches.
To calculate how long you’ll need to run your sprinkler system to achieve the right depth, do the following:
1. Run your sprinkler system for fifteen minutes.
2. After 24 hours, drive a screwdriver or other implement into the earth to check how deep the water penetrated. You’ll be able to drive the implement easily through moist soil, but once you hit dry soil it will become difficult.
3. Divide 120 by the depth of moist soil you determined in step 2. If the water soaked in to a depth of three inches, for example, you’ll end up with a figure of 40 minutes. That means it will take two hours for the lawn to be soaked to a depth of nine inches, and two hours and forty minutes to get soaked to a depth of twelve inches.
Water Conservation Tips
If you live in a climate that routinely achieves very high temperatures during the summer, consider letting your lawn go dormant as an alternative to watering.
Purchase a rain gauge so that you can determine how much rain your lawn receives, and avoid over-watering.
Aerate your lawn to allow the grass to use water more efficiently.
About the Author: Grant Eckert is a freelance writer who writes about topics pertaining to home maintenance such as
trugreen.com/
Lawn Care
Source:
isnare.com
Permanent Link:
isnare.com/?aid=236534&ca=Gardening}
A compilation of brief news reports for Monday, July 9, 2007.
On July 9, 2007, Sony Computer Entertainment America announced the release of an 80GB hard drive version of its PlayStation 3 video game console, priced at US$599.
Sony also announced a price drop to US$499 for its current 60GB model. Jack Tretton, Sony Entertainment America chief executive, said, “Our initial expectation is that sales should double at a minimum.”
Sources
- “Sony cuts Playstation price in US” — BBC News Online, July 9, 2007
- Scea. “Sony Computer Entertainment America Introduces New 80GB PLAYSTATION(R)3” — prnewswire, July 9, 2007
Nigerian gunmen have released three-year-old Margaret Hill, after holding her captive for four days. The toddler has since been reunited with her parents. She is reportedly in good health but covered with mosquito bites and also hungry, having not eaten recently.
The kidnappers had threatened to kill the toddler unless a ransom was paid or Mr. Hill came to take her place. The family claims no ransom was paid for her freedom. She was kidnapped from her car on July 5, on her way to school. Her driver was stabbed trying to protect Margaret.
Sources
- “Nigeria kidnappers free UK girl” — BBC News Online, July 8, 2007
- “Nigerian captors release British girl” — CNN, July 8, 2007
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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age. |
Saturday, March 5, 2005Simply massaging low birth weight babies with sunflower seed oil can protect them from potentially fatal infections.
Infections and complications from preterm birth cause more than half of all neonatal deaths, and very low birth weight babies are particularly vulnerable.
Preterm babies have immature skin that lacks a protective film called vernix that has antimicrobial properties.
In some countries, such as India, newborns are routinely massaged with mustard oil.
But mustard oil, says Gary Darmstadt of John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, can delay recovery of the skin barrier and have a toxic effect on skin.
Seeking an alternative low-cost product, Darmstadt and colleagues experimented with sunflower oil and an ointment called Aquaphor that comprises petrolatum, mineral oil, mineral wax and lanolin.
The researchers tested the treatments on 497 newborns (72 hours old or less) and preterm babies (less than 33 weeks gestation) between 1998 and 2003 in Bangladesh.
They applied the treatments to the entire body besides the scalp and face three times daily for the first 14 days and then twice daily until discharge.
Babies treated with sunflower oil were found 41% less likely to develop infections than controls.
“Evidence is emerging that the skin is much more important as a barrier to infection than previously recognized, particularly in preterm infants whose skin is underdeveloped,” says Darmstadt. “The good news is that treatment is available to strengthen the function of the skin as a barrier in these vulnerable newborns.”
Friday, January 27, 2006
A oil spill in Queensland, Australia has been described as a tragedy for the area’s marine life and the biggest oil spill in 35 years. The clean-up is expected to take up to a week and cost more than AU$3 million.
