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Better Tech: Battery Operated Forklifts, Excavators and Loaders

Forklift

The use of battery to run heavy machinery and vehicles is no longer new. During the early 1900s, most cars were battery operated and outnumbered that use steam or gas engines. When 1950s came, diesel-electric locomotives replaced the ones powered by steam and by late 1960s, diesel-electric wheel loaders were developed. Diesel-electric haul trucks and electric shovels have been used in mines for years while electric mobile platforms and electric tower cranes are staples in construction sites.

While the industry of heavy machinery doesn’t receive much discussion regarding the advances in machines that use electricity unlike the car industry, the accomplishments in the field are still notable. Below are some types of heavy machinery that are now run using batteries.

Battery-Operated Forklift

The powered industrial trucks or also commonly known as lift trucks or forklifts are now being used in numerous locations and industries from construction sites to warehouses and are mainly used for moving materials and objects. All types of forklift have been designed for moving heavy containers or objects. However, there are also various models of forklifts that could be categorized according to their methods of operation, size, and power.

Battery-operated forklifts are environmentally-friendly and quiet means to handle different unit loads such as pallet boxes, stillages, and pallets that give a company a plethora of option for numerous applications. Today, you can now find reliable forklift battery suppliers wherever your company operates.

Mini Excavator with Lithium Ion Type of Battery

All the cylinders and hydraulic motors are being powered by lithium ion battery found in the mini excavator’s main body. Since the equipment doesn’t emit any exhaust gas, this gets rid of the problem of withering of plants and crops. There are also no issues of ventilation because of exhaust gas when doing tunnel works or dismantling indoors.

Significant reduction of noise levels is also possible because of the absence of an engine. These battery-powered mini excavators can also adapt to various site conditions in its range of application such as construction projects in cities that require excellent reduction of noise.

This battery-operated mini excavator can also contribute to reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and nurturing a society with low carbon.

Electric Wheel Loaders

Electric wheel loaders offer noise reductions and provide emissions that expand the range of environments and applications where they are deemed useful. With the continuous advancement of electrification technology, the range of types of machines where this is applied also grows. Wheel loaders that are battery-powered are some of the latest machine introductions.

The concept of these electric wheel loaders have been based on the large scale and time-tested technology being used in equipment for handling materials. The AGM or absorbent glass mat battery technology was used for these electric wheel loaders. This is a maintenance-free and closed lead acid battery system particularly made for high demand applications. The included onboard charging unit for its battery also means that there is no need for users to use fixed on-site charging stations. Users simply need to have the machine plugged in an outlet then have the battery recharged whenever necessary.

These are just some of the battery-operated heavy machinery being used these days in many applications for different purposes.

Different Fabrics for Curtains

curtains and blinds

There are several factors you need to consider when looking for your curtain and blinds window treatments such as color, style, length, pattern, and fabric. Your chosen fabric affects how the curtain drapes and hangs and also the durability, coverage, and texture, and whether it is easy to wash or not.

Check out the fabrics commonly used for curtains to determine the right one for your home.

Polyester

Polyester is a common fabric for curtain that is sturdy, durable, and affordable. Caring for polyester curtains is easy as these don’t stretch, shrink, or wrinkle. This fabric is great for the living room or bedroom curtains. However, this is not advisable in kitchens because polyester is a flammable material that absorbs odors. It also prevents good air circulation. There are different styles, patterns, and colors of polyester. Homes with children or high traffic can benefit from darker colored polyester curtains.

Silk

Silk curtains are often heavier although they create a romantic look and drape well. These are perfect for formal dining rooms or bedrooms. Silk fabrics only need dry clean so washing them may be more time-consuming. If you want to use silk curtains in rooms that get lots of light, use lighter color panels or window shades for lining because silk is more prone to sun damage. Faux silk curtains are easier to wash and more durable.

Cotton

Curtains made of a cotton blend or cotton are versatile options. They have a uniquely clean and crisp feel ideal for modern or traditional decorating styles. Curtains made from cotton drape well that make them good options for formal dining rooms. You can opt for cotton curtains with tight leave or a cotton panel that comes with a lining if you like to block off sunlight in bright rooms. Sheer cotton curtains, on the other hand, are ideal if you want to create an airy and light feel for a room.

Linen

Linen is a type of billowier fabric that offers a tailored look. This is perfect for contemporary living rooms, casual dining areas, and all types of bedrooms. Linen also drapes well. Since this fabric doesn’t block off the sun, it allows natural light to stream into your living area. Linen curtains typically require dry cleaning and must be hung right away to prevent wrinkling.

