This is Vivalogo’s list of best free, downloadable, open source social networking software / scripts (kinda hard to say all these words 🙂 ).
Unlike some other lists you may find on the net, this one contains only really downloadable and functional software.
Note: listed in no particular order.

SocialEngine

SocialEngine is social networking software powered by PHP and Zend. The script lets you easily create your own social network or online community. Includes customizable groups, photo albums, messaging, member profiles, videos, news feeds, a drag-and-drop CMS, and more.

iSocial is a free social networking script platform that allows you to create your own Friendster and Orkut like sites. Use bookmarks, dating and create groups with just one mouse click.

Mahara is fully featured electronic portfolio, weblog, resume builder, and social networking system for connecting users and creating online communities.

This is a Social Network module for xoops CMS. You have seen Facebook, Orkut, Myspace , try Yogurt for Xoops!

Create Your Own Software, Free Software and More…

No programming required to create your own applications. Drag and Drop. Include web pages, word processor banners to cash in on your niche. Create re-brandable, database driven applications mean you can develop professional niche specific apps in a flash!

The PeopleAggregator

The PeopleAggregator is a next-generation social networking system that goes beyond the idea of social networks as mating games, and attempts to use open standards, network inter-connectivity and massive flexibility.

Appleseed

Appleseed is (augmented) social networking software, ie Friendster, only distributed. Sites running Appleseed will interoperate, and form the ‘Appleseed Social Network.’ Development is focused on privacy and security, as well as ease of configuration.

The Mugshot site lets you track what your friends are doing online across a variety of popular web crm, photos, blog posts, and more.

Web 2.0 bookmarking system, both social (with tags) and private (with folders). Import and export your bookmarks from Firefox, IE, Mozilla, Netscape. Admin management section, translations, groups, bookmarklets, Firefox extension, RSS feeds, and more!

spree

spree is an expert search engine where users ask questions to find other participating users, who are knowledgeable in that area and willing to help.

Akarru is a social bookmarking engine, is used to build social bookmarkings sites, like www.blogmemes.com. Users posts links and promote links to front page using voting system.

Scuttle

Web-based social bookmarking system. Allows multiple users to store, share and tag their favourite links online.

SemanticScuttle

SemanticScuttle is a social bookmarking tool (based on Scuttle) experimenting new features as hierarchical tags, collaborative descriptions or OpenID authentification.

AROUNDMe

Create collaborative social websites (like Ning, Myspace, Yahoo or Google groups). Each group can create a multiple web pages. They get a drop in guestbook, blog, forum and wiki. Each group is fully customizable using xHTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP.

Clonesumating

Clonesumating is the open source version of the code that runs CONSUMATING.COM. It features many state of the art social networking functions including user profiles, user tagging, matching and discovery based on quirky tag combinations, group activities such as weekly photo contests and blog questions, an event calendar, RSS feeds for everything, etc. It is written primarily in mod_perl.

BeWelcome Rox

Get to know the global village and other cultures, share your place. BW Rox is the platform driving www.bewelcome.org and other social networks, aiming to bring people together in real life. Organize your travel or stay abroad, travelblog, meetings, …

ICEcore open team collaboration software uses social networking to unify team workspaces w/ real-time web conferencing. Collaboration for knowledge networking, program management, communities-of-practice, telework, …

Memephage

Memephage is an automated web log (blog). It passively gathers and summarizes links from various places. Currently: IRC, social MUDs, e-mail, and web browsers. Uses the POE multitasking and networking framework for Perl.

InteractOLE

A platform for the delivery and support of online learning. It differs from many other elearning platforms in that its aim is to concentrate on the social/interactive aspects of teaching and learning rather than the delivery of content to students.

Elgg

Elgg is an open source social networking platform developed for LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) which encompasses weblogging, file storage, RSS aggregation, personal profiles, FOAF functionality and more.

CommunityNews

CommunityNews uses social bookmarking and bayesian techinques to provide periodic postings to blogs. Users can vote for or against RSS sources ti increase the chances that the source is used again. Spam filtering (bayesian) is provided by spam bayes.

OpenPNE

OpenPNE is a Social Networking Service Engine written in PHP. It has many features(friend control,friend invitation,diary,blog feeds,message box,etc).

MonkeyChow

Feed Aggregator Reader (branched from FeedOnFeeds) with Social Bookmarks (del.icio.us, Blogger, Newsvine, Technorati, mailto), Article Starring, Feed Tagging, OPML, Article Search, Reblogging and Refeeding, Aging, and Edit feed attributes.

NewsCloud

NewsCloud is an open source media platform for citizen journalism and the social news network hosted at NewsCloud.com.

Feed Me Links stores your bookmarks online so you can get to them anywhere. Import your favorites and share your links with friends. Add tags to organize your links. Discover new things.

A networking site on the lines of Orkut.Right now we plan to build it on Jboss seam and use a Java content management system like apache Jackrabbit as the backend. It would be more of a POC than an actual commercial app.

Zoints

Zoints is intimately aware that online communities are the most important aspect of the internet. Our free software solutions are designed to help solve the three major problems forum owners face: Member acquisition, Member retention and Profitability.

earth-life-simulation

A simulation of the world, there will be a global map representation and players can choose a country or civilization and develop it’s social, political and military existence.

