brass Blog

Today, blogging can be a business, and anyone with internet access can become a blogger–therein lies the beauty of the medium… and the rub.

I enjoy reading blogs for their spontaneity and wit. I love checking out Strobist, a popular photography blog, for potential ideas for brass shoots and my own work. Blogs have also proven to be a resource for journalism too; a CNN blog, for example, lets reporters share their first-hand accounts of stories behind the headlines and soundbites.

Bloggers who take things seriously have fought hard for mainstream recognition–and for the same rights and legal protections afforded to traditional print journalists. These protections are known as “Shield Laws.” There is no federal standard, but many states have enacted their own. You can check out what laws apply to journalists in your state.

But, for bloggers, with this recognition and protection comes the same level of responsibility expected of all journalists. The power of the First Amendment stops the moment you infringe upon another person’s rights. Simply put, bloggers who don’t get it and make blatantly false statements are increasingly being sued for libel.

It’s good to understand that any blog rant, positive or negative, still equates to making a public statement. And if blogs fall under the category of public print domain, then libel laws apply. Want to know more about libel? Check out the definition. Bloggers and aspiring internet journalists take note: if you find yourself on the business end of a libel suit, check out this article on how you can defend yourself.

Anyway, for all you bloggers out there–small time or big time–you never know who’s clicking in, so watch what you say. Or just make sure what you say is true, because “truth is the best defense against libel.”

–Peter

Planning on a vacation? Are you sure? If you’re considering putting off visiting grandma or that trip to Cabo, you’re not alone. According to the Travel Industry Association, travelers put off 41 million trips in the last year. That’s $9 billion in revenue for airlines, $6 billion for hotels, and $3 billion for restaurants. The study suggests that it’s the deteriorating air travel system that has people skipping trips. On the other hand, with fewer people taking trips, maybe now is the time to visit the friendly skies.

Where ever you are, I hope you’re enjoying your summer vacation (if you get one). Check out our Summer Sparks series for summer-fun ideas.

–Jennie

When I pull into the gas station, I usually steel myself mentally to drop at least 60 bucks on filling up. I’m all about trying to limit my driving, but I have wedding photography gigs to get to on most weekends this time of year. With at least 160 miles to travel round trip on average, not to mention couples counting on me, walking, biking or carpooling just isn’t an option.

As I filled up the other day, watching the dollars fly by, I wondered where this $4-something per gallon cost comes from. I did a little research, and I wanted to share what I found with all of you. Check it out.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, as of June 2008, this is how the price at the pump breaks down.

• 74 percent of what you pay comes from the cost of oil
• 10 percent goes to taxes
• 9 percent to pay for refining
• 7 percent to distribution and marketing

The numbers are slightly different for diesel.

This means that about $44 of the $60 I pay at the pump come directly from the price of oil. You’ve probably seen the daily deluge of news reports of oil at or near record highs. We may be at the mercy of the pump, but we can at least drive smart and save some cash. The Department of Energy offers a list of energy-conserving tips. Also check out the new popular gas-saving technique called hypermiling.

Thinking about switching to a more fuel friendly ride? Check out this Ask brass answer.

–Peter

Welcome to Summer Sparks, our quick-hitting series on cash-saving deals and fun stuff for summer. We hope these posts will spark some summer fun ideas of your own.

For those looking for a cheap vacation spot this summer, instead of booking a pricey plane ticket to a distant isle, it’s easy to find an equally beautiful destination right here in the U.S. of A.

The National Park Service maintains 58 national parks (and 333 other sites) spanning every state and most territories in the U.S. (besides Delaware, but are you really surprised?). They charge from $3 to $25 for a week’s pass, or $80 for an “America the Beautiful” year-long unlimited pass. Most offer, or are near, cheap camp sites, and unlike most touristy destinations there are no other costs once you get there (unless you’re into gift shop kitsch).

My introduction to the National Park system happened last year when I made a spring break trip to visit a friend in Utah. As a starving college student, I couldn’t afford a ticket to Cancun, but I found Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks far more rewarding. Instead of dealing with the stress of airport searches and getting ripped off at beachfront restaurants, I enjoyed the simple pleasures of eating Pasta-Roni at a snow covered park with a few good buddies. And instead of surrounding myself with girls in bikinis, I got to see what my hair looked like after 4 days of hiking in a wool cap.

