Submitted by: Chad Shoop

My 6-year-old son has picked up an interesting hobby — following the weather.

In his kindergarten class he became famous as their weatherman, informing them every day of the extended forecast. To be honest, I think he does a better job than the guys on T.V.

The other day he posed a question about a weather forecast: What is the difference between partly cloudy and mostly sunny?

Being a life-lesson type of moment, I explained to my son that it’s merely different perceptions of the same weather forecast. Partly cloudy is a bit gloomier while mostly sunny is more upbeat … but they essentially mean the same thing.

I’m sure for a 6-year-old this is hard to grasp, and it doesn’t get easier as we get older.

The forecasts flowing from the most recent housing stats can puzzle anyone, but this perception has a reality that could unravel the sector…

Mainstream media has concluded that recent housing starts show that demand is strong, and housing is on sound footing — this is a dangerously wrong perception.

This forecast for mostly sunny skies glosses over actual results depicting something much gloomier — a storm is already brewing.

This storm is one that underlines our fragile U.S. economy, and is just further proof that interest rates are going to remain low for longer than expected.

Rise of the Rente

Even though housing starts plummeted 11% in May, the media is focused on the only glimpse of positive news in the housing segment — building permits jumped 12%. They completely brush off the 11% slump in actual housing starts and only briefly mention that the 12% surge in building permits is for apartment buildings — not single-family homes, which are the pulse of the U.S. economy.

The problem with having a positive outlook based on permits, starts or anything related to multi-family homes is that those actually increase in times of a weak economic environment, much like we are seeing today.

The recovery has been uneven for most Americans. While the unemployment rate has steadily dropped, so has the quality of jobs that have been created, leaving too many workers without the income needed to buy new homes.

Student loan debt is a big contributor to this as well. College students graduating today are the most indebted in history, causing them to push back starting families and buying homes.

This helps explain why rent prices are soaring — up 15% and 11% in places such as San Francisco and Denver.

Even though mainstream media outlets continue to give us a rosy forecast, mostly sunny with a chance of a cloud, we are actually heading into a darker time, cloudy with a chance for a storm.

These are the facts that show you the underlying health of the housing market and the U.S. economy — an economy that is clearly not prepared for a normalized rate environment.

Balanced on the Edge

Normalized rates would put an already weak housing market into a crisis — one that would be worse than the housing crisis we experienced in 2008.

That’s because higher interest rates make purchasing a home less affordable and less attractive to current homeowners.

If a current homeowner has an interest rate of 3.5% locked in today, why trade that loan in for an interest rate north of 5%, which would cost them hundreds of dollars each month? Instead, would-be buyers delay potential home purchases, leading to even higher rent prices due to rising demand.

But, without new demand for housing, the housing market would crumble. Heavily-leveraged builders and developers would go bankrupt, housing prices would plummet and millions would be forced to foreclose on their homes once again. Once again, the U.S. economy would be put into a tailspin.

While the media continues to forecast sunny skies, make sure you are paying attention to the actual data on the U.S. economy that is rolling out — we are in the midst of a storm, and interest rates may be the very thread that is holding it together.

About the Author: Chad is an investment analyst for Pure Income, a newsletter that taps into the best off-the-radar opportunities for generating safe, steady monthly income. His research and insight allow subscribers to earn a guaranteed annual yield of at least 11%. You can learn more here:

sovereignsociety.com/pure-income/

.

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Sony Ericsson w880i Multimedia phone beyond compare

by

adam caitlin

Multimedia mobile phones are the latest craze among tech-savvy mobile phone users. People want handsets with impressive sound output; exceptional picture quality; and engaging video clips. The Sony Ericsson w880i fits the requirements perfectly. As a matter of fact, the w880i is one of the more popular multimedia phones currently available in the market.

The Sony Ericsson w880i comes within a thin frame. As a matter of fact, it is one of the smallest mobile phones currently around. The display of the handset is excellent, to say the least; and add significantly to the pleasure of using the same. The main menu of the Sony Ericsson w880i comes with 3D icons that can be easily navigated to access the different functions.

One identity of the Sony Ericsson w880i is that of a walkman phone. There is an integrated music player in the handset that can be used to listen to music on the move. The built-in speaker enhances the listening experience substantially. One can use the walkman phone to play music up to 17 to 18 hours of music at a stretch. USB connectivity via a data cable means that it is quite easy to transfer music as well as photos to and from the handset.