PHPizabi

PHPizabi is one of the most powerful social networking platforms on the planet. With literally thousands of websites powered by PHPizabi including everything from simple friends sites to the most complex networking super sites out there.

Ozcode

Ozcode is the source code behind Ozmozr.com, a microformat-aware RSS aggregator, social networking, resource sharing, identity aggregation and presentation site.

Jamss

Jamss is a social news site based off of Digg.com. Jamss allows for peer submission and review of web articles and can be adapted to fit a variety of themes. Jamss runs on PHP/MySQL.

Ospo

Ospo is an opensource social portal project. It use standard function (add, remove friends, top10), forums integration, music module (artists directory with albums, songs), shoutcast integration, blog (add, delete, modify, view) and so on.

AstroSPACES

AstroSPACES is the world’s first open source social networking solution. Coded from scratch, it is highly efficient and very easy to use.

FlightFeather

FlightFeather’s goal is “social networking for everyone”. This means that anyone should have a chance to run a popular social networking site — on minimal hardware, and without wasting bandwidth.

S3B

S3B – Social Semantic Search and Browsing – is a middleware that delivers a set of search and browsing components that can be used in J2EE web applications to deliver user-oriented features based on semantic descriptions and social networking.

This is Vivalogo’s list of the best multimedia CMS. There are free, community versions and there are commercial versions. Most of them support not only videos, but music and photos …
Note: listed in no particular order.

WordPress + SmartVideoPlus

SmartVideoPlus is a free WordPress plugin released under GNU General Public License.
Some of the features: modal popups, related media, SE-friendly, …

It`s a free, open source script.
Some of the features: multilingual, embed and remote upload, fully based on FFMPEG, SQL injection free, groups, …

Some of the features: multi-language, embed videos (manually) from other websites, video upload progress bar, recently viewed videos carousel, community, private messages, friends, …

Vidiscript

It`s probably one of the most powerful free media sharing community script available online today.
Some of the features: brand your videos, pre and post roll ads, slow motion, community, …

PhpMotion

PHPmotion is a free video sharing software that also has support for other types of media such as audio/mp3 sharing.
Some of the features: support for many formats including (mpg, avi, divx and more), video upload progress bar, groups, profiles, friends, …

MediaScripts Social Media

Some of the features: forum integration, mobile phone upload (MMS), audio swap (embers can change the audio of their uploaded videos), “media plugs”, blogs, groups, playlists, ajaxified, …

Website Multi Media System (WMMS)

The Website Multi Media System (WMMS) puts the power and functionality of the multi-million video sharing website at the fingertips of the average website owners. It allows users to upload Video, Audio, and Images to your website. It serves as Website Video Software, Website Video Uploader, Website Image Uploader, Website Audio Converter, Website Image Uploader.

vShare

It`s a decent and very affordable script.
Some of the features: search engine friendly, sort video listings by ID, title, duration, featured or date uploaded, reCaptha, bulk video import from youtube, …

Media Share Suite

Some of the features: search engine friendly URLs, audios, images, videos, members, tags, …

Rayzz

Video broadcasting combined with social networking and community features.
Some of the features: videos being watched now, adjustable sidebar menus, play lists, statistics video views graph, managing embedding, forum integration, …

Vidsharepro

It`s a video sharing script, but also allows anyone to sell digital as well as physical products.
Some of the features: upload progress bar, integrated shopping cart system, messaging system, brandable player, …

TopMediaScript

Pretty modular and feature rich.
Some of the features: multi language, lots of AJAX, host multiple media types including video, images, music, embed codes, and text, thumbnails can be auto generated, …

MediaMax

Media Sharing Script to share video, audio/music and pictures.
Some of the features: multilingual, ajax, supports video, picture and audio, ads, …

MyMediaScript

Some of the features: chat, ads, …

OsTube

Probably one of the most serious video sharing and multimedia community solutions.
Some of the features: supports videos, sounds and photos, videos automatically converted into flv, brandable (widescreen) media player, thumbnails generated by best scale, graphical display of media uploads, search engine-friendly URLs, …

ShareMixer

Sharemixer is a good video sharing script, and there is a special $100 offer for Clipshare owners to migrate to Sharemixer.
Some of the features: multi-language, video ads, full unicode support, fully AJAX-ified, High Definition video support, import videos from YouTube, embed videos from other sites, paid subscriptions, …

AlstraSoft Video Share Enterprise

You can use as a platform to share videos, music and pictures.
Some of the features: audio sharing module, real-time video conversion, flash ads plugin, supports more than 20 video formats, messaging, …

VideoWatch Pro

You can not only share videos, but also create channels, video series and lots more.
Some of the features: multiple languages, series spotlight, categories, upload progress bar, multi-search, in-video text advertisements, …

PrismoTube

It`s a YouTube Api PHP Script. Some of the features: millions of videos dynamically from YouTube, smarty, skinnable flash player, video ads plugin (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll), …

PHPMelody

It`s a nice video sharing script. Some of the features: SEO friendly, multi-language support, custom player & video watermarking, video ads, 16 video sources to import from, lights off.