The National Park Service’s site, nps.gov, lets you find parks by state, and their Find A Park page lets you search with more refined criteria. So instead of flying halfway across the world, find out what makes America one of the most geographically unique countries in the world.

–Cody

“Would you like to save 10 percent by signing up for a (insert store here) card today?” It’s a line you’ve probably heard countless times. If you’re lucky, you haven’t taken the bait. While the prospect of getting $15 off a shopping spree is appealing, the hidden costs can quickly outweigh those onetime savings.

Store credit cards usually have high interest rates, or offer low introductory fees that can skyrocket after a neglected payment. Put a card in the hands of someone that already has bad spending habits, and they can rack up some serious debt. Since most store credit cards have instant approval, that’s exactly what can happen. By offering 10 percent off one purchase, they might receive twice that amount in interest or fees.

To avoid these troubles, avoid these store credit cards. If you’re interested in a particular card’s rewards, take a brochure home and compare the rates and benefits with other credit cards to make sure the rewards are actually worth it. According to Bankrate.com, many cards require you to spend a minimum amount every year in order to take advantage of their perks. Others only offer you small gift cards for the hundreds or thousands of dollars you spend. Also, keep in mind that too many credit accounts or too much available credit can hurt your credit score.

If you do decide to sign up for one of these credit cards, at least try to use the 10 percent discount on a big-ticket item like a TV rather than a T-shirt. You may as well take full advantage of their offer–assuming you can pay it off quickly.

Store credit cards can end up costing you if you aren’t careful, but with a little responsibility they can be worth it. Check the upcoming August issue of brass|MAGAZINE for more helpful info on credit cards.

–Cody

The pursuit of the latest and greatest could also be called the pursuit of wasting your money and possibly getting an inferior product. The next time you see the hottest new cell phone, video game console, or MP3 player, hold off. If you buy it brand new, you’re asking for problems –glitches and higher prices.

Here’s a couple of headliner examples:
iPhone: The ad says it all, “Twice as fast. Half the price.” When first released the iPhone cost $599. A couple months later, the price was dropped by $200. The rapid reduction in price caused Apple to release an apology and give a $100 voucher to those who had already bought one. A new iPhone 3G starts at $199. But, you might wait until the glitches are fixed before you buy one.
Xbox 360: The Xbox 360 originally sold for $399 and had 20 GB of storage. The price then dropped to $350. Now a brand new 60 GB version is going to be sold for the same $350 price. Another reason not to buy right off the bat: The Red Ring of Death glitch, which prompted a global recall that cost Microsoft an estimated $1 billion dollars plus.

These are just a couple of examples, but they illustrate the bigger point. Wait a while before you buy the latest and greatest, and you’ll avoid headaches and overspending. Check out the upcoming August edition of brass|MAGAZINE to get CEO/founder Bryan Sims’ take on buying to be cool.

–Jens

The high cost of oil is hitting us hard at the pump, but it’s taking its toll at the airport too. In response, airlines have no choice but to cut back on flights and hike up prices.

Curious about how these changes might affect your travel plans? Check out this helpful graphic and article from USA Today here. 300 U.S. airports are seeing schedule changes, most of them cutbacks.

Some of these cutbacks have happened, others won’t take effect until November. Still, for all you out-of-state students flying back to school in September, speaking as a former out-of-state student myself, I’d book now.

–Peter

To those of us at street level, the mortgage lending behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac resemble giant wheels turning in the sky–in fact if I wasn’t working for brass, I might have just assumed “Freddie Mac” was this guy pictured on the left.

They’re so huge, it can be hard for the average Joe to look up and take it all in. That is, until there’s trouble. Over the past year, the state of the housing market has taken its toll on the industry’s two biggest players. Now the giant wheels are in danger of going askew.

Mortgage or no mortgage, debt or no debt, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are big enough players in the economy that their situation could affect everyone.

Combined, the two government-created firms own or back about $5 trillion of home debt. That’s about half of all the mortgage debt in the United States. So if they go under, it would be like a pair of hippopotamuses doing cannonballs into a pool. But the government won’t let this happen.