There is another dimension to the Sony Ericsson w880i; it can double up as a digital camera instantly. As a matter of fact, a 2 mega-pixel digital camera with digital zoom forms a part of the w880i which can be used to capture great images each time and every time. There is also ample memory to store all your pictures and songs. The images and pictures can be shared with loved ones as MMS messages. One can also make these images a part of their own blogs with the click of a few buttons. There is an application called DJ Photo that can be used to add special effects to the pictures taken.

So, if you want a multimedia phone with looks to match, the Sony Ericsson w880i is a safe bet.

Sony Ericsson w880i

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Submitted by: Tony Stockill

No doubt you have seen and had a laugh at stories by Help Desk operators. The user who thought the CD drive was to hold his coffee cup, and other amusing tales.

I don’t know if this is an urban myth or not, but in my experience of tech support and helpdesk operations, users are mostly intelligent, but maybe not used to taking a logical approach to problems.

A user of a PC can be anyone from a design engineer to a receptionist. They specialise in designing or greeting visitors, they expect their computer to do what it is supposed to do, every day, without fail, just like their car, and so they should!

When the computer doesn’t start, what should you do? The best approach, if at all possible, is to compare the ‘dead’ machine to a working one! See further down the page.

In an office setting this is usually possible, but not so easy at home. We look at a Desktop PC here, laptops or notebooks are a little different.

Before we start let’s clarify what a computer or monitor is. When I refer to the

computer

I mean the box that holds all the workings, it usually has several cables attached to it and has drawers to insert CDs or DVDs, maybe floppy drives and USB connectors – the main box. This is not the ‘Hard Drive’ as some refer to it. The hard drive is contained in the computer box. The

Monitor

is the thing you look at, also called a ‘Screen’ or ‘Display’.

Computer ‘not working’ or ‘won’t start’? First thing to check is power. Are there any lights on the front or rear of the computer? How about the monitor? or the keyboard?

No lights or noises from the computer or monitor? A very common problem is the power cable connection.

Maybe the cleaner (or your Mom or wife) plugged in the vacuum cleaner, and forgot to replace it.

Is it plugged in securely – at both ends? Yes you may have to get in among that tangle of cables behind your desk!

Be sure you are checking the correct cable! Is the wall outlet switched on? Does another device, for example a lamp, work in that outlet?

Make sure you plug the power cable to the computer into an outlet you have just tested!

Check the power switch, there is probably a main switch at the rear of the box near the power cable connector, as well as a push button on the front to start the computer.

If this sounds like nit-picking, maybe you would like to give me a dollar for all the times I’ve found this very problem. I could get a very nice meal in a fancy restaurant on the proceeds! This fixes an estimated 80% of ‘not working’ problems!

If you now have a light somewhere on the computer, or a noise like a fan, we are making progress.

Check the monitor, there should be a light on this too, normally green or yellow. Green means it is getting something from the computer. Yellow means it is powered on but not getting data. We need to do the same check with the power cable for the monitor, to make sure we have a light on, also is it switched on? The switch may be at the rear. Sometimes the monitor cable is connected to the main computer power supply from an outlet next to the computer’s power cable. If this is the case try connecting it directly to a wall outlet.

If there is a yellow light on the monitor check the data (vga) cable from the monitor. This is the other cable, that is, not the power cable. It should be connected by a small 15 pin plug to the computer usually to a blue colored connector. There may be two such connectors (for the technical, one on the motherboard, one on the video card), if you’re not sure which one, try them both, it will only connect to the correct type of connector. The data cable may be permanently connected to the monitor, or it may have the same 15-pin connector as the computer end. Make sure it is connected. Another 15% of ‘not working’ problems are fixed right here – maybe a Big Mac for this one!

Still not getting anywhere? If at all possible swap your monitor with a colleague’s on the next desk, which one works now?

This same principle can be applied to other problems. Another common one is ‘my computer wont read my cd’. Try another CD, try your cd in a colleague’s computer, try a cd that works in his computer in yours. This will tell you if you have a bad cd or a bad drive or driver.

If you only have one computer at home, you can’t swap with the next desk, but maybe you can try your monitor on a notebook, or on a friend’s computer?

What about the other 5% of problems? The BSOD, the corrupted hard drive, etc. etc., well that’s a story for another day, as they say!

About the Author: Tony is a qualified and experienced tech support engineer on computers fom laptops to mainframes. He is Webmaster of and contributor to

what-why-wisdom.com/

which looks at everything you can do at home now that a computer is part of the everyday lifestyle.

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