Lace

Being a sheer fabric, lace allows natural light to diffuse and creates an airy and open feel. Lace curtains add a romantic touch in traditionally styled dining rooms. You can also hang these over French doors for privacy while enjoying the outdoor sunlight at the same time. Lace curtains are available in neutral shades like ecru, ivory, and white that makes them easy to blend with all color schemes.

Velvet

Velvet is a kind of heavy fabric that can keep the cold out, making them the best window treatments if you want to insulate your house with drafty windows. Velvet also drapes well, offering a polished look that makes them great if you want to dress up your formal dining room or traditionally styled living room. The thickness of velvet curtains blocks out the light and sound and offers extra privacy.

Different Kinds of Turf for Australian Weather

Turf is just grass for most Australians, no more, no less. But, for professionals in the field of gardening or those who are extra attentive to their yards, lawns are more than large patches of green.

The specific type of grass you choose for your lawn is not just a simple decision you have to make. You have to consider a lot of things, one of which is the weather according to one of the top turf supplier in Sydney. Below is an overview of the different kinds of lawn for Australian weather and what sets them apart from each.

Buffalo Grass

Buffalo grass is infamous for being annoyingly scratchy and irritating. However, it has become a popular option for the past few years with the rise of the so-called Soft Leaf Buffalo types of grass. These include Matilda and Sir Walter Buffalo that make fort soft and lush lawns when maintained properly. Buffalo grass thrives well in winter and summer and can handle the extremes brought by different times of the year.

Kikuyu Grass

With its name inspired by Kenya’s most heavily populated ethnic group, Kikuyu grass is often considered as among the more vigorous or durable grasses. This also happens to be the most economical. Kikuyu grass loves warmer climate, thriving in full sun that makes it an ideal choice for Australian homes. The main concern with this grass is its fast-growing nature, it means that this could become invasive and require frequent mowing during warmer months of the year. You need to take extra care to prevent it from creeping out of your lawn to spread in other parts of your yard or cross to your neighbor’s yard.

Couch Grass

Couch grass is always a popular type of turf with several equally popular sub-types. This is a cheaper and easy-going grass that makes this perfect if you want to have a great-looking lawn once treated properly. This can hold up against wear and tear that has the capacity to repair itself quickly because of the durable underground runners. Couch grass stays fairly vibrant throughout every season. But, extra care must be taken during warmer months as it requires regular mowing. During colder months, couch grass must be fertilized and nourished. Failure to do so will make it unsightly and patchy.

Tall Fescue

This is a famous choice for those instant lawns wherein pre-grown grass is being rolled out on top of pre-existing grass or soil. This is an unbelievably indiscriminate kind of grass as it is equally happy in both shade and sun. It can also adapt to different climates and soil conditions. But, the cherry on top is that this grass doesn’t have any runners. It means that this cannot invade your neighbor’s yard or nearby garden beds.

Zoysia Grass

Historically speaking, Zoysia grass is a less popular type of grass in Australia but it is now starting to gain significant recognition as a viable and attractive choice for lawns. It is famous for its incredible softness without the chances of scratching or irritating the skin. Its growth is also amazingly slow that makes it attractive for people who are not big fans of mowing. This turf does well all-year-round but is slightly more prone to browning during drought.

Evolution of Roofing Panels

Roofing panels today are available in all shapes, sizes, colours, and materials. Although asphalt shingles have become staples in most locales, elegant and classy ceramic tiles are also starting to rise in popularity. Durable, decorative, and lightweight metal roofs are also commonly used and they are still the number one choice today. But, how did all these choices for roofing panels came to existence in the first place?

Roofing has an interestingly long history that paved the way for the varied selection of styles and material choices of roofing panels. Take a quick look at this history:

Roofing Materials during Early Civilizations

It was easy to imagine our ancestors to sleep outdoors under the starlit sky or inside caves to stay protected from the elements. But, pieces of evidence were discovered proving that they already used roofs made from various substances such as wood, rocks, clay, and animal parts. Their options were generally limited to things naturally found in the environment. For instance, in tropical places, palm fronds were lightweight and practical choices that are still used to this day. Straw and mud roofs were often used in most parts of ancient Africa. Wood was an option, too. This was used with another material such as woven fibres or mud placed to fill in gaps.

Thatched and Tile Roofs

It was reported that due to the advanced architectural techniques in China, clay tiles were used in the country since 3,000 BC. It was during ancient Roman and Greek civilizations when tiles rose to popularity in Europe.