The spill occurred in Gladstone Harbour on the central Queensland coast, late on Tuesday night, after 25,000 litres of heavy fuel poured from a coal carrier. The accident happened when a tug rammed into a Korean coal carrier, rupturing its fuel tank.
Several government agencies and four skimmer vessels were called in after the “Tom Tough” struck the Korean-owned, Panamanian-registered bulk coal carrier “Global Peace” – puncturing its fuel tank as it was about to berth.
“It’ll just annihilate the stocks plus everything up and down the food chain in relation to what the different fishermen catch,” local fishing spokesman Warwick Sheldon said. “It’s right in the middle of the commercial banana prawn fishing season at the moment – this has the potential to just wipe out their stocks.”
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said an investigation was under way to determine whether anyone would be prosecuted. “There will be no cost to the taxpayer because of the law,” he said. The clean-up costs will be met by the ship’s owners in accordance with international maritime law.
The Wildlife Protection Association of Australia (WPAA) says the spill inside the harbour occurred in the worst place possible. “It’s probably the worst place that we could ever have a spill because it’s inside the harbour,” said WPAA president Pat O’Brien. “It’s an area where there’s a whole range of animals there that’ll be affected by it. There’s dugongs and porpoises and animals like that, that breathe air, that come to the surface regularly. Turtles again too, they’ll finish up with oil all over them.”
It is the worst oil spill in Queensland since the Oceanic Grandeur ran aground in the Torres Strait in 1970 and the second spill in Gladstone’s Harbour within a week. About a tonne of oil spilled in the harbour last week.
A marine investigator from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the incident. Investigation leader Peter Foley says the type of oil involved has added to problem. “It’s certainly more difficult to control than perhaps crude oil because it tends to be around the same specific gravity or same density as sea water,” he said.
By Elizabeth Rice, SPHR
The overwhelming phenomenon of social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn has alternately sparked excitement, concern, and controversy among businesses everywhere: excitement about the abundant marketing opportunities these networks provide; concern about the growing lack of image control companies have as a result; and controversy over whether or not today’s employees are spending too many of their work hours socializing online, and fewer hours actually working.
Like it or not, social media is here to stay. And some savvy employers are making the most of it with an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” philosophy toward social networking sites, blogs, online videos, and more. Rather than viewing these outlets simply as a threat to employee productivity and company image, these businesses have begun utilizing social media as a helpful (and free) tool for screening potential job candidates, checking up on new hires, and monitoring current employees.
But are these screening techniques legal? Below is a look at both the benefits and liabilities of using social media to monitor prospects and employees.
Social Media as the New Background Check
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It’s long been suspected that employers use social networks to take a “behind the scenes” peek at job applicants, but just how common is the practice? The answer, according to a recent report by CareerBuilder, is very common: nearly half of employers surveyed said they use sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn to research potential hires. Furthermore, 35% of survey respondents said they decided not to offer a job to a candidate based on the content uncovered in these searches. Among the most frequently-cited reasons for not hiring these prospects were the discovery of provocative photos, references to drinking and drug use, poor online communication skills, and online bad-mouthing of previous employers.
Checking prospective hires via social media has become so commonplace, in fact, that it recently inspired the launch of a new startup company called “Social Intelligence.” The company, which launched in September 2010, provides a screening and monitoring service that tracks an individual’s social media activity on various networks, and then screens it for employer-designated red flags like gang involvement, drug use, and demonstrations of potentially violent behavior. According to Forbes, Social Intelligence “is essentially taking the traditional background checks commonly used by corporate HR departments…and moving them online to track social media networks.” The company’s reports filter out legally sensitive information such as sexual orientation, race, or religion, and the data is manually reviewed before being distributed to prospective employers. Social Intelligence’s CEO Max Drucker says that the service helps companies perform due dilligence with regard to hiring and risk management, while protecting prospective employees from discrimination.