The financial market of today is very aggressive and that’s why entrepreneurs thrive on their unique innovations so much. Some even believe that innovations are like a raw business that can be materialized by business angels. Plenty of business people generally wait until a good business idea comes their way. Individuals have overestimated the value of business innovations and sometimes anticipate a lot from a common idea. This is the reason some of the business owners are scared of unveiling or sharing their business ideas as other business people or traders will steal it.

The answer to this burning query is “not really’. The apparent cause for it is that almost all investors don’t have time. Dealers are generally not interested in getting a good suggestion from one person and accomplishing it with someone else. Angel investors mostly collect money and invest in the project with some expected returns. The really hard endeavor is to search for those valuable initiatives.

 
We realize the effort you need to come up with a distinctive idea is mind boggling however again it is the price tag that you pay for the proposal to be executed. Then again comes the panic of other business people copying your proposal. Once again we would say it’s very unlikely; reading about a investor business plan and accomplishing it are two notably different things. The particulars can be a lot more than what they appear on paper.

 
Constantly bear in mind that a person would require a team of experts to implement your business idea and some competencies which many others might lack. So pay attention to your squad rather than just the idea. However, if you wish you can refrain from giving away commercial secrets and techniques, and business ideas. But take into consideration that once your innovative idea or product is in the market, competitors will follow up.

 
So altogether, you can admit that compared to just attaining and safe-guarding your suggestion, make an effort to pitch it appropriately to angel investors so that you can look forward to getting it transpired sooner or later. This could not only provide you appreciations but also somehard earned cash in the bank.

It is necessary for every professional organization to have a spot where the individuals of that institution can eat and relax in their break time. An appropriate spot is required for the reason since it allows the staff to catch on the decreasing energy levels and it also might be really advantageous for those businesses that require doing the job over night or late nights. It can be a good social spot for the employees during their break time.

In any café and dining spot there should be proper office furniture to make it fitting and relaxing spot at work for employees. In this post we are going to cover what elements a comfortable rest area or café and dining spot need to have. Continue reading and in the fore coming paragraphs you will find five things that could be a part of café area of an office or any workplace.

Number of Tables & Chairs – You cannot think about a dining area without proper number of chairs and tables. In the course of the break employees need to rest and eat, for all this comfortable chairs and tables are essential. With the mutual consent of management, satisfactory number of chairs and tables must really be positioned out in the dining area.

Cabinets & Closet – Mostly personnel bring their meal boxes, bags as well as other important possessions to work, particularly if they’ve longer shifts. They definitely need to keep those items in a place safely. Cabinets and closets in dining area can provide that objective ideally. There wouldn’t be hassle of becoming concerned about possessions while you perform the job and you can obtain them during your break.

Frozen Product Storage area – Fridge is a basic necessity for storage of frozen or cold food items. Plenty of people for their lunchtime bring cold items to the office or like to store their food items in a colder spot where it could be saved from going bad. You need to definitely assign an area for storage of such food products.

TV Stand – There should be an area selected specifically for safe-keeping of T.V, despite the fact it’s additional luxury but many employers facilitate their workers with it. In the event that your organization decides, then you should get a T.V stand to safely store it or you can decide to go for a wall mountable type.

Ventilated Area – Lastly, it’s definitely imperative that your café and eating spot is well ventilated and if not, make sure you put in fans and a window or two. Café and dining area might possibly be incomplete without vending machines, microwaves; so give a place and proper storing area for them.

The above five things can jointly produce an excellent café and eating area of any work institute. Remember to seek the consent of your company’s HR division to agree on the budget for them. You could choose from the wide variety of Office Furniture Reading and go with something elegant for your own company too.

It doesn’t matter what type of a business the person runs, there’s constantly the demand for sending out letters and packages. There are plenty of companies available on the web that are more than eager to assist you with your business so as to provide you the suitable type of mailroom equipment and start for you the right kind of mailing solutions. The trick is to look for the right company and the right kind of mailroom equipment which you absolutely need and would use around your office. Allow me to share the top 5 pieces of mailroom equipment that are essential for all businesses.

1) A dressing machine– dressing machines aren’t a really expensive piece of mailroom and are a lot quicker and more accurate than your typical printer. It could print addresses on the envelopes in portion of the time as compared to a standard printer.

2) Folding Machine– A folding machine is utilized to fold paper into different sizes to make sure it can be inserted in the envelope easily. You can certainly fold large number of papers of varied sizes within just only a few minutes with little or no human supervision required.

3) Banding Machines– These machines are very great for businesses which use bulk mailing. These machines take paper strips and band envelopes together at the middle. By banding mail, it is easier for the postal carrier and it makes it possible for the business to group like places together.

4) Mail Inserter- This fourth piece of mailroom equipment is significant, it saves a great deal of time and money for the business owner due to the fact that mail inserting used to obtain a large amount of time and a large amount of labor but now because of mail inserter, you don’t need to worry about any such thing because it will do all of the work for you in portion of that time period and cost.

5) Envelope Sealer– Now that the envelope has been addressed, the paper folded, banded and the mail inserted, now comes the time for wrapping up the envelope so that it would be arranged and ready to send. No sticky glue mess or anything to struggle with, the envelope sealer will take care of it all.

Everyday larger numbers of people are opting for such machinery as their prime mailroom solutions basically because they save time and money in the long run. The trick is to research and buy the right brand of mailroom equipment, the one that provides an effective warranty as well.