Locally available wooden or slate tiles were preferred in Northern Europe. Thatch became popular in Britain in 735 AD and was also used in other equatorial countries.

Baked clay was used for roofs in Southern Europe that resulted in the signature terracotta look of Mediterranean and Spanish architecture. During the early 1900s, red-painted concrete tiles were used as cheaper alternatives. Tiles then spread other countries as the colours and style expanded, with homeowners discovering their weather-resistant qualities and durability.

It was during the 1920s when Americans developed asphalt shingles. Asphalt is a mixture of a base of fibreglass or cellulose with granules and sealed with polymer-modified bitumen and resins. Inexpensive and easy to install and manufacture, asphalt shingles soon became a staple in most American homes.

Metal Roofing Panels

There is a good reason why metal roofing panels have long been used. They are extremely durable, not to mention that these can also be bent to suit the required shape. However, metal roofing panels used to be very expensive. Only wealthy people and important structures were able to afford them.

Modern Roofing – An Interesting Journey of Changes and Transformation

The modern materials used for roofing panels inherit the past’s interesting legacy as they combine the best elements of what worked for hundreds of years together with the latest trends and technology of modern times. Although the type of insulated roofing panels used today remain to be influenced by numerous factors such as cultural preferences, availability of local materials, and local climate, buyers now have more options to choose from.

Common Reason Why Pianos Need Proper Piano Tuning

Pianos fall out of tune over time. Why? There is an enormous force to every string inside a piano, and the average is around 90 kilograms. Therefore, the piano strings will gradually stretch over time even when nobody is playing it.

Newly bought pianos need tuning twice in the first year of purchase. For the succeeding years, piano tuning is done once a year. While adjustment is made, you can check the piano’s condition inside, which is very important.

Tuning

Tuning is the gently re-tightening of metal pins called tuning pins, where piano strings are entwined, using a tool called a tuning hammer. This will bring back the correct tone of each key. Tuning should be performed by expert piano tuners to have a fast, careful, and accurate process.

Reason Pianos Get out of Tune

Instrument use. Most piano teachers, composers, artists, and experts who use the piano daily call for tuning three to four times a year. The more the strings are struck, no matter how experienced and talented the piano tuner is, it will turn the tuning pin and put it out of tune. This is why these professionals have their pianos tuned more frequently than those who only play occasionally. In many cases, pianos with considerably tight tuning pins are much harder to turn. That’s why their tune stay better because it’s harder to move the pins. However, it would be more challenging to stabilise initially.

The humidity and climate. It may surprise most of you that moisture is the number one cause why pianos go out of tune in many places. The piano needs a constant humidity of around 40-45%. This is ideal. In higher humid air, the wood of the pin block expands. This causes the holes that hold the tuning pin tighten, which tighten the strings, which result in a sharp pitch. When the air is less humid or dry, the pin block shrinks. Which in turn loosens the tuning pin and the strings, the result is a flat sound. In situations about humidity, keep it relatively steady as possible. Try to keep the piano in a room away from heating or air conditioning vents, drafty doors, and windows. Some people have room humidifiers which can easily help you in regulating the moisture. You can also opt to buy a humidifier installed inside the piano.

Moving the piano all the time. Although not as significant as the other two, moving the piano can disturb the soundboard. Ask for professional movers if in case you will relocate the piano in another building.

Strings stretch. A string stretches typically when pulled. In a piano, there are a whopping 200 pounds of pull in every strand. The process of tuning and the strings stretching will take around 6 to 8 times for the piano to reach a stable condition. When the tension no longer makes the strings sag, we can get a constant beautiful sound from the piano, reaching the stabilised stage. However, when you need to keep playing, you still need tuning once or twice a year.

Highest Paid Actors in Hollywood 2020

Dwayne Johnson is considered as the highest paid male actor for 2 years in a row. Forbes stated that the former wrestler has earned $89.4M in the last twelve months thanks to his roles HBO’s Ballers, Fast & Furious Hobbs and Shaw, and Skyscraper. He earned $700,000 per episode on HBO’s Ballers. A huge portion of his wealth is down to the lucrative back-end deal, which sees him earning up to 15% of box office from all of his films.

The actor also picks up his biggest payday upfront with Jumanji: The Next Level, which made him earn $23.5M. In 2020, he will also be seen in Jungle Cruise, a Disney adventure film. What makes him different from other actors is that he always prioritizes his audience. He told Forbes that it should be audience first to make them happy and give them the best.