This week, the Fed and Congress are pushing to come up with a rescue plan for the two giants. A report today in the New York Times says Congress could be asked to extend a $300 billion line of credit to help the two institutions.

To put things in perspective, together the two companies have lost about $12 billion since last summer and their stock share prices have hit 17-year lows.

So how does this affect us? According to a CNN Money report, with the home and credit markets having taken a beating, the two companies have been the largest (and virtually only) source for financial institutions to find funding for home loans. Want to take out a home loan? There’s a pretty good chance either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac make that loan possible.

This all comes on the heels of the failure of IndyMac last week, which was huge in providing home loans to people who weren’t required to provide documentation of income. According to NPR, it was the second largest failure of a financial institution in U.S. history. Such a fold is big, but analysts say most financial institutions are quite safe, and IndyMac customers are FDIC insured.

Also, for all you students out there, I’d keep tabs on SLM Corp., aka Sallie Mae, which controls a huge chunk of student loans. According to Forbes Magazine, they’re fairing better, but still feeling the pressure too. Check out Sarah’s previous brass Blog post on the student loan crunch.

It’s time for all of us to look up at those wheels in the sky and cross our fingers. Stay tuned everyone.

–Peter

Many of you sitting in sweltering second-floor apartments are doing whatever you can to keep cool. Several years ago, while sitting in my inferno-like dorm room, I came across a site claiming to show you how to build your own air conditioner! As I didn’t have a car to get materials, I put the idea in the back of my heat-addled brain until now.

The finished product should look something like this. For those of you who are visual learners, here’s a photo journal and a video.

The system works on the principle of heat exchange. Basically, as cold water flows through the copper tubing, the air around it is cooled. The fan then blows this cool air around the room. There’s far more technical, sciency stuff going on here, but my heat-wracked head wasn’t able to handle it. All you need to know is that it makes the room cooler than it was.

However, don’t expect it to pump out cool air like your store-bought AC system. You won’t be able to turn it on high and send out a 55 MPH gust of the north wind–the heat exchange system isn’t as powerful, because it doesn’t use artificial coolants or a large motor.

In my (nonexpert) opinion, I recommend spending some coin on an aquarium pump. It makes the whole system more efficient, because water is cycled back into the tank instead of drained outside. You won’t have to refill your cooler as often.

In any case, have some fun with this. Sure, you can probably find a used air conditioner for under $100, but half the fun is making something yourself.

Remember, water and electricity don’t mix, check out these safety tips for using electricity near water.

– Cody

Credit can be a good and often times necessary thing, but when debt goes bad–watch out. With the current state of the economy, the issue of mounting debt (and folks falling behind on payments) has grown. From this, third-party collection agencies are increasingly on the move, buying up debt and looking to collect.

True, no one wants to ever be in the delinquent position of having a debt collection agency coming after them. Still, third-party debt collection plays an important role. According to the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, there are 6,500 collection agencies in the United States; and in 2005, they returned $39.3 billion back into the economy.

That being said, not all collectors follow the rules in getting people to pay up. According to a CNN Money report out this week, complaints against debt collectors are on the rise. Sometimes, aggressive collectors cross the line into harassment–doing things like calling at odd hours (up to six times a day) and threatening debtors with jail time. According to the Federal Trade Commission, here are some basic rights everyone has to protect against overly aggressive third-party debt collectors:

• They cannot contact you at odd hours (like before 8am or after 9pm) unless you agree. They also can’t repeatedly call just to annoy you.
• You cannot be threatened with arrest, jail time or personal harm.
• They can’t intimidate you with false statements like exaggerating how much you owe, list crimes you haven’t been charged with or claim they work for a credit bureau.
• According to the CNN report, you can stop a debt collector from calling by writing a letter to the agency telling them to stop.
• Also, if you have an attorney, debt collectors must contact them and not you.

If you think a debt collector has crossed the line with you, contact your state attorney general’s office and file a complaint with the FTC. Debt collection isn’t very pretty, and undoubtedly there are delinquents out there who need to be chased aggressively, but everyone has rights–that’s the law. For more information on debt collection, check out this brass article.
–Peter