The Home Improvement Blog

Math museum adds up for kids

yourhomeimprovementideas — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:42:03 +0000

Squealing schoolchildren ride a square-wheeled tricycle and a “Coaster Roller” that glides over plastic acorns. Downstairs, they fit monkey magnets together at the “Tessellation Station.”

This is how math is presented at New York City’s new National Museum of Mathematics, the only museum of its kind in the United States and a place where math is anything but boring.

“Math’s not just memorizing your multiplication tables,” said Cindy Lawrence, the museum’s associate director. “Math is a creative endeavor, and that’s what we want people to realize.”

Glen Whitney, 42, who had the idea for the museum — it’s called MoMath — said prominent mathematicians gladly shared their expertise for the museum’s hands-on exhibits.

“They’re absolutely thrilled,” he said. “They’re so giving of their time and their energy and their enthusiasm. And I think a lot of mathematicians sort of get the sense that they are working in a misunderstood field.”

The museum’s target audience is kids in fourth through eighth grades, but the exhibits can be enjoyed by children on one level while challenging adults on another.

The point of the Coaster Roller is that the acornlike shapes have a constant diameter although they are not spheres, so the clear plastic sled glides smoothly over them.

Other exhibits allow museum visitors to create objects that will go on display, either by building them with a Tinker Toy-like system called Zome Tools or by computer modeling.

The Tessellation Station is a wall that visitors can cover with magnet shapes.

Tessellation is the process of creating a flat surface, such as a tiled floor, by repeatedly using squares, hexagons or other geometric shapes. MoMath visitors can build tessellations with pieces shaped like rabbits, monkeys and dinosaurs. There also is a Marjorie Rice pentagon, named for an amateur mathematician whose tessellation discoveries were later confirmed by professionals. The museum is highlighting Rice’s work to spark girls’ love of math.

Sharon Collins, a math teacher at Bronx Preparatory Charter School, brought a high school group to MoMath recently; she said her students enjoyed the square-wheeled tricycle just as much as the younger kids did.

“The students would ride the bike and then think — Why am I able to ride the bike?” Collins said. “They saw the real-world connections of math, which are sometimes missing in a classroom setting.”

Second-grader Desire’e Thomas of Girls Prep in Manhattan also was there with her class.

“I think that it’s very interesting, and I think that it’s fun,” Desire’e said. “I’m building with different shapes, and I’m playing on them.”

Resource:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Can parents share child-raising responsibilities equally?

yourhomeimprovementideas — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:05:03 +0000

The new parenting ideal looks a lot like Katherine and Roger Kranenburg. Professionals who have achieved enough career success to earn both good money and work flexibility, they are raising two children, 5 and 3, who are healthy, energetic and even ask for extra grilled zucchini with their lunch.

In their roomy Washington house, with deck and swimming pool nestled among leafy trees, the Kranenburg family’s mornings look like an upscale version of what more and more American parents strive for: parity in parenting. Dad cooks and Mom untangles hair. Both parents arrange their schedules to make the parent-teacher conference. Dad clicks the kids into car seats; Mom drives them to school.

The Kranenburgs of Northwest Washington are a textbook example of what many of us grew up thinking would be our own parenting style. We looked back at our mother’s housework burdens and career sacrifices or our father’s disengagement with the family, and thought: not for us. We’d match with partners who would trample tired gender roles and commit to support our families 50-50 financially, physically and emotionally. Going halfsies on parenting seemed as obvious as the pants on our legs.

Here’s what this model of shared parenting feels like from the inside:

“It’s chaos,” Katherine Kranenburg, a real estate agent, says one morning. She is still in her mauve bathrobe and talking over her pajama-clad daughter, who sings to a pink stuffed animal to avoid making her bed.

“It’s stressful,” Roger Kranenburg, an energy consultant, says, as he pulls a Spider-Man shirt over his squirming son’s head, ignoring the beeping kitchen timer alerting him that the pasta he’s making for that night is more than ready. “It can really test a marriage.”

Across the country, parents are struggling through what many of us thought would come easily: an authentic split-down-the-middle approach. Is it working?

For a fortunate family like the Kranenburgs, it is, but it’s a no-margin, high-anxiety lifestyle. For the majority of parents who have the ability and inclination to divvy up responsibilities equally, the answer can be more complicated. Subtract the zucchini and the deck, the plush bathrobe and the swimming pool. Add money woes or work rigidity or marital conflict or a child who needs more attention. Voila, we have fathers and mothers reporting unprecedented levels of stress and resentment.

Marriage historian Stephanie Coontz says American parents have higher expectations of themselves than any previous generation. Modern parents, she says, do not realize how much they are up against as they try to change the child-rearing rules while living up to heightened demands. “People don’t anticipate in advance what a strain this will be.” They end up “turning on each other.”

Better, she says, would be “less indignation at each other and more at our society” — our familial infrastructure, the schedules of schools and offices that remain fixed in a two-parent, single-income world.