While the deal of Johnson is the biggest in the industry, he is not just the only one with a huge deal. Robert Downey Jr. also got $20M upfront and nearly 8 percent of the pool for portraying Iron Man and this amounted to $55M for his work in Avengers: Endgame, the film that grossed $2.796B at the box office. This gross was very big that it also secured spots on other top earners including Chris Hemsworth, Paul Rudd, and Bradley Cooper. Together, they have earned $284M with the franchise.

Celebrities including Scarlet Johansson and Downey have extreme leverage to demand huge compensation packages from the studios investing hundreds of millions of dollars in creating tent-pole films like the Avengers series. With the success of film, a lot of actors have gained huge earnings.

Bradley Cooper is a rare actor who may thank a bet on himself because of his ranking this 2019. He earned only about ten percent of his $57M payday for voicing Avengers’ Rocket Raccoon. 70% came from the movie A Star is Born, which is a small musical drama that he produced, directed, co-wrote, and starred with the singer Lady Gaga. The movie was actually a passion project for Cooper and he forfeited upfront salary to go in the film and the salary of Gaga. It was worth it. The movie that had only $36M production budget has grossed to $435M across the globe, which leave Cooper with about $40M.

The estimates of the earnings are based on the data from IMDB, Box Office Mojo, ComScore, Nielsen, and other interviews with the industry insiders. All of the figures are pretax and the fees for lawyers, managers, and agents are not deducted.

Below are the top highest paid actors of 2019 in the world:

  1. Dwayne Johnson -$89.4M earnings
  2. Chris Hemsworth – $76.4M earnings
  3. Robert Downey Jr – $66M earnings
  4. Akshay Kumar – $65M earnings
  5. Jackie Chan – $58M earnings
  6. Bradley Cooper – $57M earnings
  7. Adam Sandler – $57M earnings
  8. Chris Evans – $43.5M earnings
  9. Paul Rudd – $41M earnings
  10. Will Smith- $35M earnings

What Small Business Owners Love About Online Marketing

Online Marketing is the simplest, most convenient tool up to date.

Gone were the days that marketing is exclusively done by hiring professionals. A lot of business startups will think twice to market their products. Questions like when do they need to look for a marketer, what genre do they want the advertisement should give, should they use media platforms or just written ads, and the list goes on until marketing seems to be too confusing. Now with a few clicks on the pc or mobile, one or two quotes that you believe, the business that you have and complete contact details you are good to go. It’s as simple as that!

 

Online marketing doesn’t break the bank.

Everyone will agree that budget is the most crucial aspect to consider when marketing is the topic. A few seconds of ads on television today could easily cost you millions, especially for prime timeslots where your targeted audience is watching. A local paper may charge $12 per inch for a black and white ad, so a 4-inch by 10-inch ad would cost $480. Major national newspapers may charge $10,000 or more for the same advertisement, it costs more to add color, frequency of the ad and day of the week to publish. Compared to online posts, let’s say Facebook, the price range starts from $0.27 per click if you chose this set up. If you have a fixed budget allotment you can avail package set ups as well depending on how many people, Ad objective, audience, ad quality and industry your business have. Although, if you simply want to try marketing free of charge, you can do so by creating a business pages under your account.

 

From local to global reach of the internet.

Living in this modern era created opportunities beyond imaginations. Such is the power of the web to deliver any message, information or advertisement whether to your local city or perhaps to other mega metropolis like Sydney, IT support can be present at the other side of the world. If you choose to put up an IT Company in your area, you can reach locals in no time. If you want to sell your services unique to your region, you can market internationally without breaking a sweat.

Look at the company Airbnb. It started operations in 2008 in California. Now it has a continuous rise in its number of listings and stands over 1,500,000 in 34000 cities worldwide. So, what contributed to its enormous success? It is pure online marketing through social media.

 

Personalization of offers and positive relationship to customers.

In online marketing you can always give your products their unique qualities, let buyers see exclusive classes or services you alone can offer and guide them to the direction you want to unfold.

Let’s say your neighborhood developed a picturesque rainforest and the target is to boost tourism in your area, marketing online will be the best move to increase awareness and showcase the magnificence of the place.  Through various forms of social media, you can reach communities that share their passion on rainforests and invite them to add your place in their destinations.

 

Online marketing NEVER sleeps.

Whenever a page is posted or created, it will be available to anyone 24 hours a day every day. Whether you are on company break or taking a family vacation, to taking a drive to the gym and watching football, your marketing campaigns still runs. Contrasted to traditional marketing, online marketing does not have any limitations in terms of opening or closing hours and at the same time, you would not have to worry about overtime pay for your staff.

Urban Future Initiative

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