When it comes to a recession, this can actually present fantastic opportunities and rewarding avenues for investors in many different ways and we take a look at some of these below.

With interest rates remaining so low, as at the time we write this they continue to be 0.5%, this is helping to keep the cost of financing residential buy to let property really quite low, because although low interest rates are bad news for savers, for investors looking to finance investment property they are actually really good news. If the cost of borrowing is low and the rental income medium to high, then you can quickly see why low interest rates really are fantastic news for any property investor.

We pretty much all know that The Bank of England has once again confirmed that the UK is back in recession, and it is fair to say that whilst this may not seem a great thing for most of us, it can be for the rental market. This generally means that tenants are more likely to be more financially aware about their decisions and will generally stay in the same property for a longer period of time. This makes renting our properties even more of a safe bet for investors, especially when the rental demand for properties is so high during a recession anyway.

According to various industry reports, rental yields increased by around 0.4% in May 2012, which means that the average rental income is around £700 per month. Of course, this is just an average, but there can be no doubt that rental income across the board has continued to rise, because as with anything in life, when the demand is greater than the supply, you can often set the prices that you want to achieve.

With more and more people turning to renting, especially families that 5 years ago would of probably landed a mortgage no problem, owning properties that you can rent out is now a total winner for investors, especially if you have a decent sized portfolio that all chip in a few hundred pounds a month in income. It also means that rental tenants are staying longer as we mention previously but if you do lose a tenant, there will be many more just around the corner meaning that your property shouldn’t stay empty too long.

Although investing during a recession can have its negatives, it is important to realise that no matter how bad things are, you should still be able to make some decent money as an investor, especially if you make the right choices from day one.

When you think about it it’s truly amazing how far humans have come in their planning when it comes to building their cities and infrastructure. Today we have GPS GIS systems telling us elevations and where the big flood zones are or where they might appear. Generally speaking this works pretty well, and he gives us a really good idea of what is coming in the future helping us predict the 50 year flood, or the hundred year proverbial flood. Knowing this information we know how to build runoff channels diverting the water away from structures in areas where people live.

Not only are we doing this here but they are doing it in places around world, sharing our technology and information in this regard. No, not every civilization listens and there is always some crony capitalism going on and things are built where they shouldn’t be or the warnings go unheeded. Nevertheless things are working out fairly well, but I’d say it’s time to take this to a whole new level, up the ante, and know the future of where the water will go, where the flooding will occur, and how the patterns of erosion will change in that regard.

There was an article in Science Daily on August 11, 2012 titled; “NASA Conducts Airborne Study of Colorado Landslide,” which brings up a very interesting concept that I don’t believe NASA has considered. Let me explain.

It is my contention that we can use fractal mathematics, Stephen Wolfram mathematics, and the NASA studies of erosion patterns, along with satellite photos of the Earth and Mars to develop a relevant predictable set of rational probabilities of future erosion patters, delta river outlet patterns, and in doing so, we can predict where mineral deposits are, and reconstruct the past to such an accurate point as to see it all without time – and easily model the past, present, and future. I am so sure of this that I had to tell you about it.

Being able to do this might help us determine where and how to build a Mars space colony, where the safest place to build a village at the foot of a mountain might be, and use this forensic mathematical data to know those realities without regard to the variable of time. In doing this and using these strategies we will save lives, save money, and save ourselves a world of headache during a natural disaster such as a big flood. Indeed it is my hope that you will please consider all this and think on it.

Decorating for Christmas really is not as hard as it looks. But, there are some basic rules to follow in order to make it easy and worry free.

The living room, dining area, and guest rooms are the main areas you should be concerned with decorating for Christmas. If you focus on these then you will only need to put Christmas Cards up in one area of the house that you haven’t decorated either by tacking or taping them on a wall or back of a door that you normally keep closed. Over the season, be sure you always have Christmas cookies on hand in the kitchen and a Christmas welcome wreath or decoration on the outside of the door where people will arrive. This will alleviate stress when the unexpected Christmas visitor comes.

You have probably heard the saying “Less is More.” Well this is because it is better to have a few quality items rather than a whole bunch of junk everywhere. Stay away from overdecorating, it will prevent clutter and makes tidying and cleaning simpler.

The best time to start decorating for Christmas is around Halloween. So if you start early planning what your theme and color scheme will be, you will have enough time to buy what you need before the end of October gets here. Decorating early for Christmas puts you and your loved ones in the festive mood early on and leaves plenty of time for fun and family for the actual holidays.

The earlier you start shopping for the decorations that you want and need, the bigger variety you will find. And, in most cases, the better the prices will be. Make a list of the rooms you will decorate. Think about your theme and colors. Now start making a list of what you need for each room to have the perfect room or area. You may not know exactly what you want, but you have some idea. For example, you need new hand towels for the bathroom, but without looking around you do not know what’s available. You do, however, know what your color scheme is so you can start looking for hand towels with that color in them.

If you work with a decoration theme along with a color scheme when doing your Christmas decorating, it will pull everything together. Using consistent items from room to room will help. For example, if you use red and green garlands throughout the house this will allow you to keep a feeling of consistency.

Other theme ideas: nautical, kitchen, Victorian, patriotic, music, and nature. I have also seen people pull off Disney, winter wonderland, snowmen, and of course there’s Santa and his reindeer.

By starting early, I am sure that you too can find and buy at a fraction of the cost your own unique decorations to create a special theme and color scheme for the holidays leaving you plenty left over when it comes time for buying Christmas presents.

Having your office professionally cleaned helps you present the right image of your firm. It doesn’t matter whether you own a small shop, or a large multinational company as people form impressions very quickly. If they come into a poorly cared for area with overflowing rubbish bins and a stale smell they may quickly decide they don’t want to do business with you.