Contract hires is a somewhat unusual word for motorcar rentals. To accurately grasp it, let’s take a look at both the words one after the other. A contract is a type of agreement and a legally obligating document which is produced between 2 or more individuals or parties which have the goal to enter into a legal contract which also has legal consequences. Hire is the process of obtaining something that is run by someone else and paying a determined quantity in order to use that auto or property. For that reason, a contract hire or business contract hire can be described as a situation where the motor vehicle leasing companies rent out their motor vehicles at fixed amounts. Let’s have a quick look at the paperwork associated with renting contract hires.

The two parties between whom the full agreement occurs are the lender and the lessee. Sole proprietors and partnership companies are some of the most regular clients of this type of motor vehicle rental. The terms and stipulations in the agreements vary from company to company based on their requirements, projected usage and timeframe of contract. There is a good bit of negotiation involved and they don’t always consistently revolve around the cost. There are plenty of elements to consider such as vehicle maintenace and repair, insurance and turnaround.

Usually, there is no alternative party needed, however there are regulatory bodies that if needed or required can assist and supervise the entire process in order enhance the performance of the business contract hire and to be certain all contractual obligations are being met by both parties. This regulatory body is primarily responsible for observing the rules and regulations in order to increase the productiveness. All parties must conform to the rules and regulations in order to establish smooth operation otherwise they will be forced to face penalties.

If you’re business relates to transportation, then contract hire fleet management is a very simple and financially conceivable option to opt for. It is excellent for small and or established businesses that are working with a restrained budget.

Everybody wishes to get monetary savings whether or not they are an office clerk or the CEO of a huge agency. When it comes to purchasing office equipment, business entrepreneurs start panicking since they don’t find many alternatives to save cash on their typical office equipment purchase. However, there are a few ways how one can save their hard earned cash on almost every office equipment they want to buy. Below you will learn about them;

Try To Search for Your Required Equipment On the web

The first tip I would personally wish to give you is that you try to find office equipment online. Seeking office equipment on the web will give you a number of benefits. Firstly, you won’t need to deal with sales people and their words about how awesome their mailroom equipment is and exactly how cheap they’re giving it to you. This would take place because you will have the choice to visit a multitude of websites and evaluate all of them with others before making the concluding decision. Second of all, there are lots of discount rates running on the online outlets just like some physical stores have and all you need to do is to find such stores and reduce costs.

Refurbished Equipment Isn’t As Bad As You Think

If you are among the people who think that refurbished office equipment isn’t steadfast, it’s time you make a clever move. You can do so by figuring out that office equipment has to be properly working no matter if it’s used or new. Haven’t you seen those mailroom machinery in the workplaces that have been running over the years? I personally possess an envelope printing machine which has been up and running since last 2 decades. So you can certainly purchase reconditioned equipment for your office and save great money on it. Although it would require you some dedication to find the perfect equipment but it would be worth the hassle.

Read the Local Newspapers

Truth be told, magazines still protect us from great hassle now and then. A year ago I opened up a new firm branch and got my hands on just about every single office equipment. I was very anxious about how was I going to find everything and at cheap costs when a friend suggested me to check the daily paper. As I went through the sections where regular people sell their second hand equipment I found what I was seeking. A businessman was relocating out to another state and advertising all of his office equipment. As a result, I purchased all of it at a low price and by no means regretted the decision. You will discover such offers in the paper most especially if you are lucky, you ll receive only the stuff you desire.

Thus, if you want to find the very best office equipment for your office at cost effective prices, it is best to follow the pointers mentioned previously. In doing so, you’ll be able to safeguard great money on your office equipment procurement.

It really has been observed that lots of corporations flop not necessarily in the preliminary phases however in the final phases where implementation is necessary alongside proper attention as well as attention. Starting a company is easy but to run is much more challenging than most people know. A number of companies moreover undertake leadership development programmes to assist their core administrators as well as executioners conscious of precisely what is expected of them and ways to fulfill those particular expectations.

At the much larger scale, an efficient venture is not only accomplished by putting the liability of implementation of corporate goals on leaders only. It should to be spread evenly. In this particular post we’ll point out just how faster implementation may be achieved in business.

Know Your Goal and ways to accomplish it – In case you are on the senior level of the company management, be sure that every person collaborating with you is aware of company’s goal. They must furthermore know just how that goal can be carried out and you should map out achievement designs collectively to come to a communal way out. Make certain to break the objective into smaller targets to achieve.

Learn Your Competitors and obtain Most suitable Individuals in Top Management – It would be very imperative that you learn the business model as well as execution of your rivals. This can help you understand the goof ups to protect yourself from that your contenders made. Seek to get the best and also talented people in top management with capability to take serious and enormous decisions.

Don’t Say No to Criticism and also Monitor the Progress – A firm cannot excel when it doesn’t take heed to what things others have to say. This is the reason just be sure you are open for feedback from the recruits and clients. At the same time keep watch over the progress to pay attention in case the business strategy plan is being completed properly.

Share Success Credit with every body and also Celebrate Milestone – Don’t become a scrooge at appreciating what others did for your company. Bestow tribute of success to every person who pushed closer to it and attempt to celebrate achieved goal.