And social media monitoring isn’t just limited to job applicants; some companies are using it to check up on current employees as well. Accodring to a 2009 survey from the American Management Association, 52% of U.S. employers have fired employees for email and web violations. Stories are widely circulated about instances when an employee has been disciplined or even terminated for posting negative content about an employer on social media outlets like Facebook and personal blogs. Companies claim these actions provide legal grounds for termination, arguing that such content is damaging to their corporate image and negatively impacts business. Notable examples include the 2009 instances in which employees of fast-food purveyors Domino’s and KFC took video and photos of their unsanitary use of the restaurants’ food and equipment, posted the material on YouTube and MySpace, and caused an overnight uproar (for which all employees involved were immediately fired). Meanwhile, other employees have been caught red-handed when, after calling in “sick” to miss work, they subsequently (and foolishly) posted online updates and pictures of themselves spending the day at a party or on vacation. For example, acccording to New York’s Daily News, more than a dozen Department of Education employees were recently fired for “faking illnesses to take vacations.” Among the clues that tipped off coworkers and administrators were vacation photos the offenders had publicly posted on their Facebook profiles.
Staying Aware of the Legal Pitfalls
Though social media can undoubtedly be used to a company’s advantage, employers must also be aware of some inherent risks that come with exploring this new terrain. Because social media and the so-called “blogosphere” are relatively uncharted territory for the workplace, the law is currently racing to keep pace with what is and isn’t legal when it comes to screening, while large companies are hurrying to develop written employee policies pertaining to social media. The good news is that, for now, much of the judgment about social media falls in favor of employers. A recent report by the Ocala Business Journal attests that checking social media sites and making subsequent hiring or termination decisions about employees and prospective hires is well within a company’s legal rights, because an employee could potentially affect an employer’s reputation. According to the article, “employers doing background checks [often] ask if it’s legal to check social media sites to find out more about potential employees. It is.” Employees questioning the validity and legality of these searches are typically told that, although the actions posted online may have been performed off the clock, they still have the capacity to affect a company’s reputation. “One major impact of social media is the line between professional and personal lives has blurred,” the article says. “Social media is impacting hiring as well as termination.” Likewise, Social Intelligence CEO Drucker attests that his company’s methods are compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and that the onus falls on the employee or job seeker to use discretion in posting anything online. “People need to exercise good judgment and understand that what they post publicly is public, and an employer has a right to know about it,” he says.
When it comes to searching an employee or prospect’s social media presence, the legitimate risk for employers lies in potentially violating anti-discrimination and privacy laws. According to the National Law Review, “an employer’s examination of an employee’s or potential hire’s social network sites may provide the basis for claims under employment discrimination statutes if the employer used [these] methods to seek out information that was legally protected in some way.” Such legally protected data includes religion, ethnicity, political affiliations, gender, or sexual orientation: all information that is readily available on many Facebook profiles. “If plaintiffs can show that they were discriminated against in the hiring process, or wrongfully terminated based on information gleaned from updates on Twitter, pictures on Facebook, or accounts on their personal blogs,” the National Law Review asserts, “the employers will surely be held liable under the pertinent anti-discrimination statutes.”
Another employer risk is gaining information online by engaging in what is known as “social engineering:” manipulating an individual into granting access to his or her otherwise private online networks. When it comes to social media, examples of these spy techniques might include trying to “friend” an individual on Facebook for the purpose of looking at his or her otherwise private, personal information, or requesting access to a password-protected blog not accessible to the general public. In these cases, an employee or prospective hire may allege that such actions constitute an invasion of privacy, since the employee or applicant has demonstrated a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to their social media accounts by protecting them with passwords and making them accessible on a case-by-case basis.