Who could blame them. If the working area isn’t properly looked after and kept clean and fresh it will not inspire confidence in anyone. It automatically creates the kind of image you don’t want to have.

In contrast a beautifully kept area will show it really matters to you that everything is clean and neat. It creates an image of a well organized and professional company. In other words the type of organization people want to do business with as they automatically feel safer trusting them to deliver services or products on time.

Keeping everything nice and hygienic will also help you get the best out of your staff. Let’s face it, they are not going to be inspired to work hard in a dirty environment. It doesn’t create the right atmosphere for working in.

Hiring a professional firm will ensure everything is done on time and at regular intervals. The staff will have been trained to provide excellent standards. Work is more likely to be monitored at regular intervals to make sure it is always as the customer expects.

Cleaners can come in at any time of the day and night, and deep cleansing sessions frequently take place very early in the morning. This ensures there is no disruption to the working day. You will almost certainly find your cleaning company can provide you with janitorial supplies at competitive costs.

Everything is done properly so the correct documents are kept and everyone is properly insured and trained. If a place is cleaned at regular intervals a manual is likely to be kept on site and can be requested by the client at any time.

There are numerous different services available, ranging from office, and window cleaning to deep cleansing kitchens. In addition there are a number of other specialist services available, including sanitizing telephones.

Professional office cleaning is one of those things that people often take for granted. This is until the service fails to turn up or lets you down in some way. Then people realize just how important it is in keeping places safe to work in.

Radio is now back again as the centre stage of entertainment in the Hyderabad city. Justifying the popular saying ‘Old is Gold’, radio, with the advent of FM, became the hotspot again. FM radio has made its comeback in to the mechanical life of Hyderabadis at the right time. The diverse variety of entertainment programs aired by different FM radio channels is one of the key aspects that obliged people to consider radio as one of the important entertainment media.

Hyderabad is a cosmopolitan city; people from different cultures and traditions stay and work in Hyderabad. Entertaining this diversified group of people is not that easy. But with the unique range of programs tailored to meet the tastes and interests of different people, FM radio became popular within a very short span. Let us drill down into this topic further and look at different factors which swayed Hyderabadis to tune into FM radio.

Availability of portable and affordable FM radio systems:

Besides, being available in pocket radios and small compact boxes with built-in speakers at an affordable price as low as Rs.100, FM radio is also available as an add-on application in every model of mobile phone, even in basic models. Thus, the availability, portability, and affordability made it popular among different groups of people. From housewives, small business owners, petty shops, students, to employees, all are frequent listeners of FM radio.

Radio is part of daily routine for many small businesses and households in the city.

Once tuned in, the owners of petty shops like hair cutting saloons, tailoring shops, beauty parlours, vegetable shops, etc., and also the drivers in APSRTC buses, cabs, and autos continuously listen to different programs until they log off from their jobs. Even for many housewives it is a favourite past time. For many students and employees who commute by city buses and personal vehicles to their workplaces, it is like a mobile entertainer. They listen to it on the way to their destinations and enjoy their journey.

Unique features of current gen Hyderabad FM radio:

Latest technology, quality of service, interesting programs, reaching a wider range of audience distinguished FM radios from the old ones. Now, let us see what the unique features of current generation FM radios are:

• Best company during long distance traveling!

Be it students or professionals, no one can escape long and tiresome journeys in Hyderabad. With most engineering colleges situated in the city outskirts, students have to spend more than 2 hours on their to and fro journey. Hence, it is quite common to see many students hooked on to their mobiles, listening to FM radio, during their journey. Even their college buses, can’t do without radios.

With most companies being situated near to the outer ring road, commuting for work takes not less than 3-4 hours, especially if the people are moving from one corner to the other corner of the city – Dilsukhnagar or Medchal to Hitech city. Hence, the only entertaining and lively company one can expect during such long distance traveling are the FM radios.

• Not just entertainment, functional and live updates too!

Traffic updates! Hyderabad traffic woes are atrocious – this is why most of the Hyderabadis even in their busiest schedules or in their serious mood will not forget to tune to FM radio. Traffic updates every 30 minutes are surely of great help to divert and take the easiest possible way.

Apart from the traffic updates, many of our FM channels offer a quick wrap up on different events, programs (schedules), the list of most important events and their venues in the city, news updates, score updates during cricket seasons – perfect to plan your day or weekend. Besides, there are news updates at least once in a day. Also, to know any sudden political update or important news, these FM radio stations are great sources to keep you on toes.

• Programs in sync with local flavour and with a touch of international and national flavour!

Any show that is just not a typical Urdu-Telugu mix-up, is hard to get noticed by Hyderabadis. Though, Hyderabadis are fans of all kinds of music, the conversations in a typical Urdu-Telugu-English mix slang appeal to Hyderabadis a lot, and importantly they reflect the cosmopolitan culture of Hyderabad. Besides Telugu, English and Hindi songs are also played.

Few shows like ‘Full to Bindaas’ in Red FM is purely dedicated to Hyderabad audiences who enjoy the native slang (Telangana Urdu-Telugu mix) of the RJ Prathika. Other shows such as, ‘Gabbar Sher’ in Radio City, which is a compilation of funny shayaris inspired from Hyderabadi Muslims, is a great hit equally among Hyderabadis as well as non-natives.

• Reaching out to listeners personally!

Participation of audience is always part of radio culture, but only the way they participate has changed now. Phone calls, e-mails have taken the place of letters. To request their favourite song or to comment on a topic or to have a casual talk with their favourite RJ, people find the direct interactive phone-in programs highly interesting.

Some of the popular shows:

Many innovative, entertaining as well as informational programs with unique concepts are being aired these days. If a few shows are a hit among the public for their concepts/ideas, few are because of the RJs. The following are successful in entertaining the Hyderabadis.