Don’t Drag Bad Customers along with the Company – Several companies in many cases fail to recognize they tend to have bad clients and are not even willing to let them go! If you’ve got negative customer then you certainly really should be ready say goodbye to them, as they definitely could be obligation on your firm and won’t ever end up an advantage. A business development company will allow you to to distinguish those negative clients.

By following the above your company will be soon on the road of fast execution and you will achieve multiple goals, one after another. A serious approach towards all the above will not only earn you higher profits but a team of loyal employees too.

Are you looking to help you nephew open a restaurant but don’t have the adequate resources? Are your pension pot and other investments not enough to foot the bill? If so, you can try taking out the equity release plan. The financial product is a mortgage scheme that allows homeowners to unlock the equity¹ tied up in their home by turning it into a cash lump sum or monthly income. It’s targeted towards homeowners within the remits of the UK, those aged 55 and above, and those whose residences are worth more than €70,000. With technological advancements today, you can quickly check how much equity you can take by using the interest-only equity release calculator.

Understanding the Interest-Only Lifetime Mortgage

Equity release plans offer you two options: the lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans. The lifetime mortgage allows you to unlock capital from your estate and you repay the loan when you either die or move into permanent care. It also offers you various options, including the voluntary repayment plan, income lifetime mortgage and interest-only mortgage scheme. The interest-only mortgage allows you to pay up the interest due monthly – meaning that the size of your mortgage repayments doesn’t shoot up. So, if you’re concerned about interest rolling up² on your mortgage plan, It’s your best bet.

It also allows you to keep as much equity in your estate as possible, thus enabling you to maximize the inheritance you’ll pass on to your family. It’s mostly popular with homeowners who can’t get a conventional mortgage upon retirement since the scheme works similarly to the residential interest-only mortgage. The loan-to-valuation formula of the mortgage plan is centred on the youngest proprietor’s age and the market value of your estate. Thus, the older you are, the more capital you can unlock since your life expectancy is low.

The interest-only mortgage plan also features a few essential elements that differentiate it from other equity release schemes. It enables you only to clear off the interest so that the amount you owe is the initial amount borrowed, thus it doesn’t go up or down. It doesn’t have an upper age limit, and it lets you build your retirement finances with the fixed-rate option. The scheme also allows you to continue residing in your estate. Still, the on-going interest will be added to your debt from then, thus efficiently becoming a roll-up lifetime mortgage.

Another impressive feature about this scheme is that when you continually repay the interest off your loan, it’ll help you maintain a level mortgage balance. You’ll only refund the initial amount you borrowed once the life of the mortgage ends. If you plan on moving to another estate, you can move the interest-plan across, subject to the estate meeting your plan provider’s conditions.

Since their establishment, interest-only lifetime mortgage plan providers were only required to ensure they’re affordable and so homeowners were needed to provide proof of income. Nonetheless, with market variations and noteworthy alterations in the set laws, the Financial Conduct Authority³ turned this rule around, and now you don’t have to go through any rigorous income or affordability checks.

Many people rave about this financial plan because it also allows you to pick your level of contribution. With proper guidance from your financial advisor, you can get to make a smart decision since this can have a significant impact on the inheritance you leave for your family. So, you don’t have to worry about financing your nephew’s sea fish restaurant since equity release has your back. If you haven’t taken a scheme out yet, hurry and get to your financial advisor today!

When your pet vacuum cleaner breaks down, it can be time-consuming and costly finding and getting a professional to fix it. Most vacuum cleaner issues are simple to fix if you know what you’re doing. If your pet vacuum isn’t picking up the dirt and pet hair as it used to them, you can check out this comprehensive guide and see if you can have a go at fixing the vacuum cleaner by yourself.

Poor Suction

If your vacuum cleaner isn’t offering you powerful suction capabilities, start by replacing the vacuum bag. If either of the dust cups is too full, air can’t pass through the device and suction will be affected. If you try doing this and the vacuum doesn’t fully restore pickup, make sure you check for a clogged hose.

You can disconnect the hose from the hoover, stretch it out and drop a penny down into it. If the penny doesn’t come out the other end, then it means you have a clog. You can use a broom or a mop handle to remove and push out the clog.

If you can’t disconnect the vacuum hose on both ends, try disconnecting one end, stretch out the hose and then turn the vacuum cleaner to try to suck the clog into the hoover then reattach the hose.

Brush Roll Issues

If your brush roll has tangled strands of thread and pet hair, make sure that you get scissors and an agile seam riper and get rid of the hair. If your brush roll doesn’t turn, then it means that the belt is stretched or broken. What’s incredible is that you can quickly replace the belt by simply removing the bottom plate.

Vacuum Won’t Operate

If the thermal protector, the element that the keeps the vacuum cleaners motor from overheating and burning out (it happens when the clog gets caught in the nozzle or opening the vacuum bag) then turn off the cleaner and then disconnect it from the outlet.

Get rid of the obstruction and then wait at least 30 minutes for the protector to cool off. Some vacuum cleaners might also require you to press a button to reset it while others will do so automatically.