In Washington public schools, for instance, the 2012-2013 academic calendar includes a two-week winter break, a weeklong spring break, all federal holidays and one city holiday, five professional-development days, four days devoted to parent-teacher conferences and four early dismissal days. Meanwhile, parents employed full time are lucky if they get federal holidays and two weeks of vacation.

Authorship:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Man’s best friend gets the royal treatment, despite recessionary woes

yourhomeimprovementideas — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 07:17:02 +0000

CHICAGO, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Pets are not only a man’s best friend, they are often looked upon as a four-legged member of the family. As a result, the retail sales of pets and related supplies and services have produced consistent gains from 2007-12, despite a turbulent economy. Mintel’s latest report estimates the pet market is worth more than $49 billion in 2012, up 15% since 2007.

“Pets have many needs that are similar to human family members, including food and medical care,” reports Bill Patterson, senior market analyst with Mintel. “Therefore, pet supplies and services are often necessities rather than discretionary purchases, which has helped shield this industry from the rocky recessionary environment. The strong bond between owners and pets offers significant marketing opportunities for manufacturers and retail outlets focusing on pet care and supplies.”

Overall, 64% of Mintel respondents own a pet in their household, with dog (43%) and cat (32%) ownership being the most common. Nearly all dog owners consider their dog a member of the family and most agree that their pet provides companionship (89% like to spend time with their dog) and safety (77% feel safer alone in the house when their dog is nearby). Seven out of 10 pet owners feel their dog understands their feelings better than most people and more than half (54%) say they share similar personality traits with their dog.

While most cat owners will disagree, the bond between dog owners and their canine companions appears to be stronger than that of cat owners and their feline friends. In fact, a lower percentage of cat owners agree with nearly every statement asked concerning this bond compared to dog owners, except when it comes to pampering their pet. Some 43% of cat owners say they pamper their pet versus 38% of dog owners.

So, what are all these pet owners spending their dollars on? With a retail value of $18.1 billion, pet food accounted for the largest share of sales in 2011 (37.8%). Veterinary services represented the second-largest segment generating over $12 billion annually. According to Mintel’s insight, only a small percentage of pet owners (8%) do not perform annual/regular checkups for their dog/cat and around 90% pay close attention to the health and behavior of their dog/cat to ensure they keep them healthy.

About Mintel

Mintel is a leading global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence. For 40 years, Mintel has provided insight into key worldwide trends, offering exclusive data and analysis that directly impacts client success. With offices in Chicago, New York, London, Sydney, Shanghai, Tokyo, and now India, Malaysia and Singapore, Mintel has forged a unique reputation as a world-renowned business brand. For more information on Mintel, please visit www.mintel.com.

Authorship:

www.prnewswire.com/

CONNECTIONS™ Summit: Lowe’s to showcase Iris platform and connected home solutions during networking reception

yourhomeimprovementideas — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 22:12:28 +0000

DALLAS, Jan. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Parks Associates today announced Lowe’s as the exclusive sponsor of the CONNECTIONS™ Summit networking reception, January 8 at 2013 International CES in Las Vegas. The reception starts at 6:00 p.m. following a full day of sessions addressing connected CE, home systems, tech support, and value-added services. The reception will showcase Lowe’s Iris platform and feature networking opportunities to discuss strategies to engage consumers with new home controls and management solutions.

“Lowe’s entrance into the smart home market is an important and potentially game-changing step,” said Stuart Sikes, president, Parks Associates. “The retail channel allows consumers to touch and test these solutions, an important step toward broader adoption. We are eager to see Lowe’s solutions at the CONNECTIONS™ Summit reception.”

Parks Associates research shows U.S. consumers are reluctant to take on new service fees, with only 15% of U.S. broadband households willing to adopt subscription controls packages. However, the percentages increase dramatically for individual controls components: 56% would buy door/window sensors, 53% would buy door locks, and 44% would purchase lighting controls. This research shows strong potential in selling equipment with security and control features through a retail channel that consumers can expand over time to incorporate additional features.

Iris allows consumers to monitor and control their home from their computer, tablet, or smartphone. Lowe’s designed these products and services to appeal to mainstream consumers, who can purchase simple and affordable bundles that make their homes safer, more energy efficient, and convenient to manage.

Kevin Meagher, VP, GM, Smart Home, Lowe’s Companies, Inc., is speaking in the 1 p.m. session “Convergence in the Connected Home: Partnership Opportunities,” which also features speakers from IBM, Verizon Telecom, Hitachi, EcoFactor, and Qualcomm.

During CES, visit Lowe’s in the San Polo Room (Room # 3403) in the Venetian and Parks Associates in Booth #21944 in LVCC South Hall 1 Lower Level. More Information at http://www.lowes.com/iris and http://www.parksassociates.com.

CONNECTIONS™ Summit includes support from Premier Program Members Digitalsmiths, EcoFactor, IBM, Irdeto, Lowe’s, PacketVideo, Qualcomm, Radialpoint, Sigma Designs, Support.com, and Sutherland Global Services.

