January 30th, 2009
It can be challenging in these difficult economic times, especially with all the problems in the housing market, to get a new home construction loan. Banks are wary and credit score requirements are much higher than in previous years, but if you’re careful and do your preparation you can still secure new home construction financing. Meeting the Five Challenges of Construction Financing can help you get all your ducks in a row and improve your chances of getting that perfect loan. The advice is from this month’s issue of Country’s Best Log Homes, but applies equally well to all kinds of new home projects.
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January 29th, 2009
In these challenging economic times, just about everyone’s looking harder at their hobby expenses and other non-essential spending habits, so it’s great to see this special section from Family Tree all about doing genealogical research on the cheap. Find Your Family Without Going Broke! is full of great ideas and free resources for people who don’t want to abandon digging into their family roots because they think they can’t afford it.
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There’s a helpful list of 11 free genealogy essentials in Genealogy Free-For-All. I wasn’t aware that there were volunteer groups out there that help people with genealogical questions for free, like the Books We Own and Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness sites.
In Making Ends Meet, Diane Haddad examines the costs of genealogical research and the impacts the changing economy is having on the field. Haddad notes that family network sites are the “new genealogical frontier” and provides an update on the latest developments there.
January 28th, 2009
The latest issue of ReadyMade has a fun and useful column on how to customize your Valentine’s day gifts this year. I especially liked the idea of making a sort of edible scrap book by tucking some photos of you and yours inside a candy box. I’ve pointed to Ellen Lupton’s cool El Word columns in ReadyMade before, I always enjoy her helpful and creative take on things.
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January 26th, 2009
Fast Company generated a fire-storm of blog comments when it posted The Most Influential Women in Web 2.0 online last year, but that hasn’t scared them off from recognizing high-profile women. Expanding on the concept, they’ve published a much more comprehensive collection of The Most Influential Women in Technology in the February issue.
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From bloggers and evangelists, to entrepreneurs and executives, many of the women that are front and center in the technology world are highlighted in this article. Click on the image above to read a free preview of Fast Company on Coverleaf. And if you have any disagreements with their choices, or additions to suggest, please share them here in the comments section!
January 23rd, 2009
The February issue of FamilyFun has an interesting article by Adriane Curtis about her experiences with a baby-sitting co-op. By sharing child care duties among a large group of known families, Curtis found the additional benefits of a growing and caring community.
Read about Curtis’ experiences with a baby-sitting co-op and check out some of her suggested strategies for setting up our own by clicking on the image below.
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January 20th, 2009
This month’s issue of Discover magazine has an inspiring interview with green architect William McDonough. One of the founders of “green architecture”, McDonough remains optimistic about how development can proceed as we become more attuned to sustainable practices. He calls his design philosophy “cradle to cradle” and challenges designers and developers to consider questions like, “what if our buildings and the materials used to construct them could make the world a better place?”
McDonough has won three U.S. presedential awards for his ground-breaking work. Click through to read this fascinating interview where McDonough discusses his views on the future of architecture and using “healthy materials” in our buildings and communities.
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January 15th, 2009
The latest issue of Fitness magazine has an article that offers up 20 money-saving and healthy meal plans. Experts agree that a key piece of advice for saving money at the grocery store is to have your meals planned in advance, and this article can help out with that. Money Saving Meals has a lot of tasty recipes and meal plans that will satisfy your family while not breaking the bank.
From Chicken with Lemon Caper Sauce to Curried Lentils and Rice, these recipes all sound hearty, healthy and affordable. And most of them can be done in under an hour. I’m going to try out the Baked Cheese, Spinach and Bean burritos tonight!
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January 14th, 2009
FamilyFun has published a nice feature highlighting the advantages of using Coverleaf digital editions. Since the advice in A Better Way to Save Your FamilyFuns applies just as well to all the magazines in Coverleaf, I thought it would be a good idea to share it here. Read about how your Coverleaf digital edition’s Clipping feature can simplify life for the “magazine rippers” out there, as well as how easy it is to access your favorite magazine’s archives and to share articles with your online friends using Coverleaf.
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January 13th, 2009
The latest issue of Wondertime has a fun article on some new ways to make use of twinkle lights. Kids love these blinking lights and there’s lots of things you can do with them besides hanging them from a Christmas tree. From attaching strands of twinkle lights to a fairy bower hanging from the ceiling, to using a battery-operated strand in a little girl’s tutu, Light Fantastic includes some very creative and cool ideas for using those ubiquitous strands of blinking lights. So take advanatage of the post-holiday sales and grab some twinkle lights for around the house. Your kids will thank you for it.
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January 8th, 2009
Maximum PC looks back and picks its top 100 most intriguing tech products, people, and news stories of 2008. From “Severed undersea cables give rise to conspiracy theories” to “Protesters egg Steve Ballmer” and “Jack Thompson, outspoken anti-video game lawyer, permanently disbarred”, there’s lots of fun and interesting memories from the past year in the Maximum PC 100.
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