In as much as most repairs are straightforward, maintaining your vacuum cleaner properly will prevent break downs and clogs. So, ensure that you always:

• Replace the vacuum bag or empty it regularly before it’s ¾ full
• Replace and wash the filters
• Gently pull the cord from the wall and then rewind it in to keep it from tangling
• Clean the brushes regularly
• Carefully replace attachments and adjust levers and the dials to keep the vacuum cleaner’s plastic parts from breaking

Vacuum cleaners don’t require much, by ensuring that you keep it safely stored and using it as instructed, you can use them for over five years. If it, however, breaks down, and you have a warranty, ensure that you visit the manufacturer and avoid doing any DIY repairs, in case you end up making the issue worse.

Moreover, if you have future breakdowns that require a technician’s touch and you had previously repaired the vacuum by yourself, the manufacturer won’t consider your warranty, and you’ll end up paying hefty maintenance fees.

While it may be a little early in the year for tax talk for some, I personally believe that it is never a bad time to plan or even talk about taxes. Today, I happened to see a tweet linking to an article on Kiplinger’s Website for a section called 10 Ways To Lower Your Taxes. I read it and was left wondering, first if the editors fact check this information since the author, Kimberly Lankford does not have anything regarding an accounting or tax background on her mini-bio (and no, I am not taking a shot at her personally) and secondly, why the entire story is not told about such deductions. Articles like these, whether in financial magazines or on blogs geared toward personal financial topics seem to be guilty of stating a deduction, and then summarizing them without going into full detail including the drawbacks and limitations. Below, I will mention just a few of the most common deductions that are mentioned which I feel need to be explained a bit further, and not all simply from a tax standpoint .

Selling off investments that have lost value: This is a very bad idea right from the start. The first reason is that you can only offset $3,000 of income after countering capital gains with the losses. It would make sense if the advice was to sell enough losers to first wipe out any gains you may have had, and then just enough to reach the $3,000 limit. You get no bonus points for carrying a loss forward, and there is no guarantee that you will even have any gains in the following years in order to use up and loss carry-forwards. Simply because you want to save a little bit on your tax bill now is a terrible reason to sell stocks or funds that are down. The second reason why it is a bad ideas is because there was a purpose behind investing in certain fund or individual stocks, and unless that purpose has changed, there is no need to dump it for a small benefit today. If the purpose of the purchase was because of the high dividend yield, then you will be giving up an even higher yield since the price is now lower but the rate is either the same or higher.
Giving to charities: This is another one that confuses me. To begin with, you can only take a deduction if you itemize, and that is a fact that escapes many people. If you are looking to lower your tax bill, especially if it is due to the fact that you need the extra money in the refund, then why would you spend money to save even less on your return? It is counter-intuitive. It is one thing to donate because you want to and can afford to, but if you are in such dire straits that you need to scratch and claw for every penny you can get back on your return then donating to charity is not the way to go about finding those extra pennies. Also, what many advice articles do not mention is that the IRS has established guidelines for what are reasonable amounts of donations based on income levels, and anything above those figures may flag the return for a potential audit. All will be fine if everything you reported is on the up and up (and not just when it comes to the donations), but if not you better be able to come up with a pretty good rationale for why you did report what you did or else face not only paying the tax that would have been due had the correct numbers been used, but also penalties and interest are attached. Worse yet, once you are audited and found to be guilty of falsifying your return or abusing certain privileges, you will then be on the IRS watch list, and no one wants to be in that position.
Prepaying mortgage : This is a simple one to explain. Very plainly, the IRS has established guidelines that state that a deduction can only be claimed for the portion of the expense that was allocated to the current year. In plain English that means if you pay your January mortgage in December, the 1098 will only contain the interest that was paid and applied up until December 31. If you report more and try to justify that you are including it due to the fact that you made the payment in the current year, guess what: you’re wrong. Since the interest portion of your payment was originally allocated to the next year, you are disallowed from claiming it early.
Real estate taxes: Another pretty simple one. You cannot claim any deduction unless it was paid in the current year. Everyone knows that the assessments are sent out in August or September and that the bill goes out in November, but just because you were issued a bill does not allow you the right to claim the deduction. You must have physically paid the taxes by December 31 of the current year in order to get the deduction. There is a bright side, however, and if for some reason you do not have the ability to pay that bill in the current year, you are permitted to claim the deduction in the following year when you do finally pay it.
Buying a home is a great tax write-off: I’m not sure where to even begin. Many people, particularly the frugal will tell you that buying a home simply for the mortgage and real estate tax deduction is a horrible idea. Beside the fact that you will generally take on a great deal of debt, certain other factors come into play. If you happen to buy into an area that has a homeowners association, or if you purchase a condo, you will have to pay association fees which are not deductible. Then you have guidelines by which you must follow in regard to upkeep and appearance such as: lawn maintenance, cleanliness of the sidewalks and roof, replacing damaged portions of the visible domicile (ie: driveway and roof). And, in order to even receive the deduction for the real estate taxes, you must (as was mentioned previously) actually pay them, and this is one of the top areas in which people underestimate or even exclude from their budget when considering a home purchase. If you can afford to do so, then a home certainly does provide many tax breaks, although the breaks alone do not justify making such a large investment.
College/post-secondary expenses: This may be one of the more difficult deduction to figure out, especially since there are multiple deductions to choose from and the rules are about to change. But one thing is very clear: not every expense is allowed in the calculation of qualified expenses. Tuition and associated fees are the only costs that are deductible, or to put it another way, only those costs that you pay to matriculate and sit in a class are deductible. So what does that leave as non-deductible? Well, pretty much everything else: Room and board (including meal plans even though most freshman are required to buy them) or costs of living (if off campus); transportation fees; student life fees (sports and activities fees); books, supplies and lab fees, insurance and medical expenses. Unfortunately, that is the way it is, and equally unfortunate is the fact that this distinction is often left out of the discussion on the topic giving taxpayers false hope for a large deduction.
Again, this is just a list of the more common deductions that are not often fully explained. Almost every deduction has limitations of some sort, but many of the other major ones get full attention when it comes to their discussion. The only thing you can do is to educate yourself to the best of your ability on the ones that apply to you, or pay an experienced professional to prepare your taxes and know that in most instances, they have a much better understanding of the tax code and will get you the deductions that you truly qualify to take and save you the risk of being audited by ignoring the ones that you have no business even going near.