Reference: www.prnewswire.com

Arthur’s Blog: The Six Most Common Travel Questions

yourhomeimprovementideas — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 19:27:00 +0000

What are the queries most frequently posed to this blog by readers, or phoned in to the Travel Show? There are six of them repeated over and over most weeks, each reflecting a widespread travel concern.

1. Is it safe to travel to _____? It’s the most frequent query of all and the most difficult to answer. In a pinch, I direct them to the U.S. State Department’s list of nations to avoid (www.travel.state.gov) and also point out that a similar list maintained by the British Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk) is regarded, by some, as containing even better advice.

2. I am going on a cruise. Should I buy the cruise line’s shore excursions? The people who pose that question are apparently aware of the forbidding sums that cruise lines charge for the right to stuff themselves into a motorcoach with their fellow passengers and go whizzing about through a foreign area. I invariably advise that the decision be put off until you are actually on the cruise. You will then learn, from orientation sessions or your fellow passengers, that some port cities can easily be wandered on foot or in a taxi booked with two other passengers; that only a few foreign ports — Civitavecchia for visiting Rome, Livorno for visiting Florence, Kusadasi for visiting Ephesus in Turkey — are so distant from the places you wish to see that the cruise line’s motorcoach excursions are just about the only practical means to sightsee.

3. How do I find an apartment in _____? Increasingly, Americans are anxious to substitute a modestly-priced vacation apartment for a costly hotel room. I point out that a company called Homeaway.com has become a giant business for finding such apartments, and that it maintains subsidiaries in several foreign countries easily found on the internet. I also mention that Airbnb.com is an up-and-coming competitor to Homeaway, as is Rentalo.com.

4. Can I visit this many places in this amount of time? (For example, “I have ten days in Italy, can I visit these five cities: Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice, and Milan?”) I respond that they will ruin their trip by attempting to squeeze in too many destinations. I explain that traveling from one city to another occupies an entire day: checking out of one hotel, traveling to train station or airport; checking in to a second hotel and accustoming themselves to the new location. The necessary movements of travel make it extremely unwise to visit five or six cities (or countries) in their usually limited amount of time.

5. Should I buy travel insurance? I almost always answer Yes. Travel is an uncertain activity; things can and do go wrong. Almost 100% of all experienced Europeans buy travel insurance when they go on a trip; we should emulate their wise strategy.

6. What’s there to see and do in _____? This is the only question to which I respond with irritation (or less than courtesy). If they have to ask such a question, I say heatedly, then they have not done any advance reading at all. Travel brings to you only what you bring to it. Smart travelers spend an afternoon or two at a library reading about the places they plan to visit, or reading a guidebook at home, or they spend the equivalent time at their computers, doing the same. And thus equipped with substantial information, they enjoy a rewarding trip.

You can tune in to the Travel Show each Sunday to hear my daughter Pauline and I field these and other questions. Details are found at www.wor710.com.

Reference:

http://www.frommers.com

Tarps Prove Important for Businesses and Home – New Website Offers Tarps Galore

yourhomeimprovementideas — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:10:01 +0000

NAPLES, FLORIDA — Within the past few years, more and more businesses have been using tarps for a variety of uses, and people are using tarps for home use as well. Tarps have become quite popular, with uses ranging from flame retardant tarps for construction sites, to tarp canopy kits for carports. With the rising popularity and use of tarps, one company has started selling their tarps on the web to offer tarps to those who are looking for great prices and quality. This new site that offers tarps for both business and home use is tarps-togo.com.

Tarps of all sizes, styles, and colors are offered by www.tarps-togo.com, from red, blue, and clear tarps, to heavy duty white tarps, to flame retardant tarps, to sunshade mesh tarps and canopies. Many business owners today use tarps for a variety of uses, some to protect equipment from the elements and others to protect lumber or other building materials. Of course tarps are popular for home use too, with many people using them to protect their boats, cars, or even as a canopy for a picnic.

While tarps are usually quite easy to find locally, many people, especially business owners, appreciate having the ability to order tarps easily online. At tarps-togo.com people are provided with an easy ordering process that allows them to purchase the tarps they need without taking the time to go shopping. In some cases the company can even have the tarp sent out within 24 hours of receiving the order. This new site is also becoming well known for the low prices that are offered as well as their customer service.

For more information about tarps, canopies, or about the business Tarpstogo, you can visit www.tarps-togo.com or you can call them at 239-643-0802.

About Tarps Togo:

Tarps Togo is a family owned business that is located in the South West portion of Florida. They have been selling tarps for many years and have warehouses not only in Florida, but in New York and Los Angeles as well for quick delivery to all portions of the country. Recently the company has started selling their tarps on the web as well and they sell tarps in various colors, qualities, and sizes.

Contact:

Tarps Togo
Address: Unit #402
4760 Enterprise Ave
Naples, Florida 34104
Phone: 239-643-0802
Fax: 239-643-0871
www.tarps-togo.com

Reference: http://www.pressrelease365.com