In summary, employers who aren’t already doing so may want to begin exploring social media as a potential vetting tool, while keeping in mind that the laws pertaining to these practices could change as social media continues to find its place in the workforce. Perhaps more importantly, employees and job seekers should pay careful attention to what they choose to share publicly online, taking to heart the old adage that “some things are better left unsaid” – or, in this case, unposted.
About the Author: Elizabeth Rice, SPHR, is the President of Innovative Employee Solutions , a San Diego-based company specializing in nationwide payroll and HR administrative services for the contingent workforce. Ms. Rice has more than 25 years of experience in HR and executive management.
Source: isnare.com
Permanent Link: isnare.com/?aid=639462&ca=Business+Management
Friday, September 20, 2013
Cathedral Square, Sydney, Australia —Wikinews attended the Wheelchair Rugby Tri-Nations Series in Cathedral Square, Sydney, ongoing from Wednesday. This is the first time an international wheelchair rugby event has been held outdoors, and in this arena. Three nations are competing: the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
The venue is Cathedral Square, Sydney, which is adjacent to Hyde Park. The Sydney Central Business district is on the other side of the park. An outdoor stadium has been constructed specifically for the tournament, which is believed to be the first time an international wheelchair rugby tournament has been held outdoors. This choice was validated by the fine and warm weather. Free sunscreen was given to the crowd.
The Opening Ceremony was officiated by Australian Paralympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Jason Hellwig. In attendance were the Premier of New South Wales, Barry O’Farrell, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, Robyn Kemmis, and Paralympic swimmer Matthew Cowdrey. A large crowd, mostly consisting of school groups, was entertained by boy band Justice Crew singing their hit Best Night.
Each team is to play the others two twice, on Wednesday September 18 and Thursday September 19. Finals are to be held on Friday. All three teams are highly ranked internationally. The United States team is ranked number one in the world. It won bronze at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, gold at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, and bronze at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, and is the current world champion. This is its first visit to Australia since the 2000 Summer Paralympics.
The Australian team, known as the Steelers, is ranked second in the world. It won silver in Beijing and gold in London. The team is almost unchanged from the one that won in London. Greg Smith has become the assistant coach.
The first game, held immediately after the Opening Ceremony, was between the United States and Australia. The United States proved the better team, forcing errors and turnovers. Three turnovers in the first quarter were especially costly for the Steelers, who lost 56–43.
The second game was held at 17:30 under lights. The crowd was small, but there were a number of New Zealand fans in the crowd, including a few Maori. Two of the New Zealand players are also Maori. The well-disciplined United States team proved too good for the Wheel Blacks as well, who lost 58–40 in an entertaining contest.
The third game was at 19:30, between Australia and New Zealand. The Australians led the whole game, which was nonetheless entertaining to the last. In the dying seconds of the game, Australia’s Ryley Batt shunted a stalling New Zealand player across the line to force him to score, then threw the ball to team mate Chris Bond, who raced for the line at high speed but was beaten by the buzzer. Australia won 61–48.
The New Zealand team, known as the Wheel Blacks, is ranked tenth in the world. It won gold in Athens.
Highlights of the tournament are scheduled to be shown on Foxtel Sports in Australia on September 28 and 29.
This article mentions that Wi-Fi stands for “Wireless Fidelity”, although this is disputed.
Thursday, July 7, 2005
A Florida man is being charged with 3rd degree felony for logging into a private Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) Internet access point without permission. Benjamin Smith III, 41, is set for a pre-trial hearing this month in the first case of its kind in the United States.
This kind of activity occurs frequently, but often goes undetected by the owners of these wireless access points (WAPs). Unauthorized users range from casual Web browsers, to users sending e-mails, to users involved in pornography or even illegal endeavours.
According to Richard Dinon, owner of the WAP Smith allegedly broke into, Smith was using a laptop in an automobile while parked outside Dinon’s residence.
There are many steps an owner of one of these access points can take to secure them from outside users. Dinon reportedly knew how to take these steps, but had not bothered because his “neighbors are older.”