Generally, I tend to find many of the articles on MSN Money either too narrow-sighted or overly-simplistic. Today, however, Jeff Schnepper wrote a very interesting article called Should You Do Your Own Taxes? which I found very different. It wasn’t one of those entries about how anyone can do their own taxes as long as they have all of the documentation needed and a piece of software. At the same time, it wasn’t one of those pieces that downplays the ability for people to do their own taxes while calling for the need to use a professional. Instead, this article speaks to the rational side of people: calling on them to take the time to truly assess whether or not they can handle this important task on their own.

This isn’t a review of the article, but Mr. Schnepper makes the point that it isn’t about what you know, but rather what you don’t know (as well as what you think you know, but actually do not) about taxes that is the key to making the decision to bring in a professional tax preparer. The problem here, is that many people do not know about many items contained in the US tax code that pertain to their individual circumstances, and that is the dangerous part. If you do not keep up with tax code changes you will never know that your previous understanding was either correct or incorrect. What’s more, is that by the time you find out the truth, it may actually be too late.

I’ve never been a big proponent of tax software or tax services, simply due to the fact that there is no relationship involved with either. Once the tax return is done and submitted to the IRS, that is the end of the “relationship”. The way I approach my clients and business is more of an ongoing relationship than a task that has a specific start/end date or a specific goal such as filing a tax return. I view it as being a vital step to find out as much as possible about clients to be able to provide the most accurate and targeted advice possible. It isn’t just about the hard numbers, but about goals, plans, and emotions. Storefront tax services and software packages simply cannot provide the kind of on-going advice and planning, not to mention emotional support that a live person who is available all year round can provide; it is simply not what their main concerns are.

In the past I have said that for simply preparing a return, out-of-the-box software programs will do the job nicely. On the other hand, I will never back the use of storefront tax preparation services (and will not even give them the benefit of mentioning any names) that require nothing more than a 69 hour crash course in tax theory in order to gain employment with them. Not only do they pay low rates to the preparers (commensurate with the lack of knowledge and experience) but many also pay commissions based on the number of returns prepared which is also not the best business practice since it promotes quantity over quality.

Each person is entitled to choose which is the best way to get their taxes done, and there really is no right or wrong answer unless upon later review the return was discovered to be incorrect. The best choice is the informed choice, so read through the article, the links contained within (which are very informative as well), and any other resource you can find to make the best decision for yourself. And remember, if you are not completely comfortable with the outcome, you generally have 3 years from the original tax filing deadline for file an amended return. If you end up deciding going with a professional tax preparer in the future, be sure to ask if they will do a free review of the previous years tax return. Many do not, but like me, I’m sure there are some out there who will do it for free in an effort to best serve the client.

For many, it is a time of dread due to their lack of organization when it comes to saving receipts and related documents, for others it is a time of joy since they will be getting their planned refund to finance the family vacation. Some people have a tax preparer that they trust and have been with for years. Most likely, I am not speaking to them with this message. No, this message is for those who is searching for the right person to handle the task of preparing their taxes.

During this time, you will hear commercials for the popular national chains on the radio and see them on tv, read about the local guys on craigslist.com or in your local paper, and even hear about a “friend of a friend” who’s sister used this guy out of an “office” with the shades drawn who got them a huge refund that was more than they thought was possible. Unfortunately, there are plenty of unscrupulous folks out there that will mislead/misguide you, pay no real attention to you, or simply do a horrible job. Now, there is no perfect way to find out about a person/company, since as of now, there is no licensing requirements to be a tax preparer, but there are steps that you can take to ensure that you are getting someone qualified, and the best way is to ask questions. (Below I have also posted some interesting links from craigslist.com which I found to be very scary)

First and foremost, ask what kind of qualifications the actual preparer has (especially if you are going to a franchise). Ask about the education of the preparer, the nature of their primary career (whether or not they have a background in accounting or tax law) how long they have been preparing returns, and the complexity of the returns they have experience with. This ad is for Liberty Tax Service which extends possible employment after taking a short, free course|
This ad is for an unnamed entity which prefers experience, but will hire and train
Here is another Liberty Tax Service ad, which offers employment after a one week course
This one is good. They have no mention of qualifications needed yet want applicants to tell them why they are the best choice to join this “award winning” team.
This last one doesn’t even care about experience as they will train you, but made sure to mention no vulgarities

There is no way that anyone should be entrusted to touch another person’s taxes after only having a week’s worth of training. Especially important is when using the franchises, who are notorious for using inexperienced preparers, but they also tend to hire people who are doing this as a supplementary income source and may not put as much care and effort into your return.
Another crucial question to ask is how the preparer will be paid. Accountants who prepare taxes within a firm are almost always strictly on a salary. They get paid the same rate regardless of how many returns are prepared or how much the billings run. On the flip side, I have noticed that many ads looking for tax preparers are offering only commissions or are a low salary/bonus situation like the ads belowThis ad lists payment as only commission, but at least they want experience
This ad pays prepares a lowly salary while offering unknown incentives, but again, at least they look for experience
Here’s one that offers a 15% commission on the amount invoiced
This method of payment practice doesn’t seem very ethical to me (just a personal view). It suggests that the company is only interested in volume. When volume is a primary concern, the speed with which the returns are prepared is paramount to the quality with which they are prepared. That might bode well for the individual preparer and for the company, but for the taxpayer, it is dangerous.

Don’t forget to ask about the company pricing policies, either. It is just as important to understand and be comfortable with how much you are going to have to pay before you get invoiced (which is generally upon delivery of the completed product). Every firm has a different way of charging for their services: by the hour, by the project as a whole, by the project broken down by additional schedule. Whatever the method, anyone charging too little should be second-guessed just as much as someone charging what appears to be too much. Don’t be afraid to call around and ask for quotes, even if they aren’t exact, as well as go in and meet people in person to see what kind of feeling you get.
Overall, there is more than simply the cost that should go into your decision as to who and where you get your taxes prepared. In my personal experience, you will pretty much get what you pay for. If you pay a little, you will get shoddy service both on the return as well as follow-up treatment. If you pay what seems to be an exorbitant fee, you are most likely paying for more than just a tax return but not receiving any value in exchange. Some preparers are not very friendly, and are all about business, while others will talk your ear off and make you wonder if they ever get around to doing any actual work. The choice ultimately comes down to who makes you feel the most comfortable, but no matter what direction you choose to go, having as much information as possible will help you make the best choice.

Everyone has them, the customer who doesn’t ever pay on time (or even at all), or maybe one that is never satisfied no matter what is done for them. It is a common theory that 80% of income comes from the top 20% of clients and that you should simply cut loose anyone that you deem to be problematic, or ”not worth it”. However, there is an alternative option to dumping them outright: help them!

One way in which you can do this is, in the case of the customers who are always behind in paying their bills, is to find out why this is a common occurance. Perhaps they have cash flow issues, or are simply not organized and cannot get out from the hole they have dug for themselves. Offer to get them in contact with your own accountant to help them resolve the financial issues, or if you know a business coach (or consultant) offer to pass along the customer’s information so that they can get the assistance they need.

While it may seem on the surface that these “problem” customers are just that, they may just be misunderstood or frustrated with their own situations and passing along that frustration on to you. It may turn out that they simply needed to get their internal affairs in order before addressing the external issues. In time, they may prove to be grateful for your understanding and assistance, and even move up into the that top 20% of your customer list or higher.

So far today, I have seen 2 clients and each of them had serious issues with organization. They are both bright, and quite successful, yet have deficiencies when it comes to planning and staging.

The first client is a CPA, and her office is in constant disarray. She has a long U-shaped desk as well as a small conference table and a 5-shelf, 72″x24″ bookcase yet there is never enough space because papers a thrown haphazardly throughout the office. She had explained to me that some tax planning had gone missing, and that it was a 4 day project which could not be billed twice. We went and borrowed a label maker, and began sectioning off the bookcase so that people would know just where to put things without adding to the confusion. We also sent an e-mail to the office staff to please not place things on the conference table or chairs and to kindly hold onto items if they were not sure which section of the bookcase to leave them. We proceeded to get all of the accessories off of the top of the desk and into drawer sorters and placed stacking tray on the desk for items such as incoming faxes/mailings, urgent items, and inter-office communications. Although she was still unable to locate her documents, going forward it will be much easier to keep orgainzed and find everything since everything now has a place.

The second client is a realtor and property manager. Her office is relatively well organized, and nothing seems to have been sitting around long enough to have been from the last century. However, she needed my services because her accounting bill has skyrocketed recently and she needed help bringing it back down to a manageable range. So why did she call me; did she think my firm was going to be able to offer a better rate? No, but because the reason for her increasing bills was due to her sending in incomplete source documents, and the accountant having to track down the information from both her and her bank. It is simply a case of not having the proper plan in place for submitting the month-end information. We sat down, and created a checklist of all the things that she needs to get over to the accountant’s office at month’s end. This way, each month she will see what is required and her accountant won’t have to run all over the place trying to track down statements and records.

What it all boils down to is that being organized doesn’t only mean being neat. It means having a plan, keeping order in your spaces, and properly maintaining these things. Not only will you be able to become more productive, and efficient (as well as less stressed), but by simplifying your work life, you wind up being able to accomplish more, therby earning more while spending less